John Lewis Direct and a Faulty Washing Machine

A380Heavy

My Partner used her Mastercard to purchase an Indesit Washing Machine from John Lewis Direct (online) on 22/12/09.

The machine was delivered on 29/12/09.

The drum paddles (x3) became loose after just under 3 months of use.

We rang John Lewis who asked us to contact Indesit and the paddles were replaced on 30/03/10.

The paddles became loose again just 10 days later on 09/04/10 - with one of them even becoming detached. They only fasten on to the drum by little plastic lugs which just clip in and it is these which keep breaking.

As far as we are concerned we have lost faith in the machine and do not believe that it is 'fit for purpose as described'.

I have looked in to the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) to see what our right are but so far John Lewis are saying this:

• The Sale of Goods Act is just a set of guidelines.
• The warranty we have is a repair warranty and they want to keep repairing the machine until it is no longer economical to do so.

We have complained to them and we have been promised 'a gesture of good will'

In our complaint we have quoted that we do not believe the machine is of resonable quality and it is not fit for purpose.

We have asked to have the machine replaced - the machine we bought ws £299 and the replacement machine we have specified we would like is £359. We have asked that the 'gesture of goodwill' helps towards the cost of the alternative machine.

Am I wrong is saying that our statutory rights are that we can demand a refund or replacement on a like for like basis? Is it within reason to want to pay extra for a different machine having lost confidence in the Indesit machine.

I should point out that we have used automatic washing machines for over 30 years without an occurance such as this.

Please help and let me know just exactly what are our rights. The person who called me from John Lewis this morning wanted to put me on to her manager but I wanted time to research my rights first.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

derrick

A380Heavy wrote: »

I have looked in to the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) to see what our right are but so far John Lewis are saying this:

• The Sale of Goods Act is just a set of guidelines.
• The warranty we have is a repair warranty and they want to keep repairing the machine until it is no longer economical to do so..

The SoGA is the Law of the Land, and is set in statute.

They are allowed to repair, however, under SoGA you can reject it as not being of "satisfactory quality" and in the first 6 months it is up to the retailer, (not the manufacturer), to prove otherwise.

The warranty is in addition to your statutory rights, (SoGA), and cannot take them away.

You need to inform JL of their legal obligations in writing.

Under SoGA Part 5A,
48A Introductory
1) This section applies if—
(a) the buyer deals as consumer or, in Scotland, there is a consumer contract in which the buyer is a consumer, and

(b) the goods do not conform to the contract of sale at the time of delivery.

(2) If this section applies, the buyer has the right—

(a) under and in accordance with section 48B below, to require the seller to repair or replace the goods, or

(b) under and in accordance with section 48C below—

(i) to require the seller to reduce the purchase price of the goods to the buyer by an appropriate amount, or

(ii) to rescind the contract with regard to the goods in question.


(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above goods which do not conform to the contract of sale at any time within the period of six months starting with the date on which the goods were delivered to the buyer must be taken not to have so conformed at that date.

See also 48B Repair or replacement of the goods, under S48A

48C Reduction of purchase price or rescission of contract

(1) If section 48A above applies, the buyer may—

(a) require the seller to reduce the purchase price of the goods in question to the buyer by an appropriate amount, or


(b) rescind the contract with regard to those goods,


if the condition in subsection (2) below is satisfied.

(2) The condition is that—

(a) by virtue of section 48B(3) above the buyer may require neither repair nor replacement of the goods; or


(b) the buyer has required the seller to repair or replace the goods, but the seller is in breach of the requirement of section 48B(2)(a) above to do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the buyer.


(3) For the purposes of this Part, if the buyer rescinds the contract, any reimbursement to the buyer may be reduced to take account of the use he has had of the goods since they were delivered to him.




.

A380Heavy

I have today received an email from John Lewis after I had sent one to them last Friday quoting the SoGA information from Derrick's response.

The text from the email is below:


[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Dear Mr Roberts,[/FONT]

I am sorry to read of your disappointment with the approach we have taken. I understand my colleagues have been in touch with you about this matter and you continue to be unhappy with the solution you are being offered. I am not in a positing to discuss legalities.

What you have been told is entirely correct, an engineers visit is required to access the problem with the Kindest IWC6145 Washing Machine, and hopefully fix it. The manufacturers are entitled to a remedy and this includes the manufacturer being given the chance to repair the machine. Obviously if this proves to be uneconomical to repair we will look at other options.

Clearly there will be a degree of nuisance for you whilst we arrange for the engineers visit and repair, for this I apologise.

I am aware that this matter has been continuing for some time and I hope you will now allow us to move forward and arrange the repair. Please accept my apologies for how protracted this has all become.

The appropriate department will call you tomorrow on the number of 07*** ****** with availability for an engineers visit.

I appreciate this is not the outcome that you had wanted but hope that on reflection you can appreciate our reasons behind this decision.

Unfortunately the manager at John Lewis used a spell checker so the word 'access' should be 'assess' and the word 'Kindest' should read 'Indesit'.

Is this response correct? After all I did think that it was the consumer's right to request and get a refund or a replacement on a like for like basis at least?

Can anybody assist me further on this?

Many thanks.

derrick

It is correct that after a "reasonable" time, ( and reasonable is not defined in law), the retailer has the right to repair, replace or refund at their discretion, however reading the quotes I supplied from SoGA, (and the fact that the machine is less than 6 months old), I would be pressing for a replacement or refund under Part 5A, 48A, 1 (b)," the goods do not conform to the contract of sale at the time of delivery."

2 (a) (ii) to rescind the contract with regard to the goods in question.

S48C (b) rescind the contract with regard to those goods,

Not forgetting S48C, 2 (b) but the seller is in breach of the requirement of section 48B(2)(a) above to do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the buyer.


Maybe a quick call to Consumer Direct on 0808 1561036 to clarify the situation, they may then put you in touch with your local TS

happyhunter

I have had similar problems with a Fridge/Freezer bought from John Lewis.
Had 3 engineer visits/repairs during the first 18 months of purchase, JL said to replace it they need the engineer's report to specify this. On each occasion JL paid approx £40 of goodwill for the inconvenience.

On the 4th visit, 'got' the engineer to do this (unplugged the fridge the night before not giving him any chance to inspect the problem) and JL offered to exchange it for the same model (which has now gone up by £80) or replace it for another model based on my original purchase price.

Eventually, after some discussions they agreed to replace with another model based on the current selling price of the faulty fridge. If I wanted one more expensive then I pay the difference which was a fair deal.

Hope this helps.

A380Heavy

I have been in touch with Consumer Direct and they state that the vendor has a statutory right to repair, so a resolution isn't as straightforward as one may think.

They suggested that:
- I quote the Sale of Goods Act paragraphs (already have done),
- quote the machine should be of satisfactory quality,
- the fault was reported before 3 months since purchase,
- the fault is a major fault,
- a repair has failed to rectify the fault,
- we have already been reasonable by accepting one repair.

They did say that ultimately it would take a judge to decide but case law would suggest that it is not unreasonable to expect to have at least 2 repairs.

They also said we should contact the credit card provider as they are jointly severably liable and equally at fault (under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act). They may agree to a refund straight away. We will probably try this after we have heard back from John Lewis again.

Thank you for the assistance received so far.

A380Heavy

Update:

John Lewis have just sent an email saying they are authorising a refund and collection to prevent further disappointment and inconvenience.

Amazing what quoting a case number from Consumer Direct can do!!!

derrick

A380Heavy wrote: »

Update:

John Lewis have just sent an email saying they are authorising a refund and collection to prevent further disappointment and inconvenience.

Amazing what quoting a case number from Consumer Direct can do!!!

Job done.

I missed the point in your OP re Mastercard, otherwise,(as I was just about to do), would have suggested going to the card supplier underS75.

For future reference, if the product purchased on a CC is between £100 & £ 30000, then you can go after the CC as well as the retailer,you do not need to exhaust the retailer first, see WHICH ADVICE;-
"You don’t have to reach a stalemate with the retailer or trader before you can contact the company. However, this right is particularly useful if the retailer or trader has gone bust or it doesn’t respond to your letters or phone calls."


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A380Heavy

After our problems with John Lewis and the Indesit washing machine I am very happy to report a very happy ending.

Collection was arranged and the machine picked up by some very polite delivery men.

My partner then received a phone call from John Lewis saying that they would refund the full purchase price of the washing machine (£299) in the next 5 working days (by next Thursday).

On top of this they said they wished to pay my partner £75 in compensation of any upset/inconvenience caused.

By yesterday both the refund and the compensation had been received.

It took a while to get this far but I feel that John Lewis went the extra mile in the end. The compensation was not something that was expected at all. We had been promised a gesture of good will, but this is incredibly generous and amounts to 25% of the purchase price.