We called to ask about a dual fuel cooker to replace our electric cooker. We explained that we had a gas pipe, but had never used it, so had no idea if it worked. We explained our concerns to the person we spoke to, and he said this would be covered within the survey they offer, explaining it would check if the pipe worked or not, amongst other things. We bought the cooker on that basis. The man came to do the survey, said everything was fine, and left.
Two weeks later, our new cooker was delivered and our old one taken away. A few hours after that, someone came out to do the installation - only to tell us the gas pipe didn't work, and he couldn't install the cooker. Naturally, we were very upset, and called them straight away.
The person we spoke to this time not only insisted that the survey does not check if the pipes are working, but also gave every impression that he believed us to be lying when we told him we were promised it would. We told them time and time again that we would never have bought the cooker in the first place if we hadn't been guaranteed they would check the pipe worked, but everything we said fell on deaf ears. Gillmans gave no impression that they cared at all, nor did they do anything to help sort the problem. There was not even an offer of helping us find someone to get the pipe checked and fixed.
At the end of the day, we were forced to have our old cooker brought back and reconnected due to being promised something they weren't prepared to do. We're very unhappy, and will not be looking to Gillmans for anything in future.
That sums up the first horribleness of the day. The second horribleness? That comes in when I try to sort out how to get our gas pipe working. You see, we live in a council house, so naturally the first people I call are the gas engineers that are associated with our council landlord.
They tell me they have no problem sorting the gas pipe - but that they need explicit permission from the landlord before they can do anything. So I call the landlord, who responds by telling me "they don't do that". They refuse to give permission for the work to be done because it's apparently not their responsibility. I called the gas engineers back, demanding to know why they directed me to the landlord who insists it has nothing to do with them. Without even addressing the fact that they clearly were giving me the wrong information, they told me I would have to have the work privately done, and they wouldn't do it at all.
All of this has led me to two conclusions: one, when someone tells you something is going to be taken care of on the phone, get that person's name and some kind of proof that they did actually give you that information. Two, the council housing society is useless, and the list of things they clearly are not willing to take responsibility for in their own properties is growing by the minute.
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