Appliances Online

Deliberately withholding information so you pay more

This company really don't respect (or respond) to reviews where people rate them based on their opaque cash policy for recycling. They probably convince themselves that their customers are just being stupid.

When we recently purchased a washing machine from Appliances Online, choosing the 'recycle old appliance' option, we are guilty of making an assumption: That we were being given ALL the vital information we needed to save us from wasting money.

The service advertised is this: the delivery person will take your old machine away after connecting the new one. At the purchasing section of the site, there's a small little link that leads to their recycling policy where, if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you could be forgiven for missing the requirement that you disconnect the machine yourself. Furthermore, there is another link (which we discovered after the fact) which explains that the delivery people aren't plumbers and therefore can't be expected to disconnect a washing machine. I suppose we should therefore be thankful that they've somehow learned the skills required to install them. And guess what, they charge you for the recycling service even if they don't actually do it!

..and now we're left with two washing machines, neither of which we can use. Thanks guys!

So after ringing them and being treated to a condescending explanation that this situation is actually our fault and that a refund is out of the question. I have two major things to conclude.

1: That not making this information clear at the absolute outset, especially considering that it is obviously a common problem, is either due to deliberate avarice or laughable incompetence. Either way it is the sole fault of the company.

2: The company are not at all 'customer focused' and don't really respect them when a conflict occurs. The delivery person didn't have any extra work to do (much less in fact) because we failed to disconnect our device. Therefore there is no case for maintaining the charge. It's theft. Any defense which points to terms and conditions is irrelevant, because this no longer falls into the category of normal consumer misunderstanding. You can't write into your T's and C's that you're allowed to steal in the same way that I can't write a set of rules allowing me to kill someone in the hope that he/she doesn't read the document fully before signing. The only reason we don't take them to court is because £29.99 isn't worth our time.

So here's my gift to www.appliancesonline.co.uk. Don't use them. They're a nasty company.

venerdì 30 marzo 2012

Risposta da www.appliancesonline.co.uk

Dear Sylvest Krakow,

I am really sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced in having your appliance installed and old one taken away.I am also extremeley concerned about the manner in which the refund of charges has been dealt with.

Appliances Online takes all reviews very seriously and I would like to personally investigate your order immediately.

Please can you send me your order number and contact information and I will look into resolving the issues for you?

I look forward to hearing from you,

Kind regards,

Jane Gough
Quality & Excellence Co-ordinator
reviews@appliancesonline.co.uk