Faulty fridge

STOTTYCAKE8

I bought an integral fridge from a kitchen supplier. After 15 months the thermostat went and the fridge froze up. I then rang Hotpoint who suggested I take out a warranty for a year and they came and repaired the fridge. However, the engineer who fixed it said it might not work and after 7 months the fridge froze again. The same engineer came and said it was faulty and we would need a new fridge which was allowed under the warranty. We have found out however, that the warranty did not include delivery, removal or fitting. They charge £44 for delivery but we have to find someone to fit it and remove the old fridge. We have estimated the total cost to be over £100. My query is that was the fridge 'fit for purpose' having lasted only 15 months and then after being repaired had the same fault. The company Hotpoint is impossible to contact and the warranty company Domestic and General say they have to charge. Am I being unreasonable in thinking it is Hotpoint who should replace the fridge?

wealdroam

Hotpoint and D&G appear to be doing nothing wrong.

You need to speak to whoever sold the thing to you.

Here is a quote from MSE's Consumer Rights guide:

Know who's responsible

When returning items, beware shops trying the oldest trick in the book: saying they're not responsible for the shoddy goods and you must call the manufacturer. This is total nonsense!

If a company fobs you off by saying “go to the maker instead”, it's wrong. It's the retailer's job to sort it.

It doesn't matter if it's an iPod from a high street shop or a designer frock from a department store. If something's broken, torn, ripped or faulty, the seller has a legal duty to put it right as your contract is with them.

Would be worth you reading the rest of that article, where you will find that if the fault is found to be inherent, then the seller must cover all the costs of providing the remedy.
Those costs being delivery, removal and refitting, etc.

cattie

I'm not sure whether you're being unreasonable or not, but when I bought a Baumatic integrated fridge freezer I realised it had a manufacturing fault after having it for almost 1yr. I contacted their customer service & the result was an engineer came out, verified the fault & a brand new upscaled model was ordered for me as a replacement.

It arrived the following week, with Baumatic's own personnel taking out the defective one & installing the new one.