AN ANGRY Birmingham woman who was embroiled in a bitter battle with retail giant Argos over a tumble dryer has won her fight – thanks to the Birmingham Mail.

Julie Morris, aged 51, of Sutton Coldfield, contacted the Mail after being left “outraged” by the service she had received from the firm over a £160 Indesit machine she ordered online last November.

The housewife bought the tumble dryer for her 90-year-old grandmother, Elsie Bow, of after the pensioner’s old one broke down.

Mrs Morris said widow Mrs Bow, a mother of four, grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of 13, suffers from serious arthritis and is practically house-bound.

“My nan can’t get out to go to the launderette and relies heavily on a tumble dryer,” said Mrs Morris, a mum-of-one and stepmum-of-two.

“Without it she has to hang all her wet clothes over the heaters and rails in her flat, which means she is spending extra money to try and heat her house and having all the damp clothes lying around is giving her breathing difficulties.”

Mrs Morris claims the new tumble dryer failed to work properly when they first tried to use it after it was delivered to Mrs Bow’s home in early December.

“An engineer came and looked at it and said the motor was not working and it would need to be replaced,” she added.

But Mrs Morris claims that, despite countless calls to Argos, the broken machine had still not been replaced two months after the engineer declared it unfit for purpose.

“Every time I call Argos I am told I have to organise the replacement through Indesit but, when I call Indesit, they say it is Argos that has to organise it,” added Mrs Morris.

“I can’t believe that Argos, being such a big company, cannot sort something as simple as replacing faulty goods. I’m at the end of my tether now and I just want a refund so I can get my nan the tumble dryer she needs.”

The Mail contacted Argos, which thanked the paper for bringing the situation to the company’s attention and, within days, the firm had collected the broken machine and issued Mrs Morris with a refund, as well as a letter of apology and a £30 gift card as a goodwill gesture.

“We were sorry to learn that Julie Morris had problems with the Indesit tumble dryer she purchased for her grandmother,” a spokesman added. “Following the Mail’s contact with us, our customer service team immediately contacted the customer.