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.

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.

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

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

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




Another one worth visiting is www.118.com

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.

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


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.

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...

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!

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


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