Raw Deal steps in after year-long battle over damaged flooring during fridge delivery

RAW DEAL exists to fight for people who need a little bit of support, as we all do from time to time.

In November 2015, Nan Dalton, of Hamilton, bought a washing machine and a fridge-freezer from Currys.

She asked for the door handles of the fridge-freezer to be on the right-hand side.

However, when the goods were delivered three weeks later (without even a phone call to say they were coming, as had been promised) the door handles were on the left.

Nan pointed this out, but the deliveryman said: “I’m only a driver”. He promised to report the matter.

Nan was then told it would cost £60 to have the doors reversed.

But why should Nan have to pay for something that should have been done before delivery?

To make matters worse, after the delivery Nan noticed her kitchen floor had gouges on it.

She got on the phone to complain and – after being kept on hold for 28 frustrating minutes – she was assured someone would come out to inspect the damage.

Four days after the phone call, a workman came to change over the door handles. He arrived at 8.20 in the evening, with no prior phone call.

Nan said he didn’t have any tools, so she had to supply him with screwdrivers. And he even had to enlist Nan’s help to hold the door as he struggled to align the screws.

When he’d finished, he told Nan not to open the door for four hours. All the food he’d taken out of the freezer was lost.

The wrangle over the damaged floor rumbled on.

Currys’ delivery support visited to inspect the floor in February 2016 and sent a letter in March which said that the inspector reckoned the marks on the floor, which were made the previous November, “looked old”.

The firm rejected the claim that it was responsible.

But Nan kept fighting.

She spoke to the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and wouldn’t allow the matter to drop.

Eventually, a year after the fridge-freezer was delivered, she contacted Raw Deal.

Nan is 83 and lives alone in sheltered housing. She has no family. When she wrote to us she pointed out: “The damage is not great, but it still happened.

“Most of all, I object to being accused of making a false claim.”

She had been fighting for her rights for a year.

Nan finished her letter by saying: “I am of the impression that I just have to get on with it myself.”

No Nan, you aren’t alone. Raw Deal is here to take up the fight for you.

We had a look at her floor and asked Nan for a list of the food she had lost when her freezer door was replaced.

Then we got on to Currys and laid out the case.

It has, more than 12 months after the delivery, had a change of heart.

A Currys spokesperson said: “We’ve been in touch with Mrs Dalton and have discussed her issues at length. In an attempt to find a resolution we have offered £300 to cover the cost of any food damage and also for the repair work she was quoted.

“We are pleased to say she is happy with this and has accepted the offers.”

Nan thanked Raw Deal for our help.

Raw Deal, in turn, doffs its cap to Nan for her perseverance.