Whining washer replaced
Fighting my fear high up on a cliff face in quest for an unforgettable photograph
Caroline Sneddon felt like she was left high and dry when her new Hoover washing machine went on the blink.
She bought the appliance last September from the Currys store in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire.
“There was a high-pitched whining sound coming from it and some of the controls wouldn’t work,” said Caroline. “The spin function was supposed to last for 10 minutes but went on for half an hour.”
Three engineer visits later, the problems persisted. “The first repair man replaced the motor and brushes but this was to no avail,” she said.
“The same parts were replaced again by a second engineer but this didn’t fix the issues either. A third repair man then came out and said the machine was making a noise that it shouldn’t but he left without doing anything to it.
“I was then told that if I wanted another engineer to visit then I would need to pay for this, even though the machine was still under warranty.”
Caroline felt she was being passed between Currys and Hoover with no resolution in sight.
“I went to Trading Standards and also sent the companies letters.”
At her wits’ end, Caroline finally wrote to Raw Deal and we asked Currys to investigate. The company has now given her a new appliance.
Currys said: “We were very sorry to hear that Ms Sneddon was dissatisfied with her washing machine. We have exchanged it as a gesture of good will.”
Caroline was delighted with the outcome and thanked Raw Deal for stepping in.
Bank of Scotland was able to recover £5,000 and West Yorkshire Police worked with Police Scotland to rescue another £7,000 which the couple is waiting to have returned.
The couple will still be £13,000 out of pocket and Brian is “gutted” that his bank has declined to reimburse him any of the missing cash.
“They said that basically it was all my own fault,” said Brian. “I have been a customer for more than 40 years and I feel that I have been let down.”
The Bank of Scotland said it had a “great deal of sympathy” for Brian but no compensation would be forthcoming.
The company said: “We fully appreciate that this has been a very distressing and upsetting experience.
“We review each case individually and any decision to not refund a customer is never taken lightly.
“Sadly, in this case our customer did not take appropriate steps to verify that the cold-caller was genuine, and made payments to the fraudsters from within his own secure internet banking account.
“We also provided clear and relevant warnings about the risk of this being a scam, however he chose to proceed with the transactions. Once notified of the scam, we contacted the receiving bank to check if any of the money he lost could be reclaimed. “We were able to recover a portion of the funds which we returned to our customer’s account.”
West Yorkshire Police confirmed an allegation of fraudulent activity was received in September last year. The force said: “The victim in the case is from Scotland but it is alleged the fraudulent activity took place in West Yorkshire.
“Officers from West Yorkshire Police and Police Scotland worked together to allow over £12,000 to be given back to the victim. “Some of that money has already been returned to the victim and some of it is due to be returned.
“Inquiries remain ongoing into the incident and no arrests have currently been made.”
Brian has now lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman in a bid to win compensation from the bank.
“I want to warn others, especially the elderly, to beware of speaking to anyone on the phone who says they are from their bank,” he said. “The whole experience has been sickening.”
www.tradingstandards.co.uk
ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHER
She informs us matter-offactly that there could be pirates and we scan the Firth of Clyde for a Jolly Roger.
Her fanciful tale has been inspired by the treasure-hunting plans we concocted on the train journey from Glasgow. Having organised a day trip to explore Cumbrae’s geocaching trails, the prospect of searching for caches with evocative names like Shallow Grave and Deadman’s Bay has all our imaginations running wild. Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunting game. Paper maps with an “X” marking the spot are replaced by GPS technology, and the chests of gold have been swapped for plastic boxes of trinkets.
On arrival, I check the description of our first geocache aptly named The Cruel Sea. My phone directs us to a monument in memory of two drowned crewmen from the ship HMS Shearwater. An easy walk along the quiet road that circumnavigates Cumbrae leads us to the sombre stone obelisk.
After reading the clue, we appoint the youngest member of our team as the searcher. She is delighted with her role and immediately goes to work picking up rocks and examining under the picnic table. After 10 minutes of frenzied investigation
she shrieks with excitement at success in her quest.
We sign the cache’s logbook and replace the container before catching the bus to Millport. The following hour, we search the beach for a cache named Deadman’s Bay before hunting around Garrison House for one called Whisky Galore.
A cafe lunch provides a chance to refuel and elect our last geocache of the day – Doughend Hole, with a view of Arran, Bute and Little Cumbrae, sounds too enticing to miss.
By the time we wander just over a mile along the coast, our searcher’s little legs are getting weary. However, the anticipation of finding more treasure motivates her to unearth the hidden container.
There are 14 caches on Cumbrae so far, and you can find a guide on the Millport website at millport.org/directory/ geocaching-on-cumbrae/
Top tip: To get started, visit www.geocaching.com to read the rules and register for free.