Note to Marks & Spencer: Whispering over the top of slow motion footage of food doesn't make it tast...
Note to Marks & Spencer: Whispering over the top of slow motion footage of food doesn't make it tastier or any less fattening.
Member since:22.05.2004
Reviews:143
Members who trust:153
WHO ARE THEY? ------------------------- I know of Mastercare's range of purchase insurance products through purchases I have made in PC World and Currys. I currently have "policies" on my PC, washing machine, dishwasher and replacement tumbledryer. Effectively Mastercare cover you for any repairs that need to be performed on your appliance including normal parts and call out fees. Simple stuff like fuses and plugs aren't covered but they're hardly bank-breaking and you should check that it's not either of these two causing you problems before you call out Mastercare. Their cover ranges 1 to 5 years and in my experience the 5 year £79.95 option is best.
MY STORY SIMPLIFIED ------------------------------- A lot of reviewers on Ciao seem to have had a torrid time with Mastercare. I am no exception. I won't bore you with the dates and grisly details, but to cut a long story short after seven weeks, 11 calls, three visits from two different
engineers (one of whom offered to post the part through the door with instructions on how to fit it on a post it note!), we were still no nearer to having our tumble dryer fixed. With two kids and two adults in our house, we do a lot of tumble drying. For seven weeks we used clothes horses and sporadic good weather/washing line to get our things dry.
THE SMALL PRINT -------------------------- Then I re-read our Mastercare agreement. "If we can't fix your appliance within 6 six weeks of your first call, we will replace it with an identical model" said one of their "promises". So we put the call in, got fobbed off twice, but ten days later a voucher for £189.95 arrived in the post. It was redeemable only at Currys and was for the exact amount of a White Knight tumble dryer. This model appeared to do everything our old clapped out model did and.......it looked a lot cleaner! So we handed our voucher over. We were told to collect the dryer from our local Mastercare depot and that was that.
THE DEPOT ----------------- Our local depot is on the bank of the Thames on the edge of an industrial estate in Belvedere, Kent. I was sceptical, but I needn't have been. I was greeted with a friendly smile, told the receptionist who I was and she showed me a fax she had just received from Curry's authorising both my arrival and my procurement of the tumble dryer. Then two young lads came down with the machine. Whilst I was signing some paperwork at the reception, I asked them if they could unlock the black Escort outside. No problem! By the time I had got to my car, the dryer was in the back, no scratches, no trouble, they had respectfully moved a couple of my kids' umbrellas and were holding them ready to give to me. I could have tipped them, they were so polite!
THE CALL-CENTRE AND ENGINEERS ----------------------------------------------------- Currys are not the problem. Mastercare's depot and workers are not the problem. It appears to be the lack of communication between the call centre and their sub-contracting engineers. Whilst at first this was frustrating, I now know what to do.
HOW TO BEAT MASTERCARE ----------------------------------------- OK "beat" is a bit confrontational, but I hope you get my drift. When our washing machine broke down, my wife was on the phone three times a week trying to avert a similar disaster to the tumble dryer. The same problems occurred: rude subcontractors, no sign of our initial call on their system, the engineer turning up late/with wrong part/not at all (delete as applicable). Unfortunately, the washing machine was fixed within 5 weeks (thus disqualifying us from claiming a brand new, similar product). It's the lack of communication that I'm relying on in future. Here's what I plan to do: NOTHING. If you can live without a microwave, or (especially in the summer) your tumble dryer for six weeks, do nothing. Log the problem with the call centre. If the engineer doesn't turn up when specified, don't panic. Give it a couple of days and call them again. But take your time, drag it out. Before you know it, it's six weeks and you'll be used to hanging your washing out; or using your office PC to send and receive emails (and use Ciao). Then as soon as the six weeks are up and there is no sign of your product being fixed, call them, quote the promise and wait for your voucher. OK this might sound cynical but with the trouble I've had with the dryer and the washing machine, I can't accept that this has only happened to me. In fact, reading the other reviews has convinced me of that!
DON'T BE PUT OFF BY MASTERCARE ----------------------------------------------------- When we went to get our replacement tumble dryer from Currys, the saleman tried to sell us another Mastercare policy (the old one automatically expires upon replacement). What did we do? We ummed and ahhed and told him that we were in Currys getting a replacement because of Mastercare! His response? To knock the price for a five year cover from £79.95 down to £50! £10 per year with the possibility of a replacement item if Mastercare (almost guaranteed) don't get their act together? As David Dickinson would say: it's a Bobby Dazzler!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Non if requiring assistance outside of the UK Disadvantages: Everthing, Bills should be settled directly with the repairer instead of customer
fiery75 18.05.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Mastercare
Jun 14th, 2004
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