My elderly parents spent much of last year dealing with what should have been a straightforward insurance claim after a dishwasher installation by John Lewis caused a leak.

Instead, it became a year-long ordeal, marked by repeated failures and an almost total absence of accountability.

The dishwasher had been leaking imperceptibly for more than a year and saturated walls and floors in the kitchen, hall and dining room by the time the damp was discovered.

John Lewis accepted liability, passed the claim to a claims management company appointed by its insurer, and effectively stepped away.

My parents were repeatedly told that if they did not accept what were clearly substandard repairs, they risked being left to pay the costs themselves.

Unacceptable delays forced them to live in a series of hotel rooms with their dog for eight months, with no cooking facilities and a food allowance of £10 a day.

Ultimately, they contracted and paid for repairs themselves to ensure the house was returned to a habitable state. The mental, physical and financial impact on them has been considerable.

They are still owed £3,300 for the repairs that they funded, as the insurer has refused to foot the full cost.

I believe they should receive compensation for the months they spent eating cold picnics in their hotel room to save on meals out.

JK, Ireland

Your parents chose John Lewis because it was a trusted brand. However, the company refused to assist them when they complained of being stonewalled by the claims management company.

The surveyor, eventually appointed by your parents to get the job finished, concluded that the walls had been replastered by the claims firm’s contractors before they had been sufficiently dried, and that a damp membrane was required to prevent the residual moisture leaching back into the rooms.

The claims firm confused a membrane with a damp course, argued that this amounted to “betterment”, and refused to refund your parents. It eventually agreed to pay half the cost, leaving a £3,300 shortfall.

Initially, John Lewis refused to comment because it was an “open legal case”.

It took it several weeks to work out what it meant by that, since you had not threatened, or started, legal action. When it finally clarified its position, it decided it could not be shared for legal reasons.

The claims company cited legal privilege for refusing to disclose information and the insurer said it had no records of the claim as the claims firm was acting on its behalf.

A month after my first contact John Lewis still said it was seeking more information, and that your parents were free to get (and pay for) legal advice.

I obtained legal advice myself on whether John Lewis can absolve itself of all responsibility for remedying its own service failure. It cannot, reckoned Gary Rycroft, a partner at Joseph A Jones Solicitors.

“Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the retailer remains legally responsible to the consumer, even if they appoint insurers or claims firms to handle the claim,” he says. “If the claims process stalls, or is mishandled, the retailer can still be liable.”

Almost three months after my first contact, John Lewis refunded your parents £3,300 as a “goodwill gesture”.

However, that sum included £2,000 it had already offered to compensate for the distress and inconvenience of the long months your parents were unable to live at home. It has refused to budge on your demands for compensation for the impact.

A John Lewis spokesperson says: “We apologise that the original installation did not meet our high standards on this occasion. We have worked with the customer to resolve the issues identified, and have paid very significant compensation to cover remedial works and associated personal costs.”

Firm that puts in the grind

Some companies are willing to own faults, or even step in when their legal responsibility has expired.

JA of London writes: “A wedding gift 24 years ago, our Cole & Mason pepper mill, has finally developed a fault. I contacted them to ask if I could buy a replacement plastic bracket that holds the grinder mechanism in place.

After a swift exchange of mails, they sent us a replacement mill, with a lifetime guarantee, for no charge.

In these days of shoddy tat and impenetrable self-service AI bots, I salute their quality product, and outstanding customer service.”