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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Rebecca Smithers

Argos didn’t refund my £255 for a faulty dishwasher

Argos store
Argos has closed many of its stores during the coronavirus outbreak. Photograph: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock

We bought a Hotpoint dishwasher from Argos in February which never worked. We then arranged for it to be taken away and paid for an upgrade to an alternative from Bosch. Further problems with delivery and collection made us decide to cancel both orders and go elsewhere. Argos emailed to say it had refunded the upgrade amount – £89 – and would refund £255.99 when the Hotpoint was collected on 17 March. But it refunded £89 for the upgrade twice and not the original £255.99. We have tried unsuccessfully to get through by email and web chat, and waited for hours on the phone. How do you get through to Argos? It is a nightmare.

SR, Plymouth

Although your purchase in February predated the outbreak of Covid-19, it appears you got caught up in the fallout on customer services.

Argos says: “We have contacted SR to apologise. We have processed her refund and arranged a gesture of goodwill, which she has accepted.”

And finally…

Reader AJ wrote in with some cheery news. “Our March/April cruise with Fred Olsen was cancelled two weeks before departure. We were immediately offered a transfer to any other cruise when they restarted, a voucher for 125% of the cruise value for any future cruise, or a full refund.

“We chose the refund – a total of £6,800 – and, seven weeks later, all the money was back in our bank account. This included the cost of the cruise, port car parking and fees for destination excursions.”

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions: http://gu.com/letters-terms

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