John Lewis - wrong washing machine

MrChips

My wife (who is 38 weeks pregnant) and I nipped down to John Lewis on 27 December looking for a washing machine for our new house. We’ve just moved from rented furnished accommodation so we have absolutely zero appliances and furniture!

There was an AEG machine on “clearance”, reduced from £699 to £419 so we thought we’d go for it. According to the ticket, it had been previously sent back by its original owner due to a faulty valve but this was replaced and otherwise the machine was as good as new (minus instructions, but these can be downloaded from internet). We arranged for delivery on the afternoon of Thursday 30 December and I took the afternoon off work to receive the delivery. The van arrived promptly but the driver soon realised the machine on the van didn’t match the manifest as it was a Zanussi so he took it away again and said we’d get a call from John Lewis within half an hour to establish what had gone wrong.

Two days later no one had called so I rang JL myself to see what was happening. The chap I spoke to put me on hold for a few minutes before explaining that I’d get a call later from “admin”.

I finally got this call yesterday afternoon. The man who called me explained that the store had made a mistake and that the machine with the new valve was the Zanussi which had been delivered and there was no such AEG machine. He therefore offered us either

a) A refund
b) The store display model AEG
c) The Zanussi

None of these options are satisfactory to us. We don’t want a refund as we need a machine and don’t have time to go and arrange another similar deal elsewhere before the baby arrives any day now (if such a deal is even possible now with most of the best Xmas sales almost gone). The store model will likely be very grubby and scatched and not “as good as new”. The most expensive Zanussi that JL sell is only £429 and we aren’t even sure if it is this machine (it could be their cheapest one for £239!). I was also told that to get a refund I’d have to go back to the store in Oxford Street.

I told the man that none of these options worked for us and encouraged him to do better. He said he couldn’t but that he’d get his manager to call back (hopefully today).

What do you think I should do? In our opinion, we’ve wasted time and effort in securing this deal, waiting for a delivery that never happened, and with the result that we now have a big headache and no machine. This is our first baby so we have no prior experience but everything I have read so far indicates that babies create a lot of mess and so we really need a machine asap!

My offer to the guy from John Lewis was that if this washing machine didn’t exist, he should get a new one (albeit they are free to replace the valve on it and lose the instructions).

whitegoods_engineer

You're complaining over nothing.


AEG and Zanussi are the same.

Most AEGs are made by Zanussi, all part of the same Electrolux group.

Does it make you feel better having the AEG name on rather than zanussi ?

MrChips

I don't know anything about either brand - this is our first foray into buying kitchen appliances!

But we don't want to spend £419 on a second hand repaired machine which may only be worth £230 new...

Sooler

Take the store display AEG - it's the machine you wanted, not reconditioned, not second hand, discounted price, available within the time you want it.

MrChips

True, but the other one wasn't really second hand either. It was plugged in, didn't work and returned so hasn't really been used.

I was in John Lewis a couple of days ago and some of the display models look really beaten up, plus I'd have to go all the way there again to check it out before they delivered it.

Of course we never saw the "phantom" AEG machine either but had it in writing that there was no superficial damage. We have been given no such assurances for the display model.

irishjohn

I think you would be best served to take the showroom model AEG. You could ask for assurance of its condition. Reading between the lines it would appear that you would like JL to provide a brand new boxed AEG model for the reduced price you have paid. I think this is unreasonable and that John Lewis are being quite reasonable. I would not expect a showroom item in John Lewis to be that grubby or soiled

MrChips

Well, we obviously wouldn't say no to a new one, but I agree that would be more than necessary.

I would take the store one if it was in good nick - thanks for your suggestion. When they ring back I'll see what they can do about such an assurance. When I asked the man who rang me yesterday he couldn't comment on the condition and suggested I head to the store to look for myself.

Sooler

the store one has to be of merchantable quality, surely you can reject it on delivery if it's not suitable - you're not agreeing to accept it as it is whatever the condition.

MrChips

Agreed, but with my wife about to give birth and an afternoon already wasted awaiting the first delivery I'd rather not have to waste more time waiting for a delivery that has to be returned again.

I'll go with irishjohn's suggestion and ask for a quick email with written confirmation of the condition of the store model.

hunsbury0

MrChips wrote: »

My wife (who is 38 weeks pregnant) and I nipped down to John Lewis on 27 December looking for a washing machine for our new house. We’ve just moved from rented furnished accommodation so we have absolutely zero appliances and furniture!

There was an AEG machine on “clearance”, reduced from £699 to £419 so we thought we’d go for it. According to the ticket, it had been previously sent back by its original owner due to a faulty valve but this was replaced and otherwise the machine was as good as new (minus instructions, but these can be downloaded from internet). We arranged for delivery on the afternoon of Thursday 30 December and I took the afternoon off work to receive the delivery. The van arrived promptly but the driver soon realised the machine on the van didn’t match the manifest as it was a Zanussi so he took it away again and said we’d get a call from John Lewis within half an hour to establish what had gone wrong.

Two days later no one had called so I rang JL myself to see what was happening. The chap I spoke to put me on hold for a few minutes before explaining that I’d get a call later from “admin”.

I finally got this call yesterday afternoon. The man who called me explained that the store had made a mistake and that the machine with the new valve was the Zanussi which had been delivered and there was no such AEG machine. He therefore offered us either

a) A refund
b) The store display model AEG
c) The Zanussi

None of these options are satisfactory to us. We don’t want a refund as we need a machine and don’t have time to go and arrange another similar deal elsewhere before the baby arrives any day now (if such a deal is even possible now with most of the best Xmas sales almost gone). The store model will likely be very grubby and scatched and not “as good as new”. The most expensive Zanussi that JL sell is only £429 and we aren’t even sure if it is this machine (it could be their cheapest one for £239!). I was also told that to get a refund I’d have to go back to the store in Oxford Street.

I told the man that none of these options worked for us and encouraged him to do better. He said he couldn’t but that he’d get his manager to call back (hopefully today).

What do you think I should do? In our opinion, we’ve wasted time and effort in securing this deal, waiting for a delivery that never happened, and with the result that we now have a big headache and no machine. This is our first baby so we have no prior experience but everything I have read so far indicates that babies create a lot of mess and so we really need a machine asap!

My offer to the guy from John Lewis was that if this washing machine didn’t exist, he should get a new one (albeit they are free to replace the valve on it and lose the instructions).

If I were you, I would buy this Siemens washing machine
http://www.johnlewis.com/230948795/Product.aspx
Which is £490 & if can find an old machine (eg freecycle) you can trade in for £50 which makes the net price as £440.00
THis machine also comes with a 5 yr warrany by registering it with Siemens.
We are pleased with this machine. If you can get of an old machine, then it will only cost you £21 extra to get a brand new machine (better than the Zanussi/Electrolux group) & also a 5 year warranty.
Siemens are of the same family as Bosch but priced a little bit higher due to extra features & to include the 5 year warranty.

penrhyn

You were originally happy to take a returned AEG machine.
I'd tend to agree with the above poster though and go for a Siemens or Bosch machine.