Raw Deal: Out of warranty, but Carol wouldn’t give up the fight

Carol Avill from Campsall in Doncaster, who has finally got her BEKO fridge freezer fixed after encountering major faults with it (Dean Atkins)

HERE’s a good (and very important) question – how long would you expect the working life of a fridge-freezer to be?

How long have you had your fridge?

Some last for decades.

The Sunday Post carried a story last week telling of a family who had owned a Morris Minor car for 60 years – not a fridge, admittedly – but it is an example of a well-made purchase that lasted a very long time.

Two and a half years ago, Carol Avill and her husband James bought a Beko fridge-freezer from Argos in Doncaster.

It was a big purchase at £800, and it came with a one-year warranty.

They had initial problems with the appliance’s ice box, which required several visits from engineers to put right.

However, they came home from holiday in June to find the fridge-freezer had stopped working altogether. All the food in it had spoiled and the smell in the house was terrible.

Aware that the warranty had expired, but also urgently needing a repair as it couldn’t just sit there, Carol called an authorised Beko engineer.

She was appalled to be told that the total cost of a new compressor, circuit board, a new lead, and labour would come to £374. But the job had to be done.

The first compressor, which arrived after a week, didn’t fit. The engineer (who Carol said was a very nice man) apologised profusely but it was a further three-week wait for a new one.

Carol and James were without their fridge-freezer for more than a month.

In the meantime, Carol wrote to Beko telling them that she thought such a short working life for these integral parts of her fridge-freezer was unacceptable.

Beko wrote back, pointing out the passage in the instruction book which mentions the 12-month warranty.

Beko also said it could not offer financial assistance towards the repairs or any compensation for the loss of food and the inconvenience of being without their main food-storing appliance for four weeks.

Carol isn’t one for complaining needlessly. But this short-shrift reply got her back up. She feels, very strongly, that an £800 fridge-freezer should last longer than 30 months. She wrote to Raw Deal and we drew the matter to the attention of Beko.

The outcome was very welcome news. As a gesture of good will, Beko have altered their position.

Carol wrote to us to say: “Good news! We had a call from Beko. They acknowledged we’ve had a lot of problems from the very beginning, with three major parts breaking down.

“They are going to pay compensation of £300 for the parts, while we pay £74 for labour. I knew straight away this was because of Raw Deal’s help as they had stopped replying to our letters.

“We are absolutely delighted with this outcome. We really cannot tell you how much we appreciate it. I have read The Sunday Post since I was a little girl. It is a brilliant paper – so much to read.”

Thank you Carol.

The lesson here is clear. If you want action, then you have to keep pushing for it.