Zero customer care

When my 60-year-old Kenwood Chef A701 started making a strange noise, I contacted Eurostore via their website to ask if they could repair such an old mixer. I got a response from Sershan Perumal who said although parts were no longer available "Our technicians can assess your machine to find the cause of the grinding noise and try and assist where possible." So I took it to the Pinetown branch. It was open but deserted. When eventually a person emerged, a very grumpy "Cyril" was called to help us. He said there were no parts for my Kenwood. I said I knew but I had been told by Mr Perumal, they would look at it and at least find the problem. He refused. I asked, what if something had just come loose and could be *****ed back in place. Even a service? No. He declined to even touch it. I took it home and e-mailed Mr Perumal who contacted the Pinetown repair shop. After a bit of back and forth their response was "The diagnosis was that it was the gearbox that is worn and no new spares are available". I asked how a "diagnosis" could have been made when Cyril had refused to even look at the mixer. I heard no more. Last month I happened to mention the problem to a microwave repairer. He offered to look at the old Kenwood Chef. After a service, clean and re-oiling, it sounds better than it ever has. The cost? R140. My conclusion is that Cyril at Eurostore/Philtech in Pinetown simply couldn't by bothered. With that kind of attitude I wouldn't take any appliance to them - not even a new one.