my tumble dryer has lost its heat - help

jennyuk

i assume the thermostat has gone other than the heat all seems to be working fine. are they easy to replace yoruself? its a hotpoint ultima condenser dryer TC71P

Thanks

kev1n3

if you tumble dryer is under 6 years old your rights under E U and UK law is you can ask the company you purchaed it from to either repair or relpace the dryer.

This is explained at http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/calitem.cgi?file=ADV0043-1011.t

Under the Guarantees Directive (1999/44/EC) the period of automatic warranty was extended to two years, thus entitling you to recompense for malfunction occurring, through no fault of your own

Indeed, under the UK's own Sale of Goods Act, 1979, as amended in 1994 and 2002, the period of automatic guarantee was extended to six years. Nevertheless - as with so much EU-legislation on consumer-protection - these time-periods are effectively meaningless, because a fault, and the supplier's liability for it, has to be demonstrated, and this - if it is possible at all -could be done at any time, however many years later the fault became evident.

If acceptance [of the goods] has taken place, then only the following remedies are available:


2) Compensation (damages)

The amount of compensation may be based on the cost of repair, or if that is not possible, compensation may be based on the purchase price with an allowance for usage.

3) Repair or replacement

The trader can refuse to agree to either of these remedies if it is disproportionate in comparison to the other remedies. For example, if you ask a trader to replace a washing machine then he would be entitled to turn down your request and offer a repair instead.

However, the repair or replacement must be carried out within a reasonable time and without causing significant inconvenience to the consumer. If this does not happen or the repair or replacement is not possible, then the consumer can rescind the contract (claim a refund) or request a reduction in purchase price.

Please note: The remedies of repair/replacement and the subsequent rescission or reduction in purchase price are not applicable to Hire Purchase contracts and other laws apply. Please contact your local Trading Standards Service for further advice

4) Rescission or reduction in price


These financial remedies can only be achieved by a failure of the repair / replacement option once acceptance has taken place. If the trader agrees to rescission, the amount paid may be reduced to take account of usage.

Once you have chosen a remedy and the trader has agreed, you must give the trader a reasonable time to effect the chosen remedy before switching to another one. Ultimately, if a remedy cannot be agreed upon, then the courts have the power to choose any of the remedies.

Proving the fault

If you have not accepted the goods and are rejecting and claiming a full refund or damages, it is YOU, the consumer, who needs to prove that there has been a breach of contract in that the goods are not of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose or as described at the time of purchase.
If you are claiming the remedies of repair or replacement within the first six months after purchase [i.e.if you have accepted the goods] it is for THE TRADER to prove that the goods conformed to the contract at the time of sale.
If you are claiming repair or replacement more than six months after purchase, the burden of proof is back to YOU, the consumer.
If it becomes necessary to obtain an expert opinion to support your claim, there are procedures to follow before you employ anyone in this capacity. County Court rules say that where an expert is necessary, it should be a single, jointly approved expert, and the expert's duty is to the court. You need to agree your choice of expert with the other party, and allow them to put their comments to the expert. Failure to follow this procedure may mean that a judge may not allow your expert to be heard should the matter eventually reach County Court. For further clarification, please seek advice from your local Trading Standards Service.
Who can you claim against for faulty goods?

Your claim could be against:

the retailer under the Sale of Goods Act;
the manufacturer (under the terms of a guarantee if you have one);
a credit company if financed by credit (see 'Your Rights when Buying on credit' leaflet); or
the credit card company (see 'Your Rights when Buying on credit' leaflet).

hope this helps

EdinburghKev

It must be the time of year, my Hotpoint CTD80 just started showing the error F-10 and that also means the heating/thermostat part is broken.

It is 9 months old and I bought it from Littlewoods Direct. Should I call Hotpoint or Littlewoods?

Lord_Gardener

EdinburghKev wrote:

It must be the time of year, my Hotpoint CTD80 just started showing the error F-10 and that also means the heating/thermostat part is broken.

It is 9 months old and I bought it from Littlewoods Direct. Should I call Hotpoint or Littlewoods?

Call where you got it from.

Lovingitifitsabargain

I'm sure my old one had a little red button on the back that I pressed to reset it when it had got overheated and was blowing cold air - check out the back of the tumble dryer - mine was towards to top half of the machine

EdinburghKev

thanks lovingitifitsabargain, I just had a check but there is nothing there... I requested a Hotpoint engineer using an online request from the Hotpoint web site.

deanos

kev1n3 wrote:

Under the Guarantees Directive (1999/44/EC) the period of automatic warranty was extended to two years, thus entitling you to recompense for malfunction occurring, through no fault of your own

I think you will find the Uk opted out of the 2yr waranty.

kev1n3

deanos wrote:

I think you will find the Uk opted out of the 2yr waranty.

I had an e-mail from my M E P last week clearly stated that the 2 year Euro warranty on all elect goods purchased within the EU is coverd by a 2 year warranty.
Furthermore it is also Consumer law in the UK that ALL electrical goods sold in the UK are covered by a automatic 6 years warranty.

jaygrunt

jennyuk wrote:

i assume the thermostat has gone other than the heat all seems to be working fine. are they easy to replace yoruself? its a hotpoint ultima condenser dryer TC71P

Thanks

Think u will find that if you unscrew the back of your dryer(after unplugging)
There will be two contacts (they should look exactly the same) and it will be these that have gone.
This sounds like what happened to mine,everthing else was still working but there was no heat.Mine cost £20 to replaceand just case of following the instructions in the box eg unscrew the left one first and replace then the right one and replace or sommat like that(was a couple of years ago )

walrusoflove

My kindly engineer showed me how to fix mine if the heat cuts out - unplug, remove the back panel, press the little red button, then put back on again and switch on - saving me future call-out fees. The CRUCIAL thing is to empty your fluff filter every time you use it, as fluff build up will caused the heat to cut out.
Hope this helps!!

Bertville

Ours has the little red button to reset it. However, ours also has a square metal filter in the bottom and whe nour heat goes off it is usually because this needs clearing. It is at the bottom of the machine and has to be unscrewed and then it slides out and we clean it using the vacuum. Once this is done and the machine reset it works fine.