Insurance Woes

I've been trying to sort out an insurance problem nicely. Via email. I'm not getting anywhere, so it's time that a little social media is used to speed the process along. This is a story of three companies in New Zealand. IAG insurance (NZI), Noel Leeming, and Electrolux New Zealand. IAG have always seen me through properly, and I recommend them as an insurer, but I'm not happy with the current status, which may not be their fault. However they do hold the key to solve this. Noel Leeming is a New Zealand owned department store - They also hold the key to resolve this. Electrolux also have the power to right things by explaining to insurance company that a mistake has been made and I have the wrong vacuum cleaner. 

I'll backtrack a little. It started back in January 2016 when my solar hot water pump decided to fail. It spurted water all over the carpet and flooded my hot water cupboard, the hallways, and one bedroom. That was all sorted quite quickly. However, sitting in the hot water cupboard was my Electrolux Ultraflex vacuum cleaner. Only about a year old, I had paid $900 for it and I had chosen it carefully to suit me. Note that it is Orange and grey, has a turbo nozzle, and it also has a handle - one of the reasons I bought it as vacuum cleaners can give me a sore back where I broke it may years ago.

The vacuum cleaner was found totally wet, after having water spurted on it several hours at least, and we all know that electronics and water don't really mix. I pulled it out and put it out to dry on my deck in the warm Marlborough sun for three days. The amount of water that came out of it was probably enough to fill a small ocean! Three days later I turned it on and surprise surprise it worked. However it never sucked that well after that. It used to be very sucky, and once it picked up hair and cat fur, but after it's 'swim' it no longer did. The insurance company sent an electrician around and he confirmed that while it worked, it would probably get worse over time. But that's okay - I have replacement insurance and it's all part the claim, so I went ahead and made a claim for a new replacement. Replacement insurance means having things replaced like for like.

Noel Leeming duly rang me a few days later to say there was one that I could pick up from Dunedin - a nine hour drive away, and after a little persuasion I got them to send it to the Blenheim store. It was picked up and the day I got it, I put it together and tested it out. Okay - it was a different colour- perhaps the model had changed a bit. But it didn't have a handle either which was annoying. So as soon as I could, I took the box back into Noel Leeming to say there was a part missing. On investigation they told me I had been given the WRONG model. Had I used it? Yes - once to test it out. They couldn't take it back because it had been used,  so contact your insurance company. It has been confirmed by Noel Leeming I have the wrong model. 

Back to the insurance company. They are being told by Electrolux that I have the correct model but until Electrolux admits their mistake, they can't do anything about it.  I've researched it carefully using the Electrolux website and I can see clearly that I definitely have the wrong model, it's cheaper by at least $200, it's smaller, has NO handle and is uncomfortable to use, and no turbo nozzle. Hardly like to like replacement. This is the model I have been given instead. And this is what it looks like...

I choose my appliances very carefully and I insure them for a reason.

So what do I want? 

I want this sorted out. I want someone with the balls to stand up and say - yes - a mistake has been made and we will rectify it. 

It's THAT simple.