John Lewis Advice Please

Shaft80

Hi all,

I'm a first time poster (in fact just joined this morning) so forgive me if this is the wrong place to post or if someone else has already asked a similar question.

Anyway, I'm hoping someone can help me. I bought a Tunturi T85 treadmill from John Lewis back in January 2008 with a three year guarantee. When it was delivered I had nothing but problems with it, i.e. the elevation motor wouldn't work – after a few engineers had viewed it and been unable to sort the issue I pushed for a replacement. The replacement came and the same problem happened again – I was told that I was very unlucky as these treadmills had a history of lasting 'forever'. Again, a few more engineer visits and eventually they replaced the elevation motor and the treadmill worked. I was very frustrated with the amount of issues which had occurred on a £1,500 treadmill and the fact that the engineers refused to visit on a weekend or in the evenings. As such, I complained to John Lewis stating that I had used lots of my holiday to accommodate the engineers coming out and that the latest visit I had to take unpaid leave – in the end they offered to compensate me £160.

I used the treadmill for a few months and all was going well, I then stopped using it for approximately a year due to personal reasons which I won't bore you with. Just recently Ive tried using it again and every time I run on it I receive a 'speed sensor error' at various times during my run, this completely shuts everything down and I need to turn off the machine at the mains, wait a few seconds, and then turn back on again. Obviously, this is frustrating when I'm 20 minutes into a 30 minute run for example. John Lewis arranged another engineer to come out who saw the error but wasn't sure what was wrong, he tried a couple of things and it seemed to be working. However, a couple of days after he had been I tried the treadmill again and I received the same 'speed sensor error' within the first 30 seconds, I turned off at the mains, back on and the same thing happened. It appears that the problem only occurs when I'm running on it, and before you ask, I'm about 100lbs lighter than the maximum weight!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've told John Lewis that I either want a replacement machine or my money back, as I believe is my right under the Sales of Goods Act. They are refusing saying that as the machine is over a year old they can only offer a repair, I said this wasn't good enough as they may get it working again but there is obviously an underlining issue with this machine and what happens when my 3 year warrantee runs out and it decides to pack up again – they didn't see this as their concern and reiterated that they will only repair.

I've written a complaint to their customer relations team but I've heard nothing back yet, do any of you have any advice or knowledge on my rights… i.e. can I force them to refund my money or replace the machine or do I have to accept their repair offer? Alternatively, do any of you have a contact number where I can get hold of someone senior at John Lewis?

Sorry for the overlong post, I just wanted to give as much information as possible.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and I'd be very grateful for any advice any of you can offer.

dacouch

So basically John Lewis are telling you to "Jog On"

Asharma

I dont think there is much else you can do really, maybe just threaten further by saying you'll prepared to go to court, no big company wants their rep dragged through the mud over a treadmill, if you persistant and keep reminding them your 3 year warantee is there for a reason and unless they act you'll have to go as far as it takes. hope that helps.

cyberbob

Who is the 3 year guarantee with John lewis or the manufacturer.

Shaft80

Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure who the 3 warrantee is with actually cyberbob, I assume it's John Lewis but I do know that they keep passing me over to Accell Fitness so I guess it could be with them.

Is there an easy way to find phone numbers for senior managers for John Lewis? I've tried Googling to no avail...?

Quentin

Shaft80 wrote: »

They are refusing saying that as the machine is over a year old they can only offer a repair, I said this wasn't good enough as they may get it working again but there is obviously an underlining issue with this machine and what happens when my 3 year warrantee runs out and it decides to pack up again – they didn't see this as their concern and reiterated that they will only repair.

Once the warranty period is up, then they have no concern! So document the repair attempts so far and insist they now fix it properly.

cyberbob

Shaft80 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure who the 3 warrantee is with actually cyberbob, I assume it's John Lewis but I do know that they keep passing me over to Accell Fitness so I guess it could be with them.

Is there an easy way to find phone numbers for senior managers for John Lewis? I've tried Googling to no avail...?

Well normally after 6 months unless the shop has the warrenty you should be dealing with the manufacturer direct not John lewis. If thats the case then John lewis have actually gone above what they were obliged to do,

You need to check the warranty and find out who you should be dealing with. As it does to me sound like you are dealing with the wrong people. There's no point having a go at the managers of JL if you shouldn't be dealing with them

neilmcl

Shaft80 wrote: »

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've told John Lewis that I either want a replacement machine or my money back, as I believe is my right under the Sales of Goods Act.

You believe wrong. JL are fully entitled to offer a repair at this stage as long as it isn't disproportionately costly to any other remedy and it doesn;t cause the customer a significant inconvenience.

vyle

You're only legally entitled to a repair or a replacement, whichever is most economical for the company.

If you get a refund, it would be for a value significantly lower than what you paid for it, because you've had it for two and a half years (again, that's perfectly legal under the SOGA).

Basically, under the warranty, you're getting the treatment you're entitled to under SOGA, without having to resort to the time and expense of taking JL to court.