Faulty Beko Washing Machine

saculderf

Hi all,
I hope someone can offer some advice here, I am a bit stumped about what I can do to sort out this situation.

I moved house on the 3rd of September, but when I was looking for appliances I found a Beko washing machine on sale with Sainsburys on the 27th of July. I bought it, and recieved the machine on the 3rd of August. As I was moving, I didn't take the packaging off to have a look at the machine because I didn't want to risk damaging the machine when I moved it to my new house. Until I moved, the machine sat in one spot.

On opening the item, I noticed that the machine had quite a big outwards dent in the side panel but as it was only a cosmetic issue I didn't get in touch with Sainsburys to complain. I also noticed that the door didn't seem to close properly but the glass moved back into place quite easily and the door latched ok, and looked like a normal door. However, after plumbing the machine in and turning on a rinse cycle, it leaked. I checked where the water was coming from, and it was out of the bottom of the machine and not the water inlet or the drain.

I called Sainsburys at this point, who told me that as the item was outside of their 28day 'guarantee' period and they no longer had engineers, I had to contact Beko to arrange an engineer to come out to have a look at the machine. I did, and the engineer came on Thursday (6th). He took a look at the machine and said that there was a hole in the drum, the cabinet was damaged, and the door gasket and door were faulty. He said it could be repaired, but a replacement would be better.

Another call to Sainsburys, and they said that Beko needed to provide a Write Off number before they could issue a replacement machine. Beko, however, have said that they won't give out a number as the machine was damaged on delivery.

I'm now stuck in a loop between Beko and Sainsburys. I know that my contract is with Sainsburys but the girl on the phone said that under some EU directive, the time is 28 days and not 6 months (I don't know whether this is true or not). Sainsburys have now said that I did not report that the machine was leaking when I first contacted them, only that I said that it would not complete a full cycle (I did tell them that it leaked, and the damage to the side, and the dodgy door, I put it on a rinse cycle for 30 seconds and water came pouring out from under the machine so obviously I turned off the machine).

The managers at Sainsburys are apparently going to contact me on Monday. What can I say to them that would make them sort this issue out? I feel that having a repaired machine that has been so damaged is not good enough and really would like a replacement.

Sorry for the length of this, I'm getting quite frustrated with the lack of progress!

Thanks in advance,
Saculderf

tesuhoha

I would ask them to replace it as a goodwill gesture. That has been known to work.

kwatt

Hi saculderf,

You have a couple of issues and a bit of misinformation.

Sainsbury's don't actually do appliances. It used to be a company called DRL that did it but I think it may now be Comet but you are correct in that your contract is with the retailer.

There is, I'm afraid, no 28 day thing unless that was a part of the contract of sale with the retailer. If it is printed on the sales information or receipt then it is a part of the contract and the retailer is legally obliged to adhere to the terms that were offered to you.

Within six month it is up to the retailer to prove that the fault was not evident from new. Beyond this it is the responsibility of the customer.

Where it gets a bit murky is that, if you had the machine delivered to one address and then it turns up somewhere else how is the retailer or the manufacturer to know it wasn't damaged when you moved it or, if it was damaged on delivery?

That's where you run into trouble.

I wrote something recently about this but can't for the life of me find it, about the ping pong between retailers and manufacturers like this and it's a load of tosh basically.

What happens is this, the retailer wants an "exchange number" or "uplift authorisation" or whatever buzzword is in fashion so that they get a credit on the machine. The manufacturer, not knowing whether the retailer is at fault, the customer or it's own logistics (who they will attempt to claim for damages) was the one that actually caused the problem. Meanwhile, you appear to get the runaround as they all sort that mess out.

If it is Comet though, they are under new ownership so I don't know how that will all go.

Most companies, in my experience, do try to sort this as fast as they can but it does sometimes take a bit of time to do it. So, I'd advice you to be as nice as you can about it given the dubiety and to simply be persistent. In the end they probably will change it if the circumstances are as described unless they're being really silly.

If they think you did the damage moving the machine however, it may not turn out well.

But the responsibility to sort the issue out however the chips fall is with the retailer, nobody else.

HTH

K.

cyclonebri1

saculderf wrote: »

Hi all,
and recieved the machine on the 3rd of August.


the girl on the phone said that under some EU directive, the time is 28 days and not 6 months (I don't know whether this is true or not). Sainsburys have now said that I did not report that the machine was leaking when I first contacted them,

Thanks in advance,
Saculderf

So Sainsburys are arguing over about 5 days????

You need to play on that when they call.
PS
don't wait for the call, call them.

Like a lot of cases it's only when you push a little harder do you get a resolution. I wouldn't worry too much about the girl on the phone, that's the 1st line of defence to deter less determined complainants, ;), one word, Pressure

roddydogs

Sainsburys are sticklers..........ie 1 day over the year, say and its "out of warranty" and you have to fall back on SOG act (Get engineers report etc) as I know to my cost.

macman

You are not entitled to a replacement-they can repair, replace or refund at their discretion.

cyclonebri1

macman wrote: »

You are not entitled to a replacement-they can repair, replace or refund at their discretion.

I think thats all the op wants, ie a working washer???????. ;);)