A Tale of Three Companies Part One

Imagine that you buy a product from a reputable company and the item is also a reputable brand. I bought a Toshiba air conditioner from Origin Energy in May last year. They hook you in with the interest free terms and a 5 year warranty.. Well so far so good. Then comes the air-conditioning unit’s baptism of fire. About 5 months after the installation in November 2009 we noticed a problem. During an unseasonal burst of hot weather early in the season the head unit in the family room was leaking. We had water running down the wall. This little episode took 5 weeks to fix! The heat wave had long passed long before the air-conditioner was repaired.  The verdict was a failed installation.

5 weeks to fix.

The next episode started in May this year. It is winter in the land down under and despite the travel brochures it does get cold. Perhaps it is not as cold here as elsewhere but we still need heating. The air-conditioning unit gradually stopped heating effectively. We dutifully worked our way through the manual as we thought we were using the unit incorrectly. We are sitting in our family rooms with jumpers on and blankets over our laps to keep warm in front of the telly. The telly is no substitute for a heater.

Then we decided to call the Origin Energy to organise a warranty repair. This is about one year after the purchase. I am told that Origin Energy doesn’t sell Toshiba air-conditioners!  I have to convince them that I bought it from them. They eventually gave me a number to ring for warranty work. Then starts the inevitable phone tag; no you need another department, no they aren’t here today they promise to ring back; we didn’t install the unit. Despite promises nobody rings me back.  I call back and convince them that they have come out and repair the unit under warranty. Mecair, the warranty company, eventually relent agree to send someone out this cant be done for two weeks. The guy who comes out, says some part needs replacing and we will be contacted when they get receive it. He can’t even find the compressor unit on the roof. No card is left or any work report in short nothing. A week passes by and I call Mecair to see what is happening. They can’t find any record that they came out here in the first place! Mecair take another week to confirm that they called at our house. They now want proof of purchase before ordering the part, which of course I supply and then wait………………….

It is now five weeks since we called Origin Energy.

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