France in Focus

Beatiful clear blue sky here in waterworld, and warm. Such a pity I had to spend most of the day driving to Boulanger to try to get our cooker repaired under the "oh-so-wonderful" extended guarantee. After 6 unsuccessful attempts yesterday and another today to report the depannage online we had an hours drive to the shop where it was purchased. A helpful chap there did his best to help us. We had taken an A4 sheet of translated details of the problem and other documentation to prove it is still under waranty but he still had an uphill struggle convincing the service department (elsewhere) to deal with it. Later today I got an email requesting photos of the cooker I.D. plate and full description of the fault. They also suggest I send videos of the faulty operation. How the hell do they expect me to do that? They have already been given the plate I.D. I stood there and heard the man in the shop telling them every detail. He apologised that unfortunately I will be unlikely to get any repair RDV until well into April. I would not suggest spending €129 on Boulanger's extended guarantee. At the moment I am waiting for the battery in my camera to recharge so I can send them the information they already have. Too bad it doesn't take videos. I could send them some hand gestures they might understand.

Is it an extended guarantee or an insurance policy to cover repairs? Sometimes it's dificult to know.

Gas or electric, how long have you had it, and what is the fault?

Customer Service in France fails dismally and, generally, in the UK, excels.

I only once had an extended guarantee and that was about 25 years ago when we bought a TV/Vidéo (top stuff then !!)
The vidéo stopped working and I took the set back to the shop. They produced just a TV to cover whilst the repairs were done. I refused to accept it and to their horror produced the g'tee which said they would give me an equal replacement. The manager was called and explained that a similar set was with a customer who had collected his repaired set but not returned the set that was lent. To help matters (!) I asked why they had released the set without recuperating the other one. No reply.
In the end I had to accept what was on offer and when I went to collect the repaired set I asked what recompense was to be given. More horror and manager summoned.
Finally a credit was given with which we bought a telephone.
You have to stick at it. I do so love these challenges.

Years ago I bought a tile cutter at a brico shop in Saumur. After cutting a few tiles, it broke. I'd kept the receipt so took it back to the shop. They offered me an identical model in its place but I said that an identical model could have the same fault and I'd rather have my money back. They did reimburse me and I understood later that in fact they did not have to do so : offering to replace the faulty object was as far as they needed to go.
Perhaps it was the presence of other customers that helped my case !!

We have found the after sales service from Darty excellent.

We have also found Darty to be a good bet but they didn't have what we wanted at the time so thought we would try Boulanger.

beejay- "is it an extended guarantee or an insurance policy to cover repairs? Sometimes it's dificult to know."
I haven't a clue which it is. It is a freestanding induction cooker. The hob is working OK but the oven doesn't work at all. It displays a fault code. It comes with a two-year guarantee and against my usual instinct mrs. H insisted we pay the extra €129 on top to extend the guarantee by 3 years. There's about 6 months left of the full extended guarantee so if they do actually repair it I guess it was worth the money. Given the hassle of claiming I will be reluctant to every buy anything again from a shop so far away.

At 2.5 years into a 3 year guarantee a repair would be the usual result of a claim. You cannot expect a replacement and if pro-rata is applied to usage you could try for one sixth of the original price. However, all depends on the t&c of the extended guarantee which, to be honest, most people do not read before signing.

I certainly couldn't read the extended guarantee before signing. It was in French.
If we find that there is any disappointment in getting the damned thing repaired I will take it to the tip and buy another. Life's too short for yet another argument.

Aren't there supposed to be some electrical repair shops around France which undertake repairs subsidised by the Government?

I recall reading some publicity on it about a year back - I had a coffee machine that went phut and it suggested that I would only be charged 10€, the Government paying the difference. I started trying to find such a shop in the towns around but gave up as I was desperate for coffee.

Hotrodder wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2026 4:52 pm I certainly couldn't read the extended guarantee before signing. It was in French.
If we find that there is any disappointment in getting the damned thing repaired I will take it to the tip and buy another. Life's too short for yet another argument.

Try not to let it get to an argument because then you have lost.

Hotrodder wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2026 4:52 pm I certainly couldn't read the extended guarantee before signing. It was in French.