Doesn't feel right to me - your thoughts

[elanfan]

Bought a tanBris mono bloc tap 2 years ago. Comes with a 5 year parts guarantee one year labour. The tap has developed measles in the finish and the company have sent us a new one. No problem so far. However they won't pay for it to be swapped over. There is going to be a considerable call out and fitting cost for a plumber to put me back in the same position as I was before. The company refuse to consider this as its out side their labour guarantee period this is the bit that doesn't seem right to me. Your thoughts and is there any comeback? Goes and ducks.

[7795]

The guarantee seems concise enough although on the face of it it could be seen as a bit unfair; without seeing the full wording it is hard to be 100% though...

In the analogy that you have a new car with standard a 3 years warranty and the engine blows/deemed faulty, you would be annoyed if the dealer gave you a bill for the labour aspect of the engine swap/gave you a new engine and said good luck fitting it pal.

[essayer]

Surely it's an easy diy swap?

[Some Gump]

Seems right to me, 1 year labour means exactly that - and I'd expect it was probably limited to the tap itself, rather than the fitting / travel for plumber (otherwise they'd presumably expose themselves to potentiall call out charges to Orkney, or something!)

Can you not just DIY it? Unless it's some sort of really uber tap, it should just be 2 compression fittings and mount it to the sink - not the hardest of jobs?

[The Surveyor]

It's only a tap, swap it over yourself. 1 hour for an amateur, 15 mins for a professional plumber.

[elanfan]

A few years ago I'd have tried to do it myself with little problem but disability now precludes this.

The analogy given above regarding the car seems about right. Many cars have a few years guarantee and you'd expect replacement parts be fitted for you. Another might be say an iPad, battery packs up after 2 years and Apple just sending out a new battery and saying fit it yourself.

[Riley Blue]

I had a faulty tap a couple of years ago. The manufacturer replaced it under warranty. I removed the faulty one and fitted the new one. It took me 25 minutes.

[akirk]

it is a different analogy to a car and engine - that is a complete ecosystem so the variables are known - plus the engine and car generally come from the same place... and the same company was responsible for the design of how it all goes together... so see the engine as a sub-component to the car... plus there is an established system of mending / maintaining cars through dealers

with a tap and kitchen though the tap manufacturer has no idea of where / how you are going to fit it so can't hold responsibility for that - just a very different approach seems good that you got a replacement

[fastbikes76]

I'm surprised they even offered any labour guarantee to begin with. I'm in the heating/plumbing trade and if a part fails under warranty we get the part replaced FOC but we have to suffer the labour. So something like a failed 3 port valve means we have to return to site, drain down system, replace valve and fill up and test. None of that is covered apart from the actual valve head itself. The only loser in tis is us, customer gets job done free and warranty people replace part at cost.

[Some Gump]

elanfan said:

A few years ago I'd have tried to do it myself with little problem but disability now precludes this.

The analogy given above regarding the car seems about right. Many cars have a few years guarantee and you'd expect replacement parts be fitted for you. Another might be say an iPad, battery packs up after 2 years and Apple just sending out a new battery and saying fit it yourself.

Except it's not. The tap is a tap, it is not a working kitchen, or even a working sink. The iPhone and car are full products, with parts within them.

In your analogy, you'd have had to have purchased a full kitchen with warranty, not just the components. If the tap had failed internally, their obligations would be to supply replacement internals and fit them (although like in this case, they'd in reality just send you a new tap).

[elanfan]

fastbikes76 said:

I'm surprised they even offered any labour guarantee to begin with. I'm in the heating/plumbing trade and if a part fails under warranty we get the part replaced FOC but we have to suffer the labour. So something like a failed 3 port valve means we have to return to site, drain down system, replace valve and fill up and test. None of that is covered apart from the actual valve head itself. The only loser in tis is us, customer gets job done free and warranty people replace part at cost.

I understand that may be industry practise but that doesn't make it right. In that example you incur a lot of cost through no fault of your own. Others may disagree but I think you should be able to claim the cost from the manufacturer of the faulty part.

Any of the legal eagles here put a legal perspective to this please?

[ging84]

If they supplied and fitted then it would be reasonable to expect them to gurantee the labour, a year seems like a fairly reasonable minimum guarantee for domestic plumbing to me, and since that has been made clear in thier terms that it would be guaranteed for that time, and you were happy to pay the agreed price, you would need a fairly strong reason why you now feel it's not reasonable.

If they supplied only, paying for the labour of refitting would almost certainly be totally disproportionate at any point, so the 1 year guarantee already goes well beyond your consumer rights protection.

[TooMany2cvs]

elanfan said:

The analogy given above regarding the car seems about right. Many cars have a few years guarantee and you'd expect replacement parts be fitted for you.

Yes, you would - since they're clearly specified as being parts-and-labour warranties.

This is clearly specified as being 1yr parts-and-labour, 5yr parts-only.

[Fozziebear]

I'd say the labour would be to change cartridges and any parts that drop off, which is what an old company I worked for did. The warranty is only for the tap, def not the plumbing

[Riley Blue]

TooMany2cvs said:

Yes, you would - since they're clearly specified as being parts-and-labour warranties.

This is clearly specified as being 1yr parts-and-labour, 5yr parts-only.

I wonder how much the cost of items would increase if manufacturers had to incorporate the additional cost of four years' labour into the price. Personally, I'd rather take a chance, especially with something as simple as a tap.

[SlackBladder]

When you purchased the tap, did they insist it was fitted by an approved plumber of their choice?

Didn't think so.......

[ging84]

elanfan said:

I understand that may be industry practise but that doesn't make it right. In that example you incur a lot of cost through no fault of your own. Others may disagree but I think you should be able to claim the cost from the manufacturer of the faulty part.

Any of the legal eagles here put a legal perspective to this please?

What you suggest would be crippling for business.
The world is full of parts that cost a few pounds or even pennies, but due where they have been installed to replace would cost hundreds, sometimes thousands as times as much to replace.
How much you think it would cost to buy even the cheapest nut an bolt if the manufacture was responsible the cost of the labour to replace it?

[Toltec]

elanfan said:

A few years ago I'd have tried to do it myself with little problem but disability now precludes this.

The analogy given above regarding the car seems about right. Many cars have a few years guarantee and you'd expect replacement parts be fitted for you. Another might be say an iPad, battery packs up after 2 years and Apple just sending out a new battery and saying fit it yourself.

If you had purchased and had it fitted from a garage I'd agree, the garage should sort it out. If you just purchased the part and fitted it yourself or had someone fit it then the risk is yours.

I have helped out neighbours with the odd problem and they have in turn helped me, e.g. extra hands to assemble a shed. I'll admit changing kitchen or bath taps is not my favourite job as access is often tight so a certain amount of swearing occurs, but anyone vaguely handy can do it with the right tools.

[anonymous-user]

I am a quallified professional plumber and your the type of customer we hate.


Youve clearly been told 1 year labour warranty and its failed after 2 years, either learn to do it yourself or pay up for someone in the know to do it.

Stop trying to get everything done for free.

[cat with a hat]

OP.. It sounds like you purchased a single tap from by the sounds of it a large retailer with low margins a few years ago. They didn't fit it the first time, so why the fk would they fit it now?

If you spent £30k on a complete kitchen from a single company that installed everything, then yes you do have a leg on.