For those of my regular blog readers who do not follow me on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter), Sue and I have recently been living a somewhat Kafkaesque life.
(Kafkaesque is defined as having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality suggestive of Franz Kafka or his writings.)
It all started when our existing washing machine began to leak. Despite my best endeavours to find the cause, I could not, and rather than have it repaired, we decided to buy a new one. We went online, and after looking at various options we decided to buy a replacement from Currys, one of the UK’s biggest retailers of white goods. Not only did we pay for a new washing machine, but we also paid for the old one to be removed and taken away and the new one installed.
We ordered our new washing machine on Thursday 4th January and booked a delivery slot of 11.00am to 3.00pm on Saturday 6th January. At the time we were informed that the delivery team would telephone us about thirty minutes before they would arrive, and at 1.14pm on 6th January I received a somewhat garbled and almost indistinct call to that effect.
It was at this point that we entered the parallel universes occupied by Currys and ourselves.
By 2.30pm the was no sign of the delivery van and team, so we visited Currys’ ‘Track It’ website … and discovered that it recorded the delivery as complete! We tried contacting the telephone that had called us at 1.14pm, but all it did was divert us to voicemail. Just before 3.00pm we telephoned Currys’ Helpline, who asked us to be patient and to wait until the end of the working day before we reported the missing washing machine to them.
Next morning - Sunday 7th January - we telephoned the Helpline again, and after trying to check with the (closed) depot, the missing washing machine was noted as being missing. We wrote about what had happened on X and were almost immediately asked to direct message Currys about the problem. We did this … and carried on messaging them day after day, again and again!
We suggested that there were four possible reasons why our washing machine had not been delivered to us.
- It had never been loaded onto the delivery van.
- It had been delivered to the wrong address.
- It had been stolen from the van.
- It had never been taken off the van and had been returned to the depot.
By Saturday 20th January the investigation was complete … and we were told that our washing machine had been delivered and fitted and the matter was closed. However, in the interim we had done some investigations of our own, and in our universe, we had managed to find it … but not where Currys insisted it was!
Back in the nineteenth century, the road that we live on went downhill from the summit of Shooters Hill and after crossing Herbert Road, turned left and ran parallel with Woolwich Common. As the area was developed, the two halves of the road were split in two. The upper half - where we live - became Eglinton HILL and the lower half became Eglinton ROAD. Subsequently, when the Post Office allocated postcodes to every location in the UK, by sheer coincidence our section of Eglinton Hill was allocated a postcode that was one letter different from a section of Eglinton Road, those letters being D and S … which are next to each other on a QWERTY keyboard.
On Friday we visited the house with the same number and almost identical postcode to ours … and discovered that on 6th January Currys had delivered and installed a washing machine! This had been done whilst most of the family had been out and the only person present was the 14-year-old son of the homeowner.
We returned on Saturday 20th January and spoke to the homeowner. He had been trying to contact Currys to ask for his washing machine back, but with little success. Furthermore, he was very upset that a perfectly good washing machine had been taken from his house and replaced by the one we had ordered … and that was not as good as the one that had been taken away.
Currys have been informed of these facts and given the contact details of the aggrieved householder, but to date they are still refusing to acknowledge that they delivered our washing machine to the wrong address and took away somebody else’s washing machine instead of our old one. In their universe, a washing machine has been delivered and an old one taken away … and that’s all that their investigation team seems to be concerned about. The fact that their delivery team did not realise that the name on the delivery note was different from that of the household they had delivered to nor that they had left any paperwork pertaining to the delivery seems to have been completely ignored. Likewise, it would appear that the investigation team had not checked the relevant delivery vehicle tracking log to see the locations it had stopped at between 1.00pm and 2.00pm on Saturday 6th January. Their ‘Track It’ system says that the washing machine has been delivered to the address on the delivery note… so case closed!
We have asked for our money back, the aggrieved householder in Eglinton Road wants his washing machine back, and Curry’s maintains that everything is hunky-dory and there is nothing to investigate. We have now appealed against the investigation team's decision that the matter was closed, citing the results of our investigations in support of our appeal.
As the Chinese proverb states, ‘May you live in interesting times’.
Since I drafted this blog post, Currys' investigation team have passed the matter on to the delivery centre for further investigation.
One wonders why they didn't do this in the first place!
It will be interesting to discover if Currys ever ask for your “feedback” Bob. If so then perhaps you can give them your true, honest and forthright opinions regarding their Customer Service? You may wish to prime your weapon ready, just on the off chance ⚔️⚔️
ReplyDeleteOff at a slight tangent, but company van near us has a logo on the side which proclaims “Excellent Customer Service - it’s in our DNA”. Wow - science must really be something.
I suspect Stone Age hominids would have little care with regard to customer service, yet the Divine Being/God/natural selection or whatever was already planning ahead and including such concepts as “excellent customer service” within DNA. I wonder if we have any other concepts (that no-one is presently aware of, cares for or has even considered) buried within our DNA…
Fingers crossed this all gets resolved, and soon…
Cheers,
Geoff
Elliesdad (Geoff),
DeleteFunnily enough, they have asked for my feedback twice, and on both occasions I rated them as poor. The feedback on Trustpilot evinced a response from them, to which I replied in detail. I’m not sure if my feedback, their response, and my detailed explanation as to why I gave such a poor rating are still available online.
I was discussing my problem with one of my next door neighbours, and he has experience similar problems, but not on such a large scale. He has had mis-delivered shoes (20 pairs in one delivery!) a laptop, and clothes delivered to him when they should have gone to the equivalent numbered house in Eglinton Road.
As for good customer service being in their DNA … well, I’ve seen little evidence over the past few weeks, and far too much reliance on ‘the computer says …’. They don’t seem to have heard ofthe concept of ‘Garbage In, Garbage Out’.
All the best,
Bob
Having something like this mix-up occur is really hard to believe. Especially irksome is that the vendor will not accept responsibility. I wish you luck in straightening this debacle out.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Freitag,
DeleteThe situation is - at times - almost surreal. You can only communicate with Curry’s electronically by tweet or email. There is no telephone number listed for their Head Office, CEO, Chairman, or Customer Service Department so sending a letter is nearly impossible. I could use their registered company office for written communications, but this is likely to be just a lawyer’s office.
All the best,
Bob
I have become good friends with a neighbor 3 streets over because of us exchanging miss-directed packages from 3 different delivery companies. We have the same street number (101) but totally different street names. No one, including the delivery companies have a clue as to why this happens. So we celebrate the exchange with a beer or two and all is well!
DeleteHeaven forbid - companies (seemingly) making it less than easy for anyone to contact them. Surely not. Unless, perhaps, excellence is NOT in their DNA. 😉
DeleteIt might be worth asking whether the Currys’ tracker shows the GPS location they were at when they made the delivery.
Perhaps all this is a fine example of how easy it is for a company to lose a customer. After all, a disgruntled customer is likely to be way, way, way more vocal 😉
Elliesdad,
DeleteI have asked Currys for sight of the delivery van’s tracker details … but that has to be made using a special GDPR request form. I would have thought that they should have looked at it when they did their investigation … but they don’t seem to have done this.
The ‘customer service department’ seems to be more like it is the ‘protection of the company’s good name department’.
All the best,
Bob
Dick Bryant,
DeleteI am also getting to know my not-so-near neighbour quite well. He’s a very nice chap who is a taxi driver by trade and his family are lovely.
All the best,
Bob
It's very sad that this still has not been resolved. Unfortunately I fear you and the other home owner will need to take legal action for a successful resolution.
ReplyDeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteI think that it is going to be the next step I will have to take.
All the best,
Bob
Did you pay by credit card? If so I trust that you have challenged the transaction with the card company. I've done this a couple of times and it should ensure that you don't have to pay the card company until it is all settled (which means not at all if you've cancelled the order and bought elsewhere - which may be the quickest way of getting a new machine).
ReplyDeleteAs for the machine they took away, I suspect that it's already gone for recycling and that Curry's will end up having to buy them a new one. They certainly owe them one as compensation for stealing their existing machine.
Of course, we're I being unkind I'd say it's your own fault for going to Curry's in the first place (a mistake that I've made in the dim and distant past, but never again).
Mike Hall,
DeleteI paid with credit card via PayPal. The latter have been informed and have been in contact with Curry’s, but are being told that as the washing machine has been delivered, there is no prospect of a refund … yet.
I agree that there is every likelihood that the washing machine that was taken away has been scrapped, and I included a suggestion that it will need to be replaced on a like-for-like basis by Currys.
I will never, ever buy anything from Currys again. My fingers got burnt … and I’ll not let that happen again.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteAn internet search for Currys CEO email turned up this: alexander.baldock@dixonscarphone.com and also www.linkedin.com/in/alex-baldock . Perhaps these may be of some use? What if all the followers of this blog emailed him?
You might also try Currys customer service on 0344 561 1234.
This has shades of the Post Office scandal in that Curry's prefer to believe their computer system rather than their customers. I hope you will be able to resolve your issues much sooner. Good luck! Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI have tried both those email addresses, and not had a reply. I’ve also spoken to people on that telephone number, and all they do is tell me to be patient as the investigation is ongoing.
The wholesale reliance of computers to provide infallible answers is worrying, especially as company’s use more and more AI. The replies to many of my tweets have all the hallmarks of having been written by bots. (Repetitive use of the same or similar phrases; answers that don’t appear to be anything other than generic; evidence that whoever answered had not read what I had written.)
This problem has now been rumbling on for nearly three weeks … which is far too long!
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
DeleteHow different things are here in Spain. In July our washing machine sprung a leak. It was 11 year old, so we decided to replace it. Next morning we visited our local hardware shop (who seem to stock everything from white goods to different sized screws which you can buy one at a time). It was 10am when we choose our new washing machine, it was delivered at 2pm. It was delivered by two of the brothers who run the shop. They manhandled it down a flight of steep steps and lifted it over our wargames table to reach its new home in a corner of our wargames room. They connected the new machine and removed the old one (by lifting it over the table as well), all at no extra charge. They even apologised that they had not been able to deliver it earlier in the day.
This type of service is quite normal. The shop is run by three elderly men, and nothing seems to be too much trouble. When we first arrived we compared their prices with the nearest large electrical shop, but found the cost to be identical. We have only once had to return an item, an electrical kettle. it stopped working after a few months. They replaced it with an identical model without any question.
There is a lot to be said for the current online shopping so popular in the UK. But when things go wrong they really go wrong.
regards
Paul
Paul Leniston (Paul),
DeleteThere used to be a small white goods shop about two miles from our house that we always bought from. When we needed a new dishwasher, we visited the shop at about midday, chose the machine we wanted, and the owner then apologised that he would not be able to deliver it until later that day as his delivery driver was having his lunch!
They were put out of business by increases in shop rent and business rates and online competition from the ‘big boys’. How I wish that they were still open!
All the best,
Bob
Methinks, Bob, it's time to run out the big guns. There must be some kind of disputes tribunal. If not a letter from your friendly attorney might be in order. Quite why anyone would doubt the testimony of a washing-machine deficient homeowner that not even a washing-machine shaped volume of empty space has been delivered, or that of another whose w/m has undergone an otherwise unexplained metamorphosis is quite beyond me.
ReplyDeleteGreat story!
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteIf they turn down my appeal - which I fully expect - the next step will be go to an arbitrator. However, in the interim I intend to talk to the local Citizen Advice Bureau about what legal action we can take. I hope that the householder whose washing machine was taken away reports the matter to the police as what Currys did does constitute a theft under the Theft Act. I’m also looking at how much legal cover I have under my household insurance just in case I need to involve a solicitor.
As to doubting my evidence … well, it’s obvious that I must be trying to con Murray’s out of money … or at least that seems to be their attitude. That plus the fact that their delivery staff and computer system are seemingly infallible.
All the best,
Bob
Oh C****s! It's a swearword to me. I can empathise with you on this. Almost every step is familiar.
ReplyDeleteBack in 2007 in a new house we ordered a fridgefreezer from them and paid for fitting, the removal of an old fridge plus the removal of all the packing. I was told we would have plenty of notice of delivery, only to find on the day they arrived early and phoned me 2 minutes before they got to the house whilst I was out shopping. "OK my wife is in, so she can let you in."
When I got home the new ff was still in its packaging in the middle of our tiny kitchen, with the old fridge still in place and my wife, looking after 1 year old twins, distraught. The lazy, callous delivery guys had just left it like that (they were ahead of schedule so clearly had the time). No amount of pleading with their 'helpdesk' would get them to do anything sooner than 5 days later ("computer says no"). The bricks and mortar shop was no use either. I ended up doing it all myself, but never got my money back for the service not received. Absolutely useless shower!
NEVER AGAIN.
Nundanket,
DeleteReading your story has made me realise - rather like some Post Office postmaster or postmistress - that I'm not the only one that has experienced this sort of problem.
When something like this happens, you can feel so powerless in the face of what the computer records as 'true'. It doesn't matter that the delivery team have fouled up, the computer record says that they haven't, so tough on you the customer!
At least you had your new fridge-freezer delivered to your home and not someone else's! I know that is no comfort in your situation, but imagine how it must feel to find out it has been delivered to an almost similar address and the company refuses to do anything to rectify the situation.
I must admit that I suspect that I am going to have to use legal means to force Currys to do the right thing. In the meantime, we have a leaking washing machine, the other household has a washing machine that isn't as good as the one that Currys took away, and Currys sits there smugly 'investigating' its own failures and exonerating itself.
As you say ... NEVER AGAIN!
Yours in shared pain,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeletePathetic Service. Hope you receive your money back. Cheers.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteFrankly, I think that pathetic is quite a mild way to describe the level of service we’ve had to date.
As for getting our money back … well, I hope, but I don’t expect to get it soon.
All the best,
Bob
Must be time to contact "You and Yours" or the newsdesk of your local radio station. They'll be all over it, 'cos it's so stupid.
ReplyDeleteTrebian,
DeleteI have been in touch with various local and national media providers but they haven’t yet got back to me.
All the best,
Bob