Part replaced under warranty, warranty passed, part breaks again

ronanmagee

Hi,

We have an electric shower and after 1.5 years the control board breaks meaning it no longer turns on. Manufacturer replaces it acknowledging there is a fault with this particular model. The warranty has lapsed about 9months and the shower is displaying the same issues as it did before and I expect it to fail in about 2 weeks.

The company say the unit is out of warranty so won't fix it. I can pay to have it fixed and they said once fixed I can purchase an extended warranty to cover it going forward.

Surely as the replacement part (which isn't a moving part!), which was meant to have fixed the issue, displays the same symptoms, all they did was ensure it operated until the warranty expired, they have to make it right?

Ronan

unholyangel

Who did you buy it from? Its technically the retailer you have rights with, not the manufacturer.

Techhead_2

How long between the fitting of the part and the failure ? How old is the shower?

The retailer wouldn't be responsible for a part fitted under manufacturer's warranty. Unless they operate the warranty.

withabix

ronanmagee wrote: »

Hi,

Manufacturer replaces it acknowledging there is a fault with this particular model.

If this is the case, then you have a right to remedy, as this would be classed an an inherent fault and 1.5 years in not a reasonable time for a shower to last.

Do you have anything in writing or data from other sources to back this up?

ronanmagee

Hey all,

It's slightly more complicated. We bought a new build house in June 2009 and the shower was already fitted. The shower comes with a 2yr warranty which expired in June 2011. We had the replacement part fitted on 12th October 2010. We've just lapsed out of the 2 year guarantee and the shower is displaying the same symptoms as before. I expect it to break in 2 weeks, and as that'll be Xmas, I want it sorted before then otherwise we could be without a shower until the new year.

The engineer who came out to replace the part the first time verbally acknowledged there was a fault in these units and he spends 75% of his time replacing these boards.

When booking in the engineer the first time to come out I was told the part being replaced would only be covered under the original warranty, which would expire 8 months later.

Interestingly if you look at both time frames for failure they are nearly identical, failing just over 1 year each from the point of initial use.

Ronan

deanos

The shower could have been installed several months before you bought the house , tricky one really , if the shower manufacturer wont help you will have to chase the builder

ronanmagee

deanos wrote: »

The shower could have been installed several months before you bought the house , tricky one really , if the shower manufacturer wont help you will have to chase the builder

Cheers Denos,

They have accepted the day of purchase as the date from when the warranty starts. As it's a new build no one would have used it before then.

I'll give them a call again to see what they say but again purchase date was not an issue the first time the part was replaced.

Ronan

ronanmagee

Just to update everyone they replaced the unit FoC but wouldn't send out an engineer to fit the part. This was fine as they explained how I could do it myself and I asked that should the unit break in 1 year time I wanted it noted that the fact I did not have an engineer fit it should not affect future claims. They said this was noted on my account.

Cheers all,

Ronan