Vacuum cleaner turned fireball damages car,..

thebigstillmeister

Wonder if anyone can suggest the best course of action...

we purchased a new vacuum cleaner (a very well known brand) in July from tesco direct,

Been using it fine,... then on Friday my partner was vacuuming when apparently it may a loud noise and burst in to flames,... she quickly unplugged it and ran down the stairs and as the front door was locked had to open the side door that leads to the car port (we have a town house where the car port is under the living room),..

She had to drop it at this point as the flames were getting high,.. she ran in to the house and grabbed a washing up bowl with water, a passer by started banging on the door and shouting about the fire, and when she opened the door again there were 6ft flames coming from the vacuum cleaner,.. after 3 bowls of water it was still on fire and the passer by proceeded to grab the power lead and drag it in to the street.

Our car was in the car port at the time,. luckily this did not go up as that would have been the end of the house, but it has sustained quite a bit of damage. All the paint has melted off the drivers door, the wing mirror has melted and the door has warped slightly making it difficult to open.

We called the car insurance company who are saying we will have to claim (£150 excess) which is understandable from their side, but if the vacuum company cover the repair costs then we will not have to make a claim and our no claims etc will not be affected. (we are getting a quote for the repairs tomorrow).

We contacted the vacuum cleaner who had a 'specialist team' who called me back today,....

I explained the whole story and she asked about damage to the house, I said apart from soot, there is no damage in the house, but lots to the car,... she said 'well obviously we cant do anything about the car as you put it there',.. i said she didn't 'put' she 'dropped' it there as it was on fire, and the damage is directly related to the faulty product which could have burnt my house down,.

They are sending out a returns bag to take it away for analysis., I have obviously taken lots of pictures.

.... I was going to call Consumer Direct for some advice, but wondering is there is something else I could/should do to try and get some sort of compensation to cover the costs,...

Many thanks,

WestonDave

If you've got plenty of graphic pictures you might want to send them copies, invite them to come to a decent solution without you having to forward them to Watchdog for prime time TV viewing!

With hindsight maybe she could have done other things and limited the damage, but that's easy with hindsight - not so easy with a flaming hoover in your hand!

ThumbRemote

Personally, the moment the vacuum manufacturer made an excuse and tried to shift the blame, I'd have been thinking about getting a solicitor involved. You may want to see if any offer a free initial consultation.

Incidentally, I'd also state that you were trying to reduce the risk of damage, by getting the cleaner away from flammable carpets, curtains etc.

thebigstillmeister

thanks for the responses,....

Just called consumer direct,... and they informed me that it is actually Tesco that is responsible under the 'Sales of goods act',..

Seems a little unfair on Tesco?, but then I guess they then take it up with the manufacturer.

Will give them a call tomorrow after we get the quote for the repairs,...

Did also think about the Watch dog route,... I have some lovely pictures!

texranger

thebigstillmeister wrote: »

thanks for the responses,....

Just called consumer direct,... and they informed me that it is actually Tesco that is responsible under the 'Sales of goods act',..

Seems a little unfair on Tesco?, but then I guess they then take it up with the manufacturer.

Will give them a call tomorrow after we get the quote for the repairs,...

Did also think about the Watch dog route,... I have some lovely pictures!

contact Tesco now and place them in the picture and tell then you are awaiting quotes for the damage and send then the lovely pictures.

sarahg1969

The Consumer Protection Act can also come into play if something is damaged or someone is injured by a faulty product.

pinkshoes

Which vacuum cleaner?!?

s_b

dont let the cleaner go back until tesco confirm you should

Esqui

I don't think you have much of a claim for the car, as from what you say your partner saw the vacuum cleaner catch fire, and then unplug it, run downstairs and drop it next to the car? I think that's going to be one of those unfortunate happenings.

texranger

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Incidentally, I'd also state that you were trying to reduce the risk of damage, by getting the cleaner away from flammable carpets, curtains etc.

oh lets see mr tesco/insurance man i was trying to reduce the risk of damage, by getting the cleaner away from flammable carpets, curtains etc, so i decided to drop this next to my car with a tank full of flammable petrol

arcon5

texranger wrote: »

oh lets see mr tesco/insurance man i was trying to reduce the risk of damage, by getting the cleaner away from flammable carpets, curtains etc, so i decided to drop this next to my car with a tank full of flammable petrol

:rotfl::rotfl: +1



I'm inclined to agree with Esqui here tbh. Had it damaged the carpet, curtains, other property in the room in which it happened you'd most likely have a case for the damage. But having dragged a fire ball through the house and therefore causing damage to other property rather than going straight for water to distinguish the fire does complicate things somewhat.