Advice on a washing machine.

look4abargain

Bought a Beko washing machine from Argos in January 2012. This week it started playing up and refusing to start until the door had been opened and closed repeatedly so obviously a faulty switch somewhere.

If I were to contact argo about this what kind of rights would I have, I am over 12months that you would normally expect but if I recall correctly the phrasing of the law is "reasonable period" so I personally would say that 18months old is not a reasonable period for something to break.

Any help and advice greatly appreciated.

unholyangel

Contact them first and see what they say. If they offer no help/say they cant do anything ask what proof they require that its an inherent fault.

They will likely tell you an engineers report - the cost of which they should refund to you if the report finds in your favour.

Have you checked round the doorframe/seals to make sure nothing is obstructing it?

look4abargain

Well I have sent them an email, we'll see what they say.

Oh and yes I checked all the obvious areas for problems.

look4abargain

Ok argos have said I need to get an independent report done, how do I go about this? I have never heard of washing machine inspectors before.

PZH

look4abargain wrote: »

Ok argos have said I need to get an independent report done, how do I go about this? I have never heard of washing machine inspectors before.

In order to go anywhere with this, the report would have to prove that the fault was present during manufacture (i.e. Inherent).

Now this might be possible, but it may also be a complete waste of money to get a report done (i.e. fault may be down to fair wear and tear) - only you can decide that.

Swings and roundabouts really - a report that shows an inherent fault would give you rights under SOGA (This could be repair, replacement, or (partial) refund depend on what Argos want to offer). Then again, £xx spent on an independent report might not prove a thing.



Not saying it is or it isn't - but the fault does sounds like it is down to the door interlock switch, which (depending on the model) they are about £10 - £20. Fitting can be a bit tricky as you have to either remove the seal, or reach down inside the casing. (There are usually very good videos on YouTube, etc, these days showing how to do stuff like this)

Depends on how technically minded you or your friends are. I did one a few years back and took me about 30 mins start to finish.

look4abargain

Well I think wear and tear would be highly unlikely, it is really only used by my partner and less than once a week on average so I think it's a poorly manufactured part and even if the fault wasn't present at manufature I still think it reasonable to assume the parts to last longer than 18months, my mothers machine has done several washes a week for more than 8 years with nothing more than a leaky filler hose going wrong, while I don't expect that to be the norm I do expect a few years of trouble free service before things start to go wrong.

Thanks for the advice on the switch though, I may look into that depending on how much a report will cost if I can find someone to actually do that.

unholyangel

What qualifies as an independent report is basically someone who doesnt really have a vested interest (no a family member or employee) who is qualified - ie a repair technician.

Call around your local places and ask how much a report costs, theres a few around here who will do it for as little as £25.