Mum's fury over faulty dryer

7:00pm Saturday 19th July 2008

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A WOMAN is planning to take a white goods manufacturer to court for its refusal to change a faulty appliance which has been replaced three times in a matter of months because of a defect.

Emily Criddle, of Mamble, bought a Servis condenser tumble dryer for £240 in February, only for it to pack up within a week.

After contacting Servis, she was given a replacement but that failed within 10 days. The third and fourth models lasted just 48 hours each before both started leaking water.

When the Servis engineer replaced the third damaged dryer, Mrs Criddle claimed he ruined her newly laid vinyl flooring, leaving “large tears” in it.

Despite numerous complaints, Servis has refused to help, saying it is not liable for any damages, according to Mrs Criddle.

“I can’t believe I’m on my third replacement. It’s not working so it’s just sat there,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable. They [Servis] won’t do anything else, even though it’s under guarantee.

“I’m going to have to take them to the small claims court because I have tried talking to them but they won’t answer or return my calls. I have even written to them.

“I have asked them for a replacement machine in a different model and they have refused point blank.

“They say it’s like for like or nothing at all. It’s pretty poor for a new machine to last 48 hours.”

The 34-year-old mother of two explained she had made numerous calls to customer services and it took almost an hour to get through to an operator.

She said: “I have had the phone put down on me and I have been told in their words to ‘do one’.

“The most polite response that I got was that it’s not company policy to replace machines or to replace flooring, even though their engineers left large tears in it.

“We have just had the kitchen re-fitted and the flooring put down and wanted the tumble dryer because we thought it was a good make and reliable.”

Mrs Criddle, of Spilsbury View, said that without the tumble dryer she was having difficulty wading through her family’s weekly washing.

“I’m not able to keep our washing up to date it’s a nightmare. I’m sick of these companies trampling over consumers.”

Servis refused to comment on the matter.