Raw Deal: The good news? I’m here with your new fridge-freezer. The bad news? I can’t lift it

Patricia Ogg complained so much while trying to get a new kitchen appliance delivered that she lost her voice for a fortnight.

The 48-year-old mum of two bought a large Hotpoint fridge-freezer from Currys two years ago.

When she started having problems with it a few weeks ago, she used her extended warranty with Domestic & General to have it replaced.

“The fridge and the freezer compartments were icing up too much and nothing seemed to fix it,” she said.

“After three call-outs from engineers, at the start of April they decided to give me a new one.”

However, Patricia was not prepared for the fiasco that would follow while trying to get a replacement delivered to her home in Turriff, Aberdeenshire.

“I got an email from Domestic & General along with instructions on how to get my new one, but the website wouldn’t let me enter a delivery date,” she said.

“When I phoned them, I was told that it was a system fault, but that someone would update me later.”

Patricia said no one called her back but, out of the blue, she received an email telling her the appliance would be delivered on April 6.

She waited in all day but nothing showed up.

“I called D&G and they said that the IT issue was still ongoing. The delivery company did not actually have any record of an order.

“This conversation resulted in me calling them every couple of days. I was told someone would phone me back but they never did.

“Finally, after two weeks of trying I spoke to someone who could help. He said he could override the computer system and order up the new fridge for me.”

Patricia said she was relieved when told the new appliance would be delivered on April 26.

But her heart sank when her doorbell rang at 8.25am on the day and the delivery man started the conversation with: “I’m sorry, Mrs Ogg, but…”

Patricia explained: “He had the freezer in his van but it was a two-man lift! He said his supervisor should not have allocated him to deliver it.

“I mean, how can you mistakenly load a two-metre high fridge-freezer on to a van and not realise it’s big and heavy? After apologising, he said someone would call that day to rearrange another date.

“At this stage I had complained so often and was so stressed that I lost my voice for two weeks. This is something that happens to me when I am very wound up.”

At the end of her tether, Patricia wrote to Raw Deal for help.

We contacted Domestic & General on her behalf and the company quickly swung into action.

Within days, a new fridge-freezer was winging its way to Turriff via a different courier company – but the delivery problems didn’t end there.

“I couldn’t believe it when I then got a phone call to say that the delivery van had broken down and they would have to rearrange again,” said Patricia.

However, the good news is that Patricia finally took delivery of her new appliance on May 3.

In addition, she was delighted to receive a follow-up call from Domestic & General to say that a cheque for £175 compensation was in the post as a gesture of goodwill.

Domestic & General said: “We are sorry that Mrs Ogg has had a bad experience with us.

“We would like to reassure her that providing high-quality customer service is a priority so any complaint of this nature is disappointing.

“While we were not directly responsible for the delay in the arrival of Mrs Ogg’s fridge-freezer, we have raised her concerns with our appliance partner and believe that a satisfactory outcome to deliver the fridge-freezer has now been found.”

Patricia said she was grateful to Raw Deal for helping resolve a stressful situation.