For several years we have paid Domestic & General £7.99 per month to insure our Electrolux washing machine against the cost of breakdown and accidental damage. In May this year, it began to make strange noises. Through Domestic & General, a visit was made on 4 June by an engineer from 0800 Repair, who diagnosed that a number of parts needed to be replaced. He said these would have to be ordered and a further visit made, but in the meantime the machine could be used.
We were given the date of 25 June for the faulty parts to be replaced. However, this visit was cancelled on the day because one of the new parts was found to be deficient in some way.
Since then we have had no less than four scheduled visits all cancelled - often on the day it was supposed to happen. On my recent call to Domestic & General’s complaints department, I was waiting on hold for 25 minutes, with no idea as to whether I was in a queue or simply listening to music for no purpose. In the end I gave up. The service provided to us makes a mockery of their catchphrase ‘Relax, we’ve got you covered’. Can you help?
GK, Oxford
A few years ago we were getting a lot of complaints about Domestic & General. But, following a pledge at the time by the company that it would improve its customer services, there was a noticeable drop in letters from unhappy Guardian readers. However, we have had a couple along these lines in recent weeks. Leaving aside whether these policies offer good value for money (I personally don’t ever buy them), you don’t expect to suffer this kind of treatment when you are paying almost £100 a year. Five cancelled visits – really?
Happily, a call to the company’s press team has got things moving. The company has now decided that it is in everyone’s best interests that it replaces your machine, and a new one has been delivered this week. In the meantime you have understandably decided not to take up Domestic & General’s request to renew your tumble drier policy, which just by chance arrived this week.
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