Domestic Appliance cover

Poppy9

I bought a Hotpoint Fridge Freezer last June which cost me £319. I today had a letter from Domgem offering to cover it for 2 years for call out/labour (parts covered by Hotpoint) for £54 which is payable in 12 interest free monthly payments.

A new FF same model is now £400

This sounds quite a good deal to me as my previous FF fridge freezer packed in when it was about 3 year old and it wasn't economical to repair.

Rosebery_2

These extended warranty plans are a scam.

The law (Sale of Goods Act) requires manufacturers have to provide equipment free of manufacturing defects for a period of 6 years from the date you purchased it. After a 6 month period it is upto the consumer to prove manufacturing defect and not fair wear and tear.

Poppy9

I appreciate that but for 50p a week it saves me a lot of hassle. My FF is essential so I need it working or replaced and don't have time to fight Dixons. If it was something like my cooker/microwave/dishwasher or washing machine that I can manage without for a week or so then I wouldn't bother.

I would probably have to take Dixons to the small claims court to get restitution over a year old appliance.

Rosebery_2

Poppy9 wrote: »

................ don't have time to fight Dixons

Which is. of course, exactly what they are relying on when mugging you for the additional dosh.

Cheers

SandC

I think you were just unlucky with your old one. My last one didn't even pack in completely, it was just old and a bit tired and kept freezing in the fridge. That was 14 years old when I replaced it and was a budget buy when it was new in 1994.

I was only conned into buying extended warranty blah blah once on my last stereo and that ended up lasting 10 years as well, with a lot of use.

Poppy9

SandC wrote: »

I think you were just unlucky with your old one. My last one didn't even pack in completely, it was just old and a bit tired and kept freezing in the fridge. That was 14 years old when I replaced it and was a budget buy when it was new in 1994.

I was only conned into buying extended warranty blah blah once on my last stereo and that ended up lasting 10 years as well, with a lot of use.

I have found that some of the budget buys I've bought have lasted better than the "quality ones". My worst buy was a Bosch washing machine. I gave up on it after 3 years as it had been repaired and repaired and still it didn't wash properly and it was noisy etc.

My Hygena dishwasher that was free with my kitchen has lasted over 14 years without one repair.

CKdesigner

Hi All, Miele are the longest lasting appliances, everything is built to last 20 years. That's not to say it won't go wrong in that time but over the lifetime of the appliance, Miele has the lowest whole life ownership costs.

ormus

my auntie was conned by Domgen. her oven went bust. so she claimed on the insurance. (99 quid policy).
she had to pay an extra 39 quid delivery and an excess of 26 quid.
all for an electric oven. she could have nearly bought a new one herself for the same total money.

Poppy9

ormus wrote: »

my auntie was conned by Domgen. her oven went bust. so she claimed on the insurance. (99 quid policy).
she had to pay an extra 39 quid delivery and an excess of 26 quid.
all for an electric oven. she could have nearly bought a new one herself for the same total money.

I asked about their replacement issue and they said they issue vouchers to the value of the goods from a store of their choice or I can take a cash offer and purchase myself. They did say I would be responsible for delivery costs.

Fifer

Rosebery wrote: »

The law (Sale of Goods Act) requires manufacturers have to provide equipment free of manufacturing defects for a period of 6 years from the date you purchased it. After a 6 month period it is upto the consumer to prove manufacturing defect and not fair wear and tear.

This is not the case, but a common misperception. The SAG requires that goods are fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality but does not specify any period of longevity. The test for satisfactory quality is not that goods will last six years, but are of the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking into account the price, description and any other relevant factors.

The 'six years' confusion arises from the limit within which you can bring a court case in England and Wales (slightly different rules apply in Scotland).

dougk_2

Personally I beleive that all these extended warrantties are a con. If you took one out for all your appliances (FF,cooker,washing machine, dishwasher, boiler, TV, video etc etc) you would be paying out more in a year than any oner (or two) items cost.
Put the money aside in another account and when something breaks either get it repaired using this money or replace it. Most domestic appliance parts that fail are not 100s of pounds , many just a few pence or a few pounds and using local companies/engineers for the work is good for both your bank balance , the local community and the local economy.