Washer / dryer has damaged clothes

Jonl

Hi, can anyone help with my washer dryer that cooks clothes?

I bought a washer dryer in November 2009 and the washer has always worked fine - its a Hotpoint Aqualtis AQM8D69IV.
There are 3 drying functions for different laundry types, and within each function there are different drying levels (iron-dry, hanger dry or cupboard dry).

The very first time I used the drying function (a few months after purchase) the dryer "cooked" the bedding, leaving it very creased. At that time I thought I had done something wrong.

Recently the dryer function has been used on 2 loads of clothes and both loads have been shrunk substantially and ruined the clothes.

Having spoken to a laundry expert at a local store, they have convinced me that the unit should not operate in this way, that the different linen types should mean different heat intensities and that the unit should not be baking clothes. The front of the plastic door becomes very hot in use.

I'm going to write to the retailer - not the manufacturer - to claim a repair or replacement under SOGA for an inherent fault, but feel I should also claim for the clothes that have been damaged by the unit.

Would you agree my best route for the complaint is to the retailer or to the manufacturer? Anyone had a similar situation?

(Oh and yes I realise I'm daft for not tackling the issue sooner)

Thanks

durham_girl

As it is over 6 months since purchase the onus is on you to prove it is an inherent fault, so you will need to pay for an independent report. I'm not sure whether you can claim this back if the machine is found to be faulty, but I'm sure someone will be along to say yay or nay.

Jonl

Thanks. Help greatly appreciated! Also can anyone advise on the clothes damage - is the retailer responsible for compensating for damage caused or a faulty product?

Hintza

Can you not just reduce the time the machine is switched on with different loads?

Jonl

Yes I could set it for a 30 min dry on any of the settings but it still does this at max heat and I wouldn't risk leaving a load in for longer. in this time it will go some waay to removing water from clothes but certainly doesn't get them near dry. Also the drying features mean I shoulnt have to do this.

birkee

I read this as the machine has a fault. Should have been adressed in the warranty period.
You can't believe that every model of this machine does the same thing, so it's not an inherant fault caused by faulty design.

Jonl

No I don't believe all units of this model are faulty but I do believe that this one was faulty from the offset.

birkee

Jonl wrote: »

No I don't believe all units of this model are faulty but I do believe that this one was faulty from the offset.

Then that's when you should have dealt with it I'm afraid.

Hintza

So are you saying it only has one temperature setting and it isyour understanding that the temperature should be a variable setting?

You will then have to prove by wayof a report that the thermostat is not working and is a manufactures report (since yu ae outside the warranty period).

Jonl

That's right - there's three settings for different material types and within each setting you can either select a custom dry time or select one of the drying modes, either iron / cupboard or hanger. Iron should apparently leave damp, cupboard dry and hanger slightly damp. It actually just heats everything very hot and runs til its bone dry, creased and shrunk from the heat. Is the route top caim for clothing damage through the retailer as with or as part of the claim under SoGA, or is it seperate?

neilmcl

birkee wrote: »

I read this as the machine has a fault. Should have been adressed in the warranty period.
You can't believe that every model of this machine does the same thing, so it's not an inherant fault caused by faulty design.

What a strange thing to say!