Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

About 18 months ago we bought a toaster from STORMAX at Karaoglanoglu. The toaster came with a 4 year guarantee.

This morning I took the toaster, complete with guarantee documentation back to the Karaoglanoglu store to change/get a refund under the terms of the guarantee.

I was refused at the store and was informed that I had to take the item to Lefkosa to be dealt with as the guarantee was being invoked.

It would seriously inconvenience me and take me the best part of a day to get to and from Lefkosa.

Does not the store at Karaoglanoglu carry the responsibility for replacing the item?

Is there a Trading Standards office here that I could contact?

Welcome to 'this is Cyprus my friend.'

Sadly, Tom has summed it up (perhaps snot the most helpful way, but certainly the truth) as he says 'Welcome to Cyprus'. Yes there is a Trading Standards of sorts, and although they can be helpful, it doe snot solve problems, many of which are born from our being a non-existent place. I bought a computer here form a company I trust and from whom I still purchase, but the computer was a bit of a 'rogue'. Yes, I could take it to lEFKOSIA and 'no' they could not deal with it in Kyrenia, and 'no' I could not have a replacement computer in the meantime, and 'yes' it could take three weeks or more. As a journalist at the time, that presented a problem I had to get around.

Such are the challenges of being here. This is NOT U.k, and we Brits are inclined to think that everything should work the same, but it doesn't.

At least Stormax are offering to 'honour' the Guarantee, but of course not in the way you would expect. The reality is that, as has been said so many times 'This is Cyprus' and we have to work our way around some of the challenges in a different way to that of before in our former lives!

Gradually things change, but at the moment the status quo is a bit behind that of other countries.

In fairness, some companies do honour guarantees - Arcelik are very good even right up to the day the guarantee ends!! The store where I purchased a piece of electrical equipment made by Blomberg changed mine without any queries as did a store on the Karakum Road when I wasn't happy with the performance of a liquidiser. HOWEVER, Stormax is a different kettle of fish. I took a pair of trainers back about two weeks ago, together with receipt and was told there was no guarantee because I bought them at a discount. Pays your money and takes your choice. At least things are better here than they were some years back. I know someone who tried to have an expensive DVD player exchanged as it was clearly defunt and was told "yes it is under guarantee but you must contact Samsung direct, it has nothing to do with us, we just sell them" Things are improving - albeit slowly!

Sorry slightly off topic but to be fair we bought a Sharp flat screen TV when they first came out many moons ago from John Lewis which developed a problem within the first 6 months and we too had to deal with Sharp direct (send the TV back to them etc) so it's not just here!

UK TV consumer advice programmes always state it is the outlet selling the item which is responsible for sorting the issue - not that this has any bearing on TRNC legal/consumer responsibility (or lack of).

Many thanks for your replies.

I used to be a regular shopper at the store.

STORMAX has now been entered on the "I won't shop there again" list despite the attentiveness of the young assistants.

"Is there a Trading Standards office here that I could contact?"

Is this not in the wrong section surely it should be on the "JOKES" page.

There actually is a citizens advice office which deal with this type of problem so I am told and it is in Karacum in the block of shops just east of Erdener supermarket.

Better have your £50 ready for the CA office charge prior to any advice.

I bought a lilo the other day from Lemar.

When we blew it up a few days later it had a hole in it so I took it back. No receipt of course - if I had one it was long gone.

The English bloke on the till looked at me as if I was mad but luckily there were a few head office bods lurking so he called two over.

I explained what had happened and they gave me a new lilo.

The English bloke said "Quick.........run!"

I used CAB for advice re a will there was no charge.

Deniz1 wrote:I used CAB for advice re a will there was no charge.

Ah but did they suggest you will all your money to them?

Would you bother on a toaster....

Guarantee in the TRNC .........Dream on.

Whatnodeeds, I don't know why you are implying that no-one honours guarantees. There are some reputable companies that are honouring them. I grant they are in the the minority, but the TRNC is being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. I don't include the builder of my house though, he's still the e..l cr....n he always was!!

@ BOERBOEL

You of course would be the one who bought a 4 year guaranteed toaster, took it home, found it did not work and therefore "binned" it without taking it back to the shop because it was "only a toaster" and then went out and bought another new one!

(final sentence deleted as against Forum rules)

WotNoDeeds wrote:Guarantee in the TRNC .........Dream on.

Multimax has been offering 'no penalty money back guarantee' for the unused portion of your account for years...

If consumers make the right choices, it eventually force businesses into competition and things improve for everyone.

However, I witness from my own business that there are consumers who insist on paying more money for one fifth or less Internet speeds while receiving much worse customer service. This gives little incentive for those companies to improve on anything.

Joking 'this is Cyprus' and settling for less is the worst thing you can do for improving things around here.

as 'mokfey' has stated, take your business elsewhere, and once it builds up they will feel the pressure and things will change.

K.

I have had a kettle repaired 3 times under warranty, it is still no good but they did repair it for free- sort of...
Not all businesses are bad, it is the Ooops restaurants that annoy me!
Bring your 5 dogs and smoke...

Where is that, I am collecting places where I can take my Dudu.just like a good old fashioned British pub. So lead on-please.

Marions.
As you know we are in Turkey at the moment, we are at present in our second hotel that will allow you to take you dog into the room, not only that but as I write this we are sat on the roof terrace were breakfast and dinner are served WITH our dog. The place is very friendly and the other guests don't mind a lot of them have been making a fuss of him.We will not allow our dog at the table when the guests and ourselves are eating he is in the computer room a sleep on the carpet but can still see us. By the way anybody who feels like visiting Kas I recommend the Hideaway Hotel, the food is the best we have had in a hotel, free coffee and biscuits all day, vegi meal plus a choice of three meats or fish and a sweet for 21TL not bad for a hotel.

Sorry last post was off topic.

Thanks Karmels. It is my fault it is off topic, so sorry everyone, but MOST USEFUL INFO. I find that in france, Italy and other Eurpean countries, dogs are far more welcome. Poodles can prance in Gallerie Lafayette in the heart of Paris, and cities in Italy sees dogs in shop windows, etc, etc and welcome to all cafes.

So thanks. And thanks for the recommendation - I think I might like to try that. So to ensure I don't stay off topic, I will now shut uplk and keep the info for future use.

Sorry everyone if off topic. But it is good to see how varied all countries are in their rules and regs , and here in Cyprus we must accept those that prevail, and when things do change for the better, then we can smile more broadly.

Agree with a previous post that dealing with a reputable company with track record is more likely to get you satisfaction.
We purchased two water tanks from Demiller in Lefkosa. Both developed faults after a long period of time. No hesitation in replacing and also re plumbed. All at no cost and sorted quickly.
With due respect to Stormax they do offer a cheaper alternative and purchasers should bear that in mind when making a purchase

Mofkey - I was merely stating that if it lasted 18 months when bought here, then in my opinion it was a bargain. I have bought several toasters and kettles here and very few have lasted that long and certainly never had a 4 year guarantee, I would have thought 1 year would have been standard for an electrical item such as that. Stormax is not the ideal place to buy electrical you should have gone to Arcelik or Vestel who do honour guarantees, or at least they have for me before someone else says differently. In fairness to Stormax, I have bought things there which have been 'not suitable' and on production of the receipt they have either replaced or given me a credit note, they do state they don't do cash refunds, however, it has not been 18 months after purchase.

Boerboel

we bought a flat screen from Vestal, screen got a problem after about a year, not only did the fix the problem but they gave me a replacement TV while ours was being fixed as it was going to take three weeks as it was sent to Turkey!
Arcelik even fixed my dishwasher for free even though the guarantee had ran out 6 months earlier.
Don't always be so quick to put down businesses in North Cyprus!!