Letters: Tumble drier should have been replaced

On October 22, 2012, my wife and I bought a tumble dryer from Hirsch’s in Ballito. The machine came with a two-year manufacturer’s warranty and, combined with the three-year extended warranty we were sold, the dryer was covered until October 2017.
Things went well until, towards the end of February 2017, the machine would sporadically signal that the filter was dirty and stop drying, even though everything was perfectly clean. I contacted Hirsch’s on March 3 and at first they were quick to respond, with a technician coming by on March 6. Since the error was not consistent, I showed the technician some short video footage. He concluded that either the sensor or PC board were faulty. Not having any spare parts on hand, he reprogrammed the machine and gave us a job number, stating that the parts would be ordered if the error reoccurred. Two days later, we were back to square one. I contacted Hirsch’s service department and was told that the spare parts would be ordered and that they should be received within three or four days. The following day, March 9, I even received an SMS confirmation with a new job number.
After hearing nothing more, I contacted Hirsch several times. Finally, on March 23, I was told that PC boards for our model were no longer manufactured and that a decision would have to be made on how to proceed. A strange response because, based on the terms of the extended warranty, it was clear on how to proceed if spare parts were no longer available. An upgrade option or a replacement model would have to be offered at a nominal fee.
Consequently, I wrote an email to Hirsch’s in Ballito and their service department in Durban, stating that I expected the machine to be either repaired or be replaced by March 31. Then, on March 30, I received an SMS stating that they were still busy working on my query.
Heck, almost four weeks after first contacting Hirsch, the faulty tumble dryer had now received the status of a query. This is also where the story ends – since then, I heard nothing more from Hirsch’s.
Fortunately, we have since been able to sort out our dryer problems without Hirsch’s assistance. Nonetheless – and opinions may differ here – once a company fails to honour the extended warranties they sell, then I consider that to be a sure sign that something is horribly wrong.
MARKUS KÄMPF
Ballito

Product has been repaired

With regards to the letter from Markus Kämpf (Tumble drier should have been replaced, Letters April 21) regarding his maintenance contract (extended warranty) from Hirsch’s, and the query he had on spare parts, Hirsch’s would like to offer their heartfelt apology for the miscommunication with regards to the complaint.
We would also like to apologise most profusely for the time delay in getting back to Markus. We are happy to report that the product was repaired before the letter appeared in the paper.
ALLAN HIRSCH (CEO Hirsch’s)
Umhlanga