Thousands left with useless warranties

ESCOM COLLAPSE

Thousands of Escom customers have been left with #5 million of worthless extended warranties following the chain's collapse.

Many customers bought warranties in the belief that they were purchasing separate ICL guarantees with the company's name appearing on the receipts.

ICL now claims it would have sued Escom for "blatant misrepresentation" had it known.

By early summer about a third of all Escom computers were sold with the lucrative three-year extended warranties with ICL Sorbus providing the helpline and administering repairs.

ICL was paid in arrears for each Escom query or engineer's visit but payments started falling behind. When the chain went into liquidation ICL was still taking 1,500 to 2,000 calls a day and offered customers new guarantees for which they would have to pay.

In an effort to win back its million-pound plus loss on the contract, ICL also started offering telephone back-up to Escom customers on a premium rate phone line.

Escom's former Dutch wing has set up shop in Cambridge in a bid to sell through retail and OEM in the UK. It is staffed by former employees of Escom in the UK, purchasing director Martin Hanley and marketing director Sara McKee.