Appliance Life Extinct
Discussion
Got the house tarted up a few months back along with a new kitchen and the washing machine has given up the ghost after two months of light use. Checked both fuses and switch and they're fine so it's definitely the appliance.
I always thought it was the retailer that was responsible up to a year but phoned him today and he fobbed me off with ' Not our problem mate, it's the manufacturer you need to deal with'
Is it the retailer or manufacturer I have to bother. The machine was over £500 so not bottom of the basement and they fact it's given up after two months is ridiculous considering the previous one lasted 10 years.
Should I ask for a replacement or will they just repair it. What am I entitled to under the law.
I always thought it was the retailer that was responsible up to a year but phoned him today and he fobbed me off with ' Not our problem mate, it's the manufacturer you need to deal with'
Is it the retailer or manufacturer I have to bother. The machine was over £500 so not bottom of the basement and they fact it's given up after two months is ridiculous considering the previous one lasted 10 years.
Should I ask for a replacement or will they just repair it. What am I entitled to under the law.
Go back to the retailer and tell them to stop being daft. Refuse to leave until it's fixed. Or ask a manager to put it in writing that they are refusing to do anything with a two month old machine.
Legal people will talk about contract with retailer etc... Sad people will comment on why you don't need to spend that much on an appliance... And some odd ball will claim you are being difficult by not expecting the store to fix it. But in my obnoxious opinion you should just make a pain of yourself until they sort it.
You can't demand a new one though. If you could everyone would demand a new car if anything went on early in the life of any motor. They are allowed to fix it if they chose - it's just more common for them to replace a faulty item generally. Again legal types will talk about sales of goods act and you needing to give them a reasonable chance of fixing it before rejecting it.
Legal people will talk about contract with retailer etc... Sad people will comment on why you don't need to spend that much on an appliance... And some odd ball will claim you are being difficult by not expecting the store to fix it. But in my obnoxious opinion you should just make a pain of yourself until they sort it.
You can't demand a new one though. If you could everyone would demand a new car if anything went on early in the life of any motor. They are allowed to fix it if they chose - it's just more common for them to replace a faulty item generally. Again legal types will talk about sales of goods act and you needing to give them a reasonable chance of fixing it before rejecting it.
I'd be contacting whoever can repair or replace it the quickest.
If the manufacturer can get a service guy there quickly what do you have to lose ?
If you start to get messed about after trying the manufacturer, then get back to the retailer.
We all know who your contract is with.... But at the end of the day you surely want the least time spent in the launderette.
If the manufacturer can get a service guy there quickly what do you have to lose ?
If you start to get messed about after trying the manufacturer, then get back to the retailer.
We all know who your contract is with.... But at the end of the day you surely want the least time spent in the launderette.
Thank him for his response.
Then remind him of his responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act & that you expect him to comply or you will be making a complaint to Trading Standards.
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
Does he have a head office? Might be worth a call to them.
Then remind him of his responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act & that you expect him to comply or you will be making a complaint to Trading Standards.
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
Does he have a head office? Might be worth a call to them.
Unless the law has changed my understanding is your contract is with the retailer as that's who you paid.
Now with some products the manufacturer will offer a repair/replacement service that's better than the retailer would offer (computer monitors leap to mind here as often the manufacturer offers a straight swap out).
However, if you accept a repair/replacement directly from the manufacturer at that point I believe you have no comeback against the retailer should there be an issue with the repair/replacement.
Happy to be corrected (as no doubt I will be if I'm wrong
).
Now with some products the manufacturer will offer a repair/replacement service that's better than the retailer would offer (computer monitors leap to mind here as often the manufacturer offers a straight swap out).
However, if you accept a repair/replacement directly from the manufacturer at that point I believe you have no comeback against the retailer should there be an issue with the repair/replacement.
Happy to be corrected (as no doubt I will be if I'm wrong
).Contacted the manufacturer who are sending an engineer out to try and fix it. I would like a replacement as it just screams poor build quality for an appliance to pack up after three months use max.
The retailer has fobbed me off and washed his hands even though i've quoted the law and he has still denied it's his problem.
A friend was going to spend £20k+ with this small retailer shortly. They've now decided to go elsewhere.
The retailer has fobbed me off and washed his hands even though i've quoted the law and he has still denied it's his problem.
A friend was going to spend £20k+ with this small retailer shortly. They've now decided to go elsewhere.
The retailer is liable, but if they sold you something with a manufacturer warranty which meets all the sellers obligations under the SOGA (eg no cost to you, reasonable time scale, reasonably convenient, still in business etc) they can insist that you use it, unless you are going down the path of rejecting the goods.
The lawyers will no doubt disagree go on about some legal definition of a warranty, insist you can rock up to any retailer who sold you anything that broke, pick on the first person you see, insist they personally handle it, and give your balls a tickle while they are at it. Or make 1 call to the retailer and expect them to make the necessary arrangements with the manufacturer to fit a repair around your incredibly busy schedule and get a basket of kittens thrown in, because that is the kind of service they get from a high end department store, but it isn't the way it has to be.
It's terrible customer service for the retailer to just fob you off, but as always with these stories you only get the customer's side of the story. In my experience of some years working in retail, any customer talking about laws, and mentioning contracts is almost always wrong, and usually expecting something quite unreasonable.
The lawyers will no doubt disagree go on about some legal definition of a warranty, insist you can rock up to any retailer who sold you anything that broke, pick on the first person you see, insist they personally handle it, and give your balls a tickle while they are at it. Or make 1 call to the retailer and expect them to make the necessary arrangements with the manufacturer to fit a repair around your incredibly busy schedule and get a basket of kittens thrown in, because that is the kind of service they get from a high end department store, but it isn't the way it has to be.
It's terrible customer service for the retailer to just fob you off, but as always with these stories you only get the customer's side of the story. In my experience of some years working in retail, any customer talking about laws, and mentioning contracts is almost always wrong, and usually expecting something quite unreasonable.
Your contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer. The retailer is legally responsible for organising a repair. If that involves contacting the manufacturer to get the repair done (since the retailer has a contract with the manufacturer, the manufacturer being responsible to provide a repair to the retailer) legally speaking it is the retailer's job to do so, not yours.
Sounds like the retailer is being an arse. If the manufacturer is offering to deal with you directly, you might consider it less hassle to take them up on that offer than to deal with a clearly incompetent retailer. But, if the manufacturer doesn't complete the repair to your satisfaction, you could have a battle on your hands.
Your other option is to escalate at the retailer. Head office if they are a national.
Of course if the retailer is actually saying: "Ah yes Sir, that's a Hotzannusoboshipoint, we contract the manufacturer to provide our repair service to you on that one." then the retailer is not being an arse. They simply have an agreement with the manufacturer where the manufacturer provides the repair service to you on behalf of the retailer and there is no breach of the SOGA.
Sounds like the retailer is being an arse. If the manufacturer is offering to deal with you directly, you might consider it less hassle to take them up on that offer than to deal with a clearly incompetent retailer. But, if the manufacturer doesn't complete the repair to your satisfaction, you could have a battle on your hands.
Your other option is to escalate at the retailer. Head office if they are a national.
Of course if the retailer is actually saying: "Ah yes Sir, that's a Hotzannusoboshipoint, we contract the manufacturer to provide our repair service to you on that one." then the retailer is not being an arse. They simply have an agreement with the manufacturer where the manufacturer provides the repair service to you on behalf of the retailer and there is no breach of the SOGA.
The manufacturer sent out an engineer this morning to look at it and after a good 10 minutes he came to the conclusion I had. It is dead and needs a new board to get it working again.
This machine is TWO AND A HALF MONTHS OLD so for it to pack up clearly screams of poor construction.
Can I reject this machine even though they said they'll repair it.
As explained earlier this is being done through the manufacturer and the retailer has washed there hands completely even when confronted with the SOGA.
This machine is TWO AND A HALF MONTHS OLD so for it to pack up clearly screams of poor construction.
Can I reject this machine even though they said they'll repair it.
As explained earlier this is being done through the manufacturer and the retailer has washed there hands completely even when confronted with the SOGA.
velocefica said:
Can I reject this machine even though they said they'll repair it.
Novelocefica said:
As explained earlier this is being done through the manufacturer and the retailer has washed there hands completely even when confronted with the SOGA.
Small claims court would soon sort that out.velocefica said:
This machine is TWO AND A HALF MONTHS OLD so for it to pack up clearly screams of poor construction.
he manufacturer and the retailer has washed there hands completely even when confronted with the SOGA.
The fact that it is two and a half months old screams of you having had 10 weeks use out of it. Far too late to reject it now.he manufacturer and the retailer has washed there hands completely even when confronted with the SOGA.
singlecoil said:
Retailers will often advise contacting the manufacturers when a machine needs to be repaired. They will contact them on your behalf if you like, but that doesn't give you the chance to set the appointment. After two months, it's definitely a repair rather than a replacement.
It does not matter what the retailer "advises". The law is clear: it is the retailer's sole responsibility under the Sale of Goods Act. If a repair is a reasonable solution then that is what should happen. If a repair would take unduly long or leave the goods in a condition materially worse than when new, replacement is the appropriate remedy.Retroman said:
velocefica said:
Can I reject this machine even though they said they'll repair it.
Novelocefica said:
As explained earlier this is being done through the manufacturer and the retailer has washed there hands completely even when confronted with the SOGA.
Small claims court would soon sort that out.Zod said:
singlecoil said:
Retailers will often advise contacting the manufacturers when a machine needs to be repaired. They will contact them on your behalf if you like, but that doesn't give you the chance to set the appointment. After two months, it's definitely a repair rather than a replacement.
It does not matter what the retailer "advises". The law is clear: it is the retailer's sole responsibility under the Sale of Goods Act. If a repair is a reasonable solution then that is what should happen. If a repair would take unduly long or leave the goods in a condition materially worse than when new, replacement is the appropriate remedy.We already know that the manufacturer has already been to see it in less than 2 days. If the board takes an unreasonable amount of time to arrive then of course a replacement would be appropriate, but in all likelihood it will be supplied and fitted within a couple more days.
Nothing in the above affects the OP's statutory rights, BTW.
Interesting thing about Retailer and Manufacturer. We had a new built in Oven and Hob installed in our kitchen, and after its first use cooking a kids pizza and being on for no longer then 15 mins the glass door blew out. Anyway same story we contacted Retailer who told us to contact the Manufacturer. The Manufacturer sent out an engineer who agreed a replacemnt is needed.
Now this is where it got interesting. Manufacturer agreed to replace oven but didnt have our oven in stock, I said to manufacturer I can walk into local retailer and pick one up as they have them in stock, No said manufacturer. Weird hey? Anyway they offered me other models which didnt match the hob so I rejected unless they where going to replace hob to match.
After nearly 4 weeks we had a different oven replaced. 4 weeks is quite long without a oven but what I failed to understand is how can retailers have this oven in stock but the manufacturer not? This must be a new thing as in the past faulty goods have been replaced by the retailer no questions asked. It may just be we used the same retailer OP, or perhaps its a new cost cutting retailer thing.
Now this is where it got interesting. Manufacturer agreed to replace oven but didnt have our oven in stock, I said to manufacturer I can walk into local retailer and pick one up as they have them in stock, No said manufacturer. Weird hey? Anyway they offered me other models which didnt match the hob so I rejected unless they where going to replace hob to match.
After nearly 4 weeks we had a different oven replaced. 4 weeks is quite long without a oven but what I failed to understand is how can retailers have this oven in stock but the manufacturer not? This must be a new thing as in the past faulty goods have been replaced by the retailer no questions asked. It may just be we used the same retailer OP, or perhaps its a new cost cutting retailer thing.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff