A SHOP which "lost" a father's Christmas present and then told him he would have to pay extra for another has backed down and offered to replace it free of charge - after intervention from the BEN.

Neil Barker bought a dishwasher and other items from Currys superstore in Turton Street in November and asked the shop to store the goods until Christmas.

But when he went to pick them up last week, more than a month after he paid for them, he was told the dishwasher had gone.

Mr Barker was told he could have another one - but only if he paid an extra £75.

"I couldn't believe it. I'm a good customer and I spent a small fortune at that shop. It was bad enough that they lost my dishwasher, but to try to charge me more to buy another was diabolical," said Mr Barker, of Green Way, Hall i'th' Wood.

"To say I was cheesed off is an understatement. I argued with the manager till I was blue in the face, phoned Currys head office and even contacted the police but I wasn't getting anywhere."

Then Mr Barker came to the BEN. We contacted the store and asked for an explanation.

Hours later a spokesman said that Mr Barker could have a replacement dishwasher after all, at no extra cost and apologised for the mistake.

The spokesman added: "We don't know how this happened but we hold our hands up and admit we made a mistake. We are very sorry and we are trying to sort it out.

"We have a white dishwasher in the store at the moment and if Mr Barker can get there to pick it up, the machine is his at no extra cost."

Although Mr Barker is delighted that the matter has been sorted, he is angry that the dishwasher wasn't there for his son to unwrap on Christmas morning.

His son, Darren, 21, is moving into a house with his pregnant girlfriend, Laura, in the New Year and the dishwasher was a Christmas surprise.

"I'm disappointed that I couldn't give him the present on the right day but I am grateful to the BEN for sorting things out," said Mr Barker, who will pick up the dishwasher this week.

"I am still very angry at Currys. They had an attitude of 'tough' until the BEN got involved. I paid for that machine a month ago and it is their fault they lost it, not mine."

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