When buying our washing machine a few years ago we were convinced by the Currys salesperson to purchase a 5 year extended warranty for the machine. The cost of the policy was about 200euro . In hindsight, this was a HUGE mistake. The machine broke down within the warranty period. That was SIX WEEKS ago and we are still waiting for repair or replacement. The whole saga is pretty tedious to recount, but here it is as briefly as possible:

When the machine broke we called the number on the policy to arrange a repair. Two days latter the company in Galway (elektro spares) called us to arrange a repair. The soonest they could service the machine was one week later. They never made that appointment although my partner had left work early to meet them. After 10 days we eventually got someone to look at the machine. He diagnosed the fault and ordered the parts - another 3 to 5 days we were told. After the parts arrived Elektro spares phoned us to say they couldn't fit the parts until they had coverplan verification that it was under warrantee. It took several confusing phone calls to work out what exactly the problem was - according to elektro spares the service hotline that we originally called should have phoned currys UK but didn't, they had a different version of what the procedure was. We had to ring the three parties involved several times and call into currys (they don't answer their phone - ever!) to get them to talk to each other and sort it out. It as THEIR administrative error but for some bizarre reason it was us who had to sort it out. Eventually, the repair was authorized by currys and an elektro spares engineer called to fix the machine. Now they realized they had the wrong parts. They blamed the suppliers of the parts but they had them for a week before fitting them while we were trying to sort out their paper work for them. Why hadn't they checked?? Who knows. Another half day had been wasted coming home to meet them. We were told the right parts would be ordered and the machine would be fixed within 3 to 5 days. That was 12 days ago, still no sign of the parts. So it is now six weeks since we originally reported the fault. We still have no washing machine.

The policy clearly states that if the item is not repaired within 6 weeks, the holder can apply for vouchers to get a new machine. On Saturday we called to Currys to apply for these vouchers. The manager told us that there was really nothing they could do as they just sell the policy and gave us two more "helpline" numbers! We called one in the shop and explained the whole painful process. The extremely disinterested person on the end of the phone went through the motions of taking down our details. They would "look into it" and get back to us some time next week - when exactly? well he couldn't really be anymore exact than that. The lack of urgency in his voice suggests to me he deals with this all the time. I told him I had never in my life experienced a worse service than currys coverplan. This provoked so little reaction I wondered if he had me on hold.

A second Currys manager approached us who appeared a little more concerned than his colleague. He at least apologized for the fiasco. This was the first time in the 6 weeks of messing that anyone involved had apologized for the incompetencies of their employers! Everyone else has just passed the buck to someone else! He took down the details and promised it would be prioritized. Monday morning has passed and the phone hasn't exactly been hopping with calls from Currys or coverplan or electro spares to sort it out. Guess we'll have to start chasing them up again! Be warned. Curry's Coverplan is a total scam.