Faulty glass on Wood burner - should i have to pay?

amy21_84

Hello,

Wondering if anyone can help as I need advice on what rights I have! I purchased a wood burner from Stovesonline in November last year ( Mendip Churchill 5 ) and had it installed by a professional a few weeks later. It was running for approx. 5 weeks and then 3 weeks ago the glass cracked from the top of the hinge. We believe this is where the hinge was fixed too tightly and with the glass getting so hot it expanded too much and broke. I have contacted stovesonline and they tell me that even though the stove is meant to have a 5 year guarantee the glass is not covered with the guarantee! There is no mention of this anywhere, not even in the Mendip booklet I received with the stove. However I complained anyway as this was not something I have caused as the manufacturer fitted the glass but they have come back with the following:

I forwarded the photo of the glass of your stove to the manufacturer and they have now come back to me.

As you know glass is not covered under the manufacturer's warranty. They have looked at the photo and said that if there had been a problem with the glass it would have cracked on the initial firing, not after a few weeks.

We have pushed them on this and they have finally agreed to discount the glass very heavily to help you. The glass normally retails at £162.27, we can supply it at £67.27 including vat and delivery.

This is the best offer that we can give you. The glass is in stock, so please come back to me if you would like to go ahead.

What is so frustrating is that this is not my fault, I could understand if the glass cracked in the middle due to a knock (which is why they said the glass is not covered) but this is not the case and it is clear from the pictures where the crack has started from, this is not something that has happened due to my error.

My other concern is what if this happens again – as according to them it’s not how its fitted is the issue but its the way the glass has been placed is what has caused it to break so it could break again in another month or so with a new sheet of glass! I am so angry with the whole thing - can anyone advise? If someone knows how to attach photos i can attach them.

Thanks in advance!!

somethingcorporate

The warranty is a red herring.

You are covered under the Sales of Goods Act. The retailer has to prove that the fault was not inherent at the time of purchase given it is under 6 months old. If they cannot do this (which I doubt they will be able to) they need to provide a remedy being repair, replacement or (partial) refund.

How did you pay? If you paid by credit card then under S75 of the CCA the bank are also liable for the goods so you may want to give them a call and tell them the retailer is not playing ball.

Your rights are absolutely 100% with the retailer so do not get fobbed off with the manufacturer.

rustyboy21

The glass on a stove is classed as a consumable part. Therefore is not covered under any warranty.

The glass may have broke by overfiring, it may have broke through misuse, it may have broken on installation when the installer checked the rope seal was installed correctly. There are many things that can make a glass break.

You have to prove that it was an inherent fault, yes the stove is only new, but it is open to abuse by the user, if they are not correct in the way the stove is used.

The same would go for the firebricks, the glass, the riddling grate if fitted, lots of things. In effect it is a metal box that you make a fire in, which warms your room. It is open to abuse and things like the glass breaking are par for the course.

Everyone with a stove fitted, will most likely have a glass break, some quite early on, some years down the line, it is normal.

IMO I would take their offer, see if you can buy 2 !

bod1467

You are wrong. It is less than 6 months since purchase so the RETAILER has to prove that a fault is NOT inherent, not the other way round.

You may be correct in your general summation, but you are wrong on this specific point.

rustyboy21

bod1467 wrote: »

You are wrong. It is less than 6 months since purchase so the RETAILER has to prove that a fault is NOT inherent, not the other way round.

You may be correct in your general summation, but you are wrong on this specific point.

So would you say the same, if, it was a china dinner service. The owner put the plates in the oven to warm up, they wanted it done quickly, so they zapped the cooker on 200 deg.

When getting them out, one was broke.

Would you say that it is the responsibility of the retailer to swap one over, due to it breaking? It is similar to the glass on a stove, if the fire is too hot( over fired) and it is classed as a consumable product, that they are still liable for the repair?

IMO it is a grey area, it can be done with misuse, which the OP wouldn't admit too. If this is the case then it is neither the manufacturer or retailers fault. It is not a fault, it is something that can happen, the same as a lot of things you buy.

pinkshoes

Same happened to my parents on their Morso (??) Model - glass just cracked after a couple of months on its own. It was a fault as it hadn't been fitted straight. They got a free replacement.

Ditto for my Velux window, which cracked nearly 2 years later. Velux were fab and replaced it free of charge!

I'd read up on SOGA and insist on free replacement. They shouldn't crack just because they get hot.

Worst case scenario is you'll have to get an independent report to show it's faulty and bill them for that too!

pinkshoes

rustyboy21 wrote: »

So would you say the same, if, it was a china dinner service. The owner put the plates in the oven to warm up, they wanted it done quickly, so they zapped the cooker on 200 deg.

When getting them out, one was broke.

Would you say that it is the responsibility of the retailer to swap one over, due to it breaking? It is similar to the glass on a stove, if the fire is too hot( over fired) and it is classed as a consumable product, that they are still liable for the repair?

IMO it is a grey area, it can be done with misuse, which the OP wouldn't admit too. If this is the case then it is neither the manufacturer or retailers fault. It is not a fault, it is something that can happen, the same as a lot of things you buy.

I'm afraid you have the wrong end of the stick.

This is a stress fracture, not a heat fracture. It's actually really common in glass pannels when they haven't been fitted quite right.

Glass is very tough, but under unbalanced stresses it cracks. This is all due to fitting. Very occasionally you'll get a fault in the glass itself.

Ps - I have a degree in mechanical engineering, so quite confident I'm right.

bod1467

rustyboy21 wrote: »

So would you say the same, if, it was a china dinner service. The owner put the plates in the oven to warm up, they wanted it done quickly, so they zapped the cooker on 200 deg.

No, because a dinner service is not DESIGNED for such a situation. The glass on a stove certainly IS designed for it.

somethingcorporate

Plus the responsibility would still fall to the retailer to prove that the fault was not inherent even if they were misused (i.e. they would need to prove misuse led to the damage).

ThumbRemote

rustyboy21 wrote: »

The glass on a stove is classed as a consumable part.

By whom?

I'd have thought a consumable was something that natually got used up, eg printer ink, or wore out slowly over time, eg car tyres or filters. If something has a tendency to break I'd just call it 'poor quality'.

Maybe everyone could use this line. "Yes, I'm sorry the roof fell off your house, however the roof is a consumable part..."

rustyboy21

ThumbRemote wrote: »

By whom?

I'd have thought a consumable was something that natually got used up, eg printer ink, or wore out slowly over time, eg car tyres or filters. If something has a tendency to break I'd just call it 'poor quality'.

Maybe everyone could use this line. "Yes, I'm sorry the roof fell off your house, however the roof is a consumable part..."

Stove glass are consumable parts, they are readily available to purchase. They get marked with Tar from inneficient and wrongly burned product.

As I have stated already, stove glass does break, this is why it is available to purchase seperately.

Pinkshoes actually has stated the most likely reason for the glass to break, however. It has been installed incorrectly by the installer. This has no ault on the manufacturer or retailer in this case, as the OP got it off the internet and most likely used their own installer to fit it. You have to take the glass off to correctly fit the rope seal on installation.

With regards to the china plates, If plates where not designed to be heated up in their normal use, why would they invent plate warmers?

I stand by my assumptions. With knowledge of the fireplace industry, I feel that I have a little more knowledge on these isssues than a lot of lay lawyers do. As we have not heard from the OP since posting, I would presume that she has gone with the offer the retailer gave her, which IMO, is quite generous.

Not all faults are as black and white as you may think.