washing machine - sale of goods act (complicated!)

jimmyboy420

Hi,

I had a washing machine that went wrong in February, less than 3 years after purchase. I called the store I purchased it from who told me that there was no longer a warranty and that there was nothing I could do except call the engineers.

I decided to do a Domestic and General repair and protect insurance policy for £170. They Service Force engineers (authorised Zanussi engineers) turned up, ordered some parts, and came to fit them a couple of weeks later (long story as to why it took this long). One of the new parts didn't work, so they ordered a second replacement part. When they came to fit this, it still didn't work, so the third engineer investigated further. He found ANOTHER fault, and I was told that the insurance company would not cover this cost but I could cover it myself, and it may still not work at the end of it! I wasn't happy with this (not what I signed up to!), so I cancelled the insurance policy and ordered a new washing machine.

I have complained to Domestic and General and Service Force about the service I received, but someone mentioned I should contact the retailer and enquire about the Sale of Goods Act. Unfortunately, I no longer have the washing machine, (I got a new one!) I wrote to them, and they called back and said that, after 6 months, the onus is on me to prove it was faulty. I said that the goods are suppose to last a "reasonable length of time", but they still said that the onus is on me to prove it was faulty from the start, and that this can't be done as I don't have the product any longer. Is this correct? Even if I did have the product, how am I supposed to do this three years on? [or up to 6 years on in some circumstances/products?]

Can anyone please clarify where I stand on this? I'm expecting them to get back to me tomorrow - and I did push my case with them quite hard, but I feel somewhat annoyed that I've had to end up getting a new washing machine (I was a total of one month without one) and now they are telling me that there is nothing they can do. Between the various companies, I've been fed a lot of false information and am feeling generally rather disappointed. It's been incredibly inconvenient, stressful, and costly to try and get a new one!

Thanks,

Jim

shaun_from_Africa

I wrote to them, and they called back and said that, after 6 months, the onus is on me to prove it was faulty. I said that the goods are suppose to last a "reasonable length of time", but they still said that the onus is on me to prove it was faulty from the start, and that this can't be done as I don't have the product any longer. Is this correct?

What you were told is correct and is in line with what the Sale of goods act states.
Up to 6 months from purchase, any defect is presumed to have been there since manufacture and if the seller doesn't think that this is the case then the onus is on them to prove otherwise.

After this 6 month period, it then becomes the responsibility of the buyer to prove that the fault was due to a manufacturing defect.
The way you would normally do this is to get the item inspected by a suitable person or company and get them to write a report stating that in their opinion the fault was inherrent.
You would probably be required to pay for this inspection but you should be able to reclaim it from the retailer if the goods were inherrently faulty.

As you no longer have the washing machine there is nothing that you can do. Even if you were able to get the report, the retailer would probably want the machine so they could repair it.

traumascares

I would question whether the insurer was entitled to simply refuse to cover a fault - given that the policy was bought to cover washing machine faults - but would need more information to advise.

Unfortunately it would be very difficult to claim against the retailer unless you have proof that the machine is faulty, for example any reports or information about the machine given to you by the repairmen.

wealdroam

traumascares wrote: »

Unfortunately it would be very difficult to claim against the retailer unless you have proof that the machine is faulty, for example any reports or information about the machine given to you by the repairmen.

And even if one did manage to to convince the retailer to provide a remedy, how is the retailer going to do that?

The possible remedies are repair, replacement or refund (maybe a partial refund).
Clearly, to be able to offer a repair, the retailer needs the faulty machine, which is no longer available.
In my opinion, the retailer would need at least sight of the faulty machine before offering either of the other two remedies. If he didn't do this, he would be taking a risk.

OP, as the machine has now gone, I am afraid you have no claim against the retailer.