Washing Machine broke after 18 months - rights?

michaels

My Beko (I know I asked for it going for a cheapo brand) washing machine broke after 18 months. I not e it only has a 12 month warranty and I don't thin my credit card doubled this up.

However to me this is unreasonable life for a 'durable' good and I thought there was some EU legislation about this sort of thing. What worries me is that if I persue it even if I am successful it will take 3 months and obviously I need a new machine / repair now...

Any advice?

kwatt

To my knowledge this hasn't been tested in a UK court, the bit about the new EU Legislation.

However, UK consumer law actually outstripped (still does in some cases) that of many other EU states so the changes really didn't do anything to further protect UK customers as they were pretty much well covered by existing UK law.

With me so far? The next bit is the bit that's totally untested so far as I know and this is my understanding of the actual practice, not the urban myths and theory.

So then it all came out the woodwork about the old six year thing, that was trotted out by the media and, it does hold some water but not a lot. Basically you have to present a case to the retailer that the goods were defective or had a manufacturing defect at the point of purchase. The retailer then has to prove that they were not and that's where the change in the UK was, previously the customer had to prove the case.

In practice what this means is that you have to claim that there's a manufacturing defect and then sue the retailer.

As you can appreciate you will need a friendly expert or two to back your claim and that's only the start.

You see to claim a manufacturing defect you have to be able to prove one or two things. The first is that it's an epidemic failure, so there's hundreds of them failed in the exact same way or, alternatively, you have to show that the part of the device that failed was faulty since day one. Obviously number two is hard if you've been using it fine for two years and number one, well unless you can gather enough reports and it needs to be quite a lot, then the thing just doesn't hold water.

So then you start down the path of "reasonable period of time" as UK consumer law has stated since 1974 at least with the Consumer Goods Act. So what's a "reasonable" period of time for a £200 washing machine when quality ones are perceived to cost way in excess of three times that?

The argument then swings around and it's up to you to prove that the machine should have lasted longer.

The retailer will also likely throw into the pot that there are plenty of insurance options to cover such eventualities and that, had you taken that option then the problem would never have arisen in the first instance, but it was your choice not to do that.

Meanwhile, you're without a washing machine and stumping up on legal fees unless you choose the small claims route. Just remember that, either way, if you loose you become liable for costs.

This is why I expect it's never been tested in a court as, to be blunt, if you bought a cheap washer or whatever then you likely don't have the money to fight a court battle and, even if you did, it would most likely be better spent replacing the broken one than pursuing the retailer through the legal system.

I know it's not exactly morally right and I don't really agree with the way that this happens, having a poor customer on the phone crying whilst explaining that they can't afford a replacement and they're still paying out on a broken machine is no fun, I can attest to that. But people want things cheaper and cheaper often duped into thinking that it's a bargain when, all too often, it turns out not to be.

With my own company I took an ethical stance, if it's not considered to be good enough then we don't sell it, period. If we're too expensive then that's fine, I'd rather people went elsewhere in that case. But it's rare to see that, most retailers, especially the big boys, will sell you any old rubbish.

I am sorry if I'm the bearer of bad tidings but I'd rather you had the truth and how this is liable to play out up front, then you can at least decide a course of action to take knowing what you're getting into. Many here may well not agree with me, but I've seen this happen many, many times and been totally powerless to do anything about it except try to guide people on the best way forward for them where possible.

In this case, with a Beko which really aren't that bad so long as you avoid the really cheap ones, at that age, I'd bet that you'll get nowhere with it and you'd be far better placing your energy into something more productive.

Next time though, do a bit of research.

Hope it helps.

K.

Steve_xx

I think you ought to contact Consumer Direct, explaining the details, and they may be able to offer you some suitable advice. Clearly, a washing machine should last for a period in excess of 18 months when subject to normal or average usage.

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/contact