I’m not very good at fixing things. There are several things in our house that have gone unmended for a long…a LONG time. But I’m finally getting in gear and making them work again.
First off was the grill. We’ve been without it for more than a year…mostly because our cooker – like everything in the house that we bought – is the cheapest of the cheap and local hardware stores don’t recognise the model number.
So it was with my metaphorical tail between my metaphorical legs, and with my pen poised to sign a blank cheque, that I called the Hotpoint/Indesit service centre.
They were friendly enough but offered two options. An all-expenses-paid repair for £100 or some fancy guarantee thing where I pay £160 over 10 months and if they can’t repair it or if it breaks again we get the whole thing replaced.
I’m always sceptical of insurance. It’s got to be a profitable business for the insurer, so the odds are actually stacked against the insurer. And all we wanted was a simple fix for the element or the switch. But they gave me the hard sell anyway.
“You not filling me with confidence that you can fix it for £100”, I told them. “Do you have any numbers on how many people end up claiming a new appliance?”
Initially vague responses about most customers wishing they’d paid extra were finally not-backed-up with the statistic that over 95% of initial repairs were successful.
“If it was just a broken handle then I’d recommend the cheaper option”, she said.
“If it was just a broken handle I’d fix it myself and definitely wouldn’t be paying £100”
I paid the £100 and booked the visit.
Within 10 days the helpful engineer had visited, ordered two parts, visited again and fixed a faulty switch pack. Simple.
Grilled bacon butties all round!!