Last year I bought a Liebherr frig-freezer on line and it is still under the manufacturer's warranty.  Coolectric Ltd (who did not supply mine) are given in the manual as the UK centre which provides service for that German company.  

The address given is:
Interchange Point, Renny Park Road, Newport Pagnell  MK16 0HA and the telephone number as 0844 122655.  Other suppliers of Lieherr frig-freezers in the south of England, where I live,  give these same details for buyers who require their purchase to be serviced, as do other branches of Coolectric,.

Mine has developed an infuriating fault in that the front of a freezer drawer comes off when it is pulled to open it.  Nothing appears to be broken and no experimentation of mine has revealed why this happens or how to remedy it - hence the need to call for service.  
Unable to find an alternative, geographic number, it was particularly galling to have to listen while I waited to a recording that told me how superbly robust, well designed and efficient Liebherr products are!  Ironically, I agree - apart from this particular fault - and that was why I bought mine.

Once speaking to a member of staff, the matter was dealt with courteously & efficiently, and I am to expect an engineer's visit, but it inevitably took some expensive time.  Maybe I shall never have to call them again, but who knows?  There must be other owners of Liebherr units who would also welcome a cheaper number to call.

If anyone can tell me of one, I would be most grateful.

They also have this number 0870 898 5050 which if you have a BT landline is 'inclusive' depending which option you are on

According to 192.com, they have a repair facility in Castleford which can be contacted on 01977 665665.

Another number to try is their Spares and Service department - 01977 665559.

Foxtrot2 wrote on Jul 1^st, 2009 at 6:04pm:

The address given is: Interchange Point, Renny Park Road, Newport Pagnell  MK16 0HA and the telephone number as 0844 122655. …

Please can you check this number again as it is one digit short.


Foxtrot2 wrote on Jul 1^st, 2009 at 6:04pm:

…  Other suppliers of Lieherr frig-freezers in the south of England, where I live,  give these same details for buyers who require their purchase to be serviced, as do other branches of Coolectric,.

In the subject title you say that this company is based in Wakefield. How do you know this and what is the full address?

Or
Liebherr-Great Britain Ltd.
Normandy Lane / Stratton Business Park
Biggleswade SG18 8QB

Telephone:  +44 1767 602-100
Fax:  +44 1767 602-110

Many thanks for these helpful and prompt replies. But also many apologies for the mistakes I made in making my very first posting. I must put these down to a combination of old age, inexperience and a degree of heat exhaustion, but carelessness and stupidity have crossed my mind.  There was also a degree of panic at the time, as all my papers had been put into storage while house renovation was in progress and I had to find details of purchase etc in time to make a late afternoon request for a service visit.

My first and all but inexplicable major error was to include "Wakefield" in the subject, accidentally copied from a note made before last year's purchase when I looked briefly at Coolectric amongst other sellers, though I did not buy from them.  

It had since become irrelevant insofar as Coolectric at the Newport Pagnell address is the only UK agency for technical service and maintenance indicated by Liebherr in their product manual & on their website at www.liebherr.com  

You, Dave, noticed that I had missed a digit from the telephone number, which should have read: 08444 122655.
(I must discover how to insert a quote box in a reply posting!)

It may well be that some sellers offer a comparable service locally to their own customers, but I bought on line and that is not available to me.  Even a seller wthin easy distance of my home in Surrey refers its customers to the Newport Pagnell number for service.

In any event, I see now on 1stdirectory.com that the address in Wakefield is given but throughout "no details are available", which may indicate that they have moved that branch elsewhere, as they are not included in at least one current list of businesses in Wakefield.  Which reminds me - thanks to jgxenite for mentioning 192.com - a useful site which I did not know existed.

Always appreciative of the service to provide alternative geographic telephone numbers, I am now equally impressed by this forum which I had never before visited.

Foxtrot2 wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2009 at 10:13am:

Which reminds me - thanks to jgxenite for mentioning 192.com - a useful site which I did not know existed. Always appreciative of the service to provide alternative geographic telephone numbers,

Another one worth visiting is www.118.com :)

Foxtrot2 wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2009 at 10:13am:

My first and all but inexplicable major error was to include "Wakefield" in the subject, accidentally copied from a note made before last year's purchase when I looked briefly at Coolectric amongst other sellers, though I did not buy from them.

I have removed this from the title of the thread.


Foxtrot2 wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2009 at 10:13am:

(I must discover how to insert a quote box in a reply posting!)

At the top right of every post you can select "Quote" and it will open up a box for you to reply which includes a quoted post.



192.com lists 0870 898 5050 which may be less worse than calling the 0844 number if you have these as inclusive calls with your provider.


We are looking for a 01908 number which is the local code for Newport Pagnell. To this end, a Google of coolectric 01908 reveals that Coolectric Ltd was aquired by Waterline Group Plc on 1 September 2005:

http://www.waterlinegroup.plc.uk/Acquisitions.php

A contact number given on this page for the chief executive is 01908 219759.

Perhaps the link to Wakefield, or nearby Castleford to be exact, is that that was (or still is) Coolectric's main office before its acquisition.

192.com lists Waterline's number at Jenna House, North Crawley Road, North Crawley, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, MK16 9TG as 0844 412 2524. :-X  BT Phonebook has no listing for Waterline.

A Google of waterline 01908 returns this page which gives 01908 219730.

Looking at the two 01908 numbers I found I tried 01908 219700, as it could be the first in the sequence which is often the switchboard. Indeed, it does appear to have been published as a general number at one time as a recording now redirects to 0870 556 1560 (which has since been changed to 0844 412 2524!).

I then tried 01908 219799 and got a fax machine. 01908 219798 answers with the same recording as the 0844 number, so it looks as though they've moved the main number just to get the revenue on the 0844 number.


A check of numbers 700 to 799 reveals that the message redirecting to 0870 number is also on 741 and 762. The message that is the same as the 0844 number and the one ending 798 is also on 721, 737, 746, 763, 774, and 785.

789 answers with a message from the Managing Director thanking the caller for their business and requesting they enter their STD code to direct the call to their local branch. Strangely, sometimes it answers as 798.  :-/

I have been unable to locate an alternative that answers as the original request, 08444 122655. I suggest you try 01908 219798 and let us know how you get on.

The number 01908219798 works instead of the 0844 number.  
I was kept holding on this 0844 number for 15 minutes listening to how reliable my broken fridge was.  Fed up I tried "Say No" but the replacement number listed there doesn't work.

I then googled the company which took me through to this chat and the correct replacement number listed above.

The people on the end of the 01908219798 number were helpful and polite and quicker than the 0844 number.  I recommend you redirect people using both the old 0870 989 5050 number and the 0844 number to 01908219798.
Thanks

Dave wrote on Jul 6^th, 2009 at 9:55pm:

I suggest you try 01908 219798 and let us know how you get on.

I have been away from my house or with builders for most of the time since you posted this suggestion. In the meanwhile Coolectric had faxed a small dealer a few miles from  me, who then sent a young man to attempt to repair my frigfreezer.
When I asked him whether the firm he worked for had an alternative telephone number for Coolectric, he commented immediately that he supposed that they had kept me a long time on the line!  It sounded as though he had heard that before.

Yesterday, after some prompting, his firms office gave me a number but when I called it just now it does not function.  When I called them again to check it, they simply put the 'phone down on me.  Maybe the topic is verboten.

Having your suggestion and Villier's posting in front of me, I have just called 01908 219798, ignored the irrelevant press this or that, and waited for the operator who announced it as "Waterline".   When I asked to  speak to whoever dealt with requests for repairs to Lieherr frigfeezers under warranty, she was unsure who that would be.  Eventually she transferred me to someone on the 08444122655 line.  She would have dealt with any requirement for repair that I had, she said, but told me that such calls should be made to that 08444 number!  

As Waterline have taken over Coolectric, presumably they are responsible for the policy of continuing to use an 08444 number for this purpose - and maybe they will eventually block access via their own switchboard.  For the moment, at least, it does "work", and it is good to see that the efforts of others on this thread have already resulted in at least one person getting through by this route.

The cynical nature of the system was underlined by the fact that when I called Coolectric originally time was spent obtaining from me model & serial numbers.  These had to be obtained again by the repairer because they were not transmitted in the fax sent to them. Maybe if I had gone to them directly in the first place with all the details, they would have repaired under warranty without reference to Coolectric.  Unfortunately, they are out of my telephone and Yellow Pages area and, as they deal equally with forty or fifty other manufacturers, they don't seem to come up in any sort of search for Liebherr dealers.

I would not have thought that the total money Coolectric make by using an 08444 number compensates for the poor image of Liebherr service arrangements that are the result.

Foxtrot2 wrote on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 1:51pm:

Yesterday, after some prompting, his firms office gave me a number but when I called it just now it does not function.  When I called them again to check it, they simply put the 'phone down on me.  Maybe the topic is verboten.

What's the number? It may help find a number for them.

While putting away the documents that came with my Liebherr frigfreezer, I noticed the large, bold heading "Customer service is important".  That prompted  me to see whether I could draw the attention of Liebherr themselves to the irritation and unneccesary cost caused to their customers by the 0844 line to Coolectric.    It appears that they have delegated the running of this sector of their business in the UK entirely to Coolectric but it is the name of Liebherr that is tarnished by any poor service such as this.  

The office of Liebherr Gt.Britain Ltd in Biggleswade mentioned by Tanllan seems to be concerned only with heavy machinery
and I finished up sending an email from here:
http://www.liebherr.com/hg/en/55503_55577.asp?IDLandnameCode=826&landname=United%20Kingdom

Giving all the details of how the present arrangement affects customers, I suggested that an 0800 or 0845 number would be more appropriate. I have asked why it is thought acceptable to use an 0844 number instead of one of those, or a geographic number, and requested a considered & authoritative reply.  

If I get one I will post it!

Given this website is against all 084x or 087x numbers, an 0845 wouldn't be any better than the 0844 number they have already.

Dave wrote on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 2:01pm:

Foxtrot2 wrote on Jul 10th, 2009 at 1:51pm: Yesterday, after some prompting, his firms office gave me a number but when I called it just now it does not function.  When I called them again to check it, they simply put the 'phone down on me.  Maybe the topic is verboten. What's the number? It may help find a number for them.

It made no sense to me but I tried it nevertheless:  01977665559

jgxenite wrote on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 6:15pm:

Given this website is against all 084x or 087x numbers, an 0845 wouldn't be any better than the 0844 number they have already.

Having only recently returned to using BT, I was under the impression that calling an 0845 number cost the caller the same as a local call from his number, regardless of the distance within the UK of the address called.  Not so?

From certain BT and TalkTalk packages, 0845 numbers are inclusive so you don't pay for them. This isn't a good thing though because it still costs for everyone else who uses it.

Foxtrot2 wrote on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 9:40pm:

Having only recently returned to using BT, I was under the impression that calling an 0845 number cost the caller the same as a local call from his number, regardless of the distance within the UK of the address called.  Not so?

With BT's current charging structure, an 0845 call is the same as or cheaper than a geographical (local/national) call. For this reason, they may be thought of as an alternative in special circumstances, namely BT's discounted rates.

0845 numbers are still revenue sharing numbers and this is reflected in the retail charges imposed by other telephone call providers being higher than to 01/02/03 numbers.