Potentially dangerous design fault - what can I expect?
Discussion
Hi chaps. I’m hoping the PH legal eagles can provide me with a bit of consumer rights advice.
I bought a Hotpoint Quadrio FF4DX fridge/freezer around 20 months ago and I've just received a phone call from my wife where she told me that upon opening the left hand fridge door there was a loud bang and flash followed by some smoke emanating from the top of the unit.
The unit is out of its one year warranty period and I haven’t bought a replacement aftermarket insurance/warranty scheme to cover it.
I suspected that it might just be a fuse that had blown so did a bit of digging around on the internet looking to see how to replace it. However, instead of discovering where and how to change the fuses I found lots of articles & review posts describing a design flaw whereby there is a live mains feed to the left hand door that is routed round the hinge. Over time, the hinge wears through the live mains cable and causes it to earth (presumably against the shell
) and blow the fuse. This, to me, is a dangerous fault regardless of the fused protection. Luckily no injury has yet happened to anyone (that I am aware of).
The fridge was bought from Boots Kitchen Appliances which are a subsidiary of DRL Limited. My wife has phoned Hotpoint and they have said that someone will phone her back as it is a common fault.
1. What can I expect from this? I am aware that the fridge is out of warranty but the way I see it, this is a serious design defect that borders on dangerous and I don’t really want to pay an expensive repair fee for something which is neither an accident nor wear and tear.
2. Assuming I should, who should I be pursuing this with? The retailer or the manufacturer?
I’m generally not the complaining type, preferring to just stump up the cash and have a quiet life so I’m not really experience in how and who to complain to.
I bought a Hotpoint Quadrio FF4DX fridge/freezer around 20 months ago and I've just received a phone call from my wife where she told me that upon opening the left hand fridge door there was a loud bang and flash followed by some smoke emanating from the top of the unit.
The unit is out of its one year warranty period and I haven’t bought a replacement aftermarket insurance/warranty scheme to cover it.
I suspected that it might just be a fuse that had blown so did a bit of digging around on the internet looking to see how to replace it. However, instead of discovering where and how to change the fuses I found lots of articles & review posts describing a design flaw whereby there is a live mains feed to the left hand door that is routed round the hinge. Over time, the hinge wears through the live mains cable and causes it to earth (presumably against the shell
) and blow the fuse. This, to me, is a dangerous fault regardless of the fused protection. Luckily no injury has yet happened to anyone (that I am aware of).The fridge was bought from Boots Kitchen Appliances which are a subsidiary of DRL Limited. My wife has phoned Hotpoint and they have said that someone will phone her back as it is a common fault.
1. What can I expect from this? I am aware that the fridge is out of warranty but the way I see it, this is a serious design defect that borders on dangerous and I don’t really want to pay an expensive repair fee for something which is neither an accident nor wear and tear.
2. Assuming I should, who should I be pursuing this with? The retailer or the manufacturer?
I’m generally not the complaining type, preferring to just stump up the cash and have a quiet life so I’m not really experience in how and who to complain to.
Thanks chaps. Curiously the Sales of Goods Act stuff that I found on the web doesn't appear to try and specifiy suitable periods of longevity for white goods - though a number of news sites appear to agree on 6 years being generally accepted. I'll try and get a repair out of the retailer. What I want, however, is a long term repair - I don't want to have to do this again in two years. A Speed Six engine, it ain't 
Right. My wife spoke to Hotpoint and they are coming out on Friday with a "replacement" door. I have no idea whether this is a redesigned door or not but as luck would have it I have a day off on Friday so I can interrogate the engineer 
My previous fridge was over 10 years old and the main reason for changing it was that it was horrifically inefficient, noisy and frosted up all the time even though on paper it still worked. The new one was quite a bit dearer - around £600 IIRC - so whilst not top of the range I am somewhat peeved at the poor engineering. I had a look at the hinge in question last night and it is a dumb design. It's not poor quality construction, it's just a stupid design.
The trouble with consumerism is that it becomes catch22 - goods are not expected to last, so they aren't designed to, hence they don't then people need to replace them more quickly etc. Ad infinitum.
My previous fridge was over 10 years old and the main reason for changing it was that it was horrifically inefficient, noisy and frosted up all the time even though on paper it still worked. The new one was quite a bit dearer - around £600 IIRC - so whilst not top of the range I am somewhat peeved at the poor engineering. I had a look at the hinge in question last night and it is a dumb design. It's not poor quality construction, it's just a stupid design.
The trouble with consumerism is that it becomes catch22 - goods are not expected to last, so they aren't designed to, hence they don't then people need to replace them more quickly etc. Ad infinitum.
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