One month old washer, Indesit wont honour 12 month gaurantee.

Wkdwill

Hi

Im looking for some advice for my mum, ill start from the beginning.

My mum bought a Indesit washing machine from Argos on buy now pay 6 months later, it was delivered a month ago and yesterday she put a load in it wouldn't drain or spin, after numerous phone calls to both Indesit and Argos she was called back by Indesit, although for some reason it was someone from the finance department that called her, after explaining everything to them, they said that the 12 month gaurantee doesn't cover it as the fault is because of something my mum has done, they said that she cant have checked the pockets before she put the clothes in and that something has got stuck in a pump which is why it wont drain and spin. They then said if she wants it fixing it will cost her £100 or she has to take out additional insurance to cover it.

No one has looked at the machine yet, someone is due to see it on Monday.

Also whether it is relevant or not, she hasn't paid for it yet as the payment isnt due for another 5 months.

If anyone could help it would be great.

somethingcorporate

It's got nothing to do with Indesit, you need to talk to Argos.

Wkdwill

Can I ask why, when my mum contacted Argos they said that she would have to contact Indesit as the gaurantee is through them.

bod1467

Because retailers will do all they can to fob off customers when a fault occurs.

The machine has developed a fault. Under the Sale of Goods Act (Amended) 1979 the retailer is responsible for the remedy, NOT the manufacturer. Regardless of what the retailer says, THEY are responsible for the remedy (repair, replacement or refund, their choice). And as the machine is less than 6 months old (from point of sale) the retailer is responsible for proving the fault was NOT inherent (present at the time of sale) and that it is due to user error - a phone call without having looked at the machine is NOT proof.

wealdroam

Also, building on from Bod1467's reply...

If they do prove that the fault is down to 'user error', then they are of course perfectly entitled to charge the customer for the remedial work.

bb999

Indesit have no doubt concluded from your conversation that an object (usually a coin) is blocking the pump. This does sound probable, and is easy enough to check and rectify - read the instruction manual & it will tell you how. (Basically you need to remove the trim panel from the bottom of the machine, which will give you access - you may get the floor a bit wet!)

The fault also sounds very much like the outlet pipe could be too low. Has the pipe been moved or knocked - again the instructions for the outlet are in the book. I replaced my faulty machine with an Indesit recently and it had this fault even though I fitted it to the same outlet as my previous machine. As soon as I rectified the pipe problem the machine worked perfectly.

It is worth checking these because if the fault is found to be something like this, ie not a manufacturing fault, you are likely to be charged.

esuhl

The Sale of Goods Act states that you have recourse with the retailer, but the manufacturer's warranty gives you additional rights. Depending on the warranty, it may be better to go to the manufacturer or the retailer.

It also says that goods should be not be faulty. If a fault develops within the first six-months, the fault is assumed to be inherent (i.e. not as a result of wear and tear or user error) unless the retailer can prove otherwise.

If Indesit say that it is your fault and that you will have to pay for the repair, you could always pay for a second opinion by getting an independent engineer's report.

bb999

The thing is, if it is what Indesit have suggested (foreign object in pump), it is a fairly straightforward task to remove this.

If Indesit are allowed to attend, then the call out charge will have been incurred already and it will be pretty self evident that they are telling the truth - they will produce a nice clean coin or something similar from the pump within about 5 - 10 minutes of arriving!

Getting a 2nd opinion at this stage would be a waste of money.

esuhl

bb999 wrote: »

The thing is, if it is what Indesit have suggested (foreign object in pump), it is a fairly straightforward task to remove this.

If Indesit are allowed to attend, then the call out charge will have been incurred already and it will be pretty self evident that they are telling the truth - they will produce a nice clean coin or something similar from the pump within about 5 - 10 minutes of arriving!

Getting a 2nd opinion at this stage would be a waste of money.

Yeah... okay, that's a good point!

whitegoods_engineer

Having worked for numerous organisations over 25 years, I can pretty much tell you that it will without much of a doubt be a coin in the pump impellor or something user-caused. If the machine has a fromt filter, take off the lower plinth (after tipping the machine back against a wall and slightly open the filter housing with a bucket underneath.

Let the water go into the bucket and the object may fall into it at that stage. If not, once it has stopped pouring out, put your finger in and feel round the impellor for the object.

Having said that, if you do call out the engineer, chances are he will remove the object and put it down as a loose pump wire or similar so you don't get charged.

Most engineers would rather do that than have a confrontation over it being chargeable I can assure you.

daggy

Wkdwill wrote: »

Can I ask why, when my mum contacted Argos they said that she would have to contact Indesit as the gaurantee is through them.

That's why

When I had a problem with my Garmin Sat Nav free map update, Consumer Direct told me to follow the trail of cash.

I went to Halfords and although they were (em)pathetic, they essentially said that other customers had they same issue and it was impossible to get Garmin to reissue the free update. They did phone Garmin etc, but no luck.

I then took it into my own hands and read all of Garmins TandC's with regards to the free map update. I identified an ambiguity in what constitutes activation of the free map update... after expressing this to Garmin in a rather polite, but firm manor I had my map update back.

I digress, but what I'm saying is make sure you read everything, therefore there's less chance of them fobbing you off.

If it were me and I knew it wasn't my fault, I'd refuse to pay Argos... problem is, I'd guess they could !!!!!! your Mum's credit rating if she did that....

Whatever happens, tell her not to except responsibility unless she's absolutely sure it was her fault