Grandmother 'Kidnaps' Washing Machine Repair Man

A grandmother 'kidnapped' a repair man after she became sick of her constantly broken washing machine.

Tracey Fox of Thornley, County Durham in the United Kingdom had survived three weeks without her washing machine, but that was enough. Tracey barricaded herself against the door and refused to let the engineer out of her home until the machine was totally fixed.

"I'm not proud of my actions, but I felt there was no other option," the grandmother of two tells the 'Daily Telegraph'.

"It sounds stupid thinking about it now, but it was the final straw."

Tracey bought the washing machine 10 months ago, and said she had requested an engineer five times.

"The company had already cancelled on me four days earlier and I was already annoyed about that. It broke early December, but they told me that I would have to wait until after Christmas."

"When the man came round, he checked the machine and pulled out a 2p and said: 'That's what's causing your problem'. But the machine still wasn't working, and I asked when he would fix the other problems."

"He said that I'd have to pay for any repairs, even though the machine was still under warranty, and I might as well get a new one because the amount it would cost to fix it would be the same as buying another one.

"Then he was going to leave and that's when I lost it. I told him he'd have to dial 999 because there was no way I was letting him out until it was fixed.

After police were called, the situation was resolved and the store has since offered her and her husband Terry a new washing machine.

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