Hi,
I've had an annual service contract with Worcester Bosch (WB) for 10 years. I've got a Greenstar ZWBR 7-25.
In March 2013 their Service Technician spent no more than 20 minutes inside of my home carrying out a full annual service. My father attended the service, as I was at work. When I found out the duration of his visit I was very angry. This contract costs me the best part of £200 each year. Amongst other things safety checks are meant to be carried out in this service.
The Technician left without issuing a service report, and this has not been received subsequently, despite more than 30 days elapsing since this visit.
I complained to WB, sending my mobile phone records that show the time and phone number of the Technicians call, when he announced he would arrive in "10 minutes". Then the record of my father’s call confirming that the Technician had finished and was outside in his van. I was able to accurately demonstrate to WB that the Technician could not have spent more than 20 minutes in my home.
I do not know why WB did this. My father is elderly and maybe looked like someone who would not notice that an improper service had been carried out.
After submitting the complaint email to WB explaining what had happened I received a phone call from the northern service manager. Nine days had elapsed between the email being sent and the first contact (other than their email receipt), this phone call. I do not think this length of time is acceptable for any complaint, let alone one where clearly an improper service, quite possibly skipping safety checks is the topic.
The Manager agreed that a proper service could not have been carried out in 20 minutes. He said that the Technician concerned was on holiday, but he would be taking up the matter with him upon his return. Apologies were given, and it was agreed that a return visit by another Technician was be made. This time I was assured he would carry out the service correctly. A time of 8am was set on the agreed date.
I waited in my house for the Technician to turn up. By 11am I phoned WB to see why he had not turned up. I was told, that although the visit was shown on their system no Technician had been assigned. Thus no one was going to attend. Why had I not been contacted before the visit to discuss this problem?
I asked for the name of the person next up the hierarchy of service management, this was not given on the basis that the WB employee manning their switchboard didn't know and couldn’t find out.
So I asked if a Technician could be redirected onto my job, given the circumstances. This was refused.
I tried contacting the northern service manager directly (remember he had previously called me using his own mobile, and told me it was ok to phone him if there were any problems) I got his answer phone, he was on holiday.
WB has placed an "urgent" priority on my follow up complaint, which I lodged today.
I will keep updating his thread. I believe this kind of behaviour needs to be publicised so that those interested in using or purchasing from WB can make informed decisions about this company.
I expect WB will eventually provide a correct service. But for me that’s not the point. There are wider implications to what they attempted to do.
I would appreciate any advice you could offer on how to deal with this situation:
1) Has there been an attempt to defraud me?
2) Are they in breach of legislation by consenting to carry out a service with safety checks, then attempting to mislead me when they didn’t actually carry out these checks?
3) Should I seek legal representation at this stage?
4) Is there an industry ombudsman I can turn to?
Regards
Paul
I've had an annual service contract with Worcester Bosch (WB) for 10 years. I've got a Greenstar ZWBR 7-25.
In March 2013 their Service Technician spent no more than 20 minutes inside of my home carrying out a full annual service. My father attended the service, as I was at work. When I found out the duration of his visit I was very angry. This contract costs me the best part of £200 each year. Amongst other things safety checks are meant to be carried out in this service.
The Technician left without issuing a service report, and this has not been received subsequently, despite more than 30 days elapsing since this visit.
I complained to WB, sending my mobile phone records that show the time and phone number of the Technicians call, when he announced he would arrive in "10 minutes". Then the record of my father’s call confirming that the Technician had finished and was outside in his van. I was able to accurately demonstrate to WB that the Technician could not have spent more than 20 minutes in my home.
I do not know why WB did this. My father is elderly and maybe looked like someone who would not notice that an improper service had been carried out.
After submitting the complaint email to WB explaining what had happened I received a phone call from the northern service manager. Nine days had elapsed between the email being sent and the first contact (other than their email receipt), this phone call. I do not think this length of time is acceptable for any complaint, let alone one where clearly an improper service, quite possibly skipping safety checks is the topic.
The Manager agreed that a proper service could not have been carried out in 20 minutes. He said that the Technician concerned was on holiday, but he would be taking up the matter with him upon his return. Apologies were given, and it was agreed that a return visit by another Technician was be made. This time I was assured he would carry out the service correctly. A time of 8am was set on the agreed date.
I waited in my house for the Technician to turn up. By 11am I phoned WB to see why he had not turned up. I was told, that although the visit was shown on their system no Technician had been assigned. Thus no one was going to attend. Why had I not been contacted before the visit to discuss this problem?
I asked for the name of the person next up the hierarchy of service management, this was not given on the basis that the WB employee manning their switchboard didn't know and couldn’t find out.
So I asked if a Technician could be redirected onto my job, given the circumstances. This was refused.
I tried contacting the northern service manager directly (remember he had previously called me using his own mobile, and told me it was ok to phone him if there were any problems) I got his answer phone, he was on holiday.
WB has placed an "urgent" priority on my follow up complaint, which I lodged today.
I will keep updating his thread. I believe this kind of behaviour needs to be publicised so that those interested in using or purchasing from WB can make informed decisions about this company.
I expect WB will eventually provide a correct service. But for me that’s not the point. There are wider implications to what they attempted to do.
I would appreciate any advice you could offer on how to deal with this situation:
1) Has there been an attempt to defraud me?
2) Are they in breach of legislation by consenting to carry out a service with safety checks, then attempting to mislead me when they didn’t actually carry out these checks?
3) Should I seek legal representation at this stage?
4) Is there an industry ombudsman I can turn to?
Regards
Paul
