Returning a faulty washing machine - problems with retailer

hwa

Hi my parents bought a Hotpoint washing machine from Euronics/Harris in Hackney on 01/02/11. On 24/02/11 in the evening, i tried to do a wash with the washing machine and then water started pouring out from underneath it, causing the whole room to flood (and an indoor monsoon to the room below). We contacted Euronics/Harris the next morning and they sent one of their service men to check it out that afternoon. After a brief look, they said they had to book a service call with Hotpoint for an engineer to have a look before they could do anything in terms of repairs or refunds. The earliest an engineer could come was 04/03/11, which was today. He popped in, had a look and said that some loose coins must have come out from a pocket from the laundry and caused the damage to a burst pipe/sup thing. However, we have not seen any coins or did he find a coin in the damaged region. And as the area he inspected was dusty, we suspect that the machine is not brand new - after all, we have only had it for 3 weeks and it surely cannot get that dusty in that space of time. He said that the manufacturer's guarantee does not cover repairs to such damage, so we would have to buy their insurance for Hotpoint to fix it. We went back to the retailer and they said they could do nothing about it, so no repairs, no replacement, and no refund. They have sold us a faulty washing machine - surely the retailer is liable under the sale of goods act?

isplumm

hwa wrote: »

Hi my parents bought a Hotpoint washing machine from Euronics/Harris in Hackney on 01/02/11. On 24/02/11 in the evening, i tried to do a wash with the washing machine and then water started pouring out from underneath it, causing the whole room to flood (and an indoor monsoon to the room below). We contacted Euronics/Harris the next morning and they sent one of their service men to check it out that afternoon. After a brief look, they said they had to book a service call with Hotpoint for an engineer to have a look before they could do anything in terms of repairs or refunds. The earliest an engineer could come was 04/03/11, which was today. He popped in, had a look and said that some loose coins must have come out from a pocket from the laundry and caused the damage to a burst pipe/sup thing. However, we have not seen any coins or did he find a coin in the damaged region. And as the area he inspected was dusty, we suspect that the machine is not brand new - after all, we have only had it for 3 weeks and it surely cannot get that dusty in that space of time. He said that the manufacturer's guarantee does not cover repairs to such damage, so we would have to buy their insurance for Hotpoint to fix it. We went back to the retailer and they said they could do nothing about it, so no repairs, no replacement, and no refund. They have sold us a faulty washing machine - surely the retailer is liable under the sale of goods act?

But they haven't sold you a faulty machine - the engineer says that it is down to coins doing the damage - so unless you took insurance, I am not sure what else you can do - you might have to get an independent engineer to look at it ...

As to the dust, well it might be new - but could have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere for a while & might have taken some time to get to that warehouse from where it was built ... plenty of time to get dusty.

Can you not find somewhere that fixes washing machines & get them to look at it - see what they say & how much they charge to fix??

Mark

PhilipP_2

How much is the insurance and how long would it last? It might be worth the headache of finding someone else to take a look at it, and then wait again to make a decision, etc.