Indesit Fridge Damaged Kitchen

danjourno

Hi,

We had a new kitchen fitted around 9 months ago. At the same time, we bought a new Indesit fridge. Its a standalone fridge thats the right size to slot into a space in the kitchen.

Around 4 months after having the kitchen fitted, we noticed that the evaporation tank at the back of the fridge was overflowing. It wasnt evaporating quick enough. In fact, it was cold. The water had been overflowing for a while and has caused parts of the kitchen to rot and it looks awful.

I called Indesit and they sent a guy round who told me that when I reversed the door to open in the opposite direction, i didnt do it properly. I'm very good at DIY but I reluctantly took his advice as the professional, even though that thought he was making it up. Indesit said that it was my fault and they won't be paying for the kitchen to be repaired.

Now, 3 months after that event, I've noticed that its happening again and the rot has gotten worse.

The warranty is ending in a couple of months, but because of the problems, i've decided to pay for the extended warranty that they offered me after the first repair. Bit of a con that you have to pay for extended warranty because you think its faulty.

Does anyone know what my legal rights are? Can I get Indesit to pay for the rotten parts of the kitchen to be replaced?

Thanks in advance.
Dan

Browntoa

googel the model of that fridge , see if you can find any similar reports of the same fault elsewhere. If not then I would claim on my insurance

danjourno

Thanks Browntoa,

Would claiming on my insurance cause my premiums to go up?

what do i do about the fridge? do i have to resign to the fact that i'm going to have to pull it out once a week and drain it by hand?
theres nothing on google about it.

Thanks

moonrakerz

What exactly was "the first repair" that they carried out ? What "advice" were you given by Indesit ?

danjourno

The engineer drained the tank using a sponge. Then he tinkered with the door and told me that when I changed the side that the door hinge was on, i did it wrong. He said he'd corrected it and that i shouldnt have a problem again.

However, i didnt believe him, so when Indesit called me to offer me a chance to purchase extended warranty, i did, just in case it happened again. Which it has!

The problem is, we don't notice the problem until we see that the kitchen paneling is rotting.

moonrakerz

The problem you have is that the repair man appears to have made a reasonable response to the problem.
From what you describe, it is difficult to imagine another "fault" giving the same symptoms as you experienced. If the door is not sealing properly, moist air from outside will continually enter the fridge, will freeze on the cooling surfaces then melt and drain into the evaporation tank. Eventually this will overflow.

It is difficult to argue against his diagnosis that the problem was caused by the door not being fitted properly by yourself.
If he has failed to cure the problem (which I assume you were not charged for) again you are in a difficult position.
Indesit can say with a pretty straight face; that you caused the problem, they tried to fix it for free, if it is still there they will now fix it if you pay for it.
They can equally say that the rot problem was caused by yourself.

The extended guarantee offer timing was probably coincidental - every time you buy an electrical appliance you get deluged with offers of extended warranties nowadays !

Sorry to say this, but I think you will struggle to get any where with this - unless you can find similar reported problems with this model - even then, Indesit can still say you caused/exacerbated it by not refitting the door properly.

danjourno

they've just come for the second visit. the same guy. spent a while on the phone to head office because he didnt know what the problem was.

he's ordered some parts. replacement evaporation pool and new seals. he thinks the pool isnt properly in contact with the motor so its not heating up and evaporating.

we'll see.

going to write to them to try to get them to pay for the kitchen to be repaired.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

danjourno wrote: »

going to write to them to try to get them to pay for the kitchen to be repaired.

But why should they if the original fault which caused the rot to the kitchen was caused by your own ineptitude in not fitting the door correctly?

danjourno

i'm sure i fitted the door properly. i believe the engineer misdiagnosed the fault by indicating it was the door. even though he may have adjusted the door a little, the fact that the problem is happening again, shows that its nothing to do with the way i fitted the door, and points to some other issue. hence the reason he had to call head office for guidance today.

danjourno

Ok, so the manufacturer has discovered a fault with the evaporation trays. They were made out of material that was too thick and therefore the heat from the fridge motor wasn't reaching the water. The engineer came, removed the old tank, and installing a new one. He told me that they are doing it to everyones fridge with this model.
Now that the engineer has told me that it was a design fault (even though I dont have it in writing), do I have any claim for the water damage to my new kitchen?

Thanks
Dan

unholyangel

danjourno wrote: »

Ok, so the manufacturer has discovered a fault with the evaporation trays. They were made out of material that was too thick and therefore the heat from the fridge motor wasn't reaching the water. The engineer came, removed the old tank, and installing a new one. He told me that they are doing it to everyones fridge with this model.
Now that the engineer has told me that it was a design fault (even though I dont have it in writing), do I have any claim for the water damage to my new kitchen?

Thanks
Dan

Did you buy it from Indesit or from a retailer?