My rights? Tumble Dryer broken 4 months after end of warranty

LilElvis

First time post and looking for advice and ammunition!

I purchased a John Lewis brand tumble dryer from John Lewis on-line in early August 2010 with a 3 year parts and labour guarantee. It broke yesterday - 4 months outside the guarantee period so I called the number in the instruction manual and they said that as it was out of warranty I would have to pay for the repair and gave me the name and number of the servicing company they use in my area. They said if I wished to take it further I would have to contact JL direct, but I can't do this until this evening as they will only speak to my husband as the order was made in his name. The engineer came this morning and confirmed that the PCB is broken and the cost of the repair will be £220. This is fairly steep as the machine cost £400 and is hardly old. It may be out of the guarantee period, but this is a major component which has failed and I don't think that it is unreasonable to expect that the machine would have lasted far longer, especially as it has been used probably a maximum of 3 times a week - we aren't a family of 10 doing multiple loads of laundry a day!

I hope someone can give me some pointers to help me when I call John Lewis this evening as ideally I would like them to foot the cost of the repair.

LilElvis

over 60 people have read this, but no-one has any opinion?

Some suggestions would be helpful as I need to call John Lewis tonight to (hopefully) persuade them to pay for the repair.

DevCoder

3 years is actually good with the rubbish white goods these days

You are outside the warranty period, and a lot of things can cause the pcb to fail (mositure, power surge etc).

Think you'll just have to suck this one up and either pay the cost of the pcb of get a new dryer. Personally I'd get a new dryer as other things will start going wrong (albeit the pcb is probably the most expensive).

Caz3121

John Lewis offer an upgrade to a 5 year plan for £59 on their dryers. If they repaired an out of warranty machine for free then nobody would buy the extended warranty

I assume you opted not to purchase the extended warranty when you bought the dryer

wealdroam

LilElvis wrote: »

Some suggestions would be helpful as I need to call John Lewis tonight to (hopefully) persuade them to pay for the repair.

Well here is a suggestion:

Forget all about the warranty... it has expired... it will not help you.

Have a read of MSE's Consumer rights guide.

In there you will find that you have up to six years to seek a remedy from the seller... John Lewis.

You may have to prove that the problem is due to an inherent fault, but I would leave that until you have found out JL's stance.

LilElvis

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I don't remember being offered the extended warranty but, in any case, I would expect that a machine purchased from a reputable manufacturer should last more than a few months beyond the warranty period. If I had thought otherwise then I would just have bought the cheapest model available! I suppose it is going to come down to whether or not one could reasonably expect such an item to last longer than 40 months.

As for the reason for the pcb to fail - no moisture detected and surge protection on electrical socket - it actually stopped working mid cycle.

Thanks again,

DevCoder

LilElvis wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I don't remember being offered the extended warranty but, in any case, I would expect that a machine purchased from a reputable manufacturer should last more than a few months beyond the warranty period. If I had thought otherwise then I would just have bought the cheapest model available! I suppose it is going to come down to whether or not one could reasonably expect such an item to last longer than 40 months.

As for the reason for the pcb to fail - no moisture detected and surge protection on electrical socket - it actually stopped working mid cycle.

Thanks again,

You have surge protection on a tumble dryer?

Im surprised it doesnt trip with every load... the start up currents and capicitors spike most supplies.

LilElvis

krisdorey wrote: »

You have surge protection on a tumble dryer?

Im surprised it doesnt trip with every load... the start up currents and capicitors spike most supplies.

Special sockets in the utility and some other rooms (for hi-fi and computers) - one of the many daft things the Finnish guy who had our house built insisted on ... and why the buiders hated him.

I think they are normally only used industrially.

DevCoder

I can understand for hifi and computer equipment, but washing mahcines, dishwashers and tumbledryers is madness.

meer53

I don't get the "John Lewis Fan Club" Why do people think John Lewis are the be all and end all of pandering to peoples complaints ? They're a business at the end of the day. If they were going to offer to repair stuff after the warranty has run out, why would they sell a warranty in the first place ?

Why don't you get a quote for the repair from another source ? I'll bet you can get it done for less than £220.

LilElvis

that's because he didn't just buy regular anything - his dryer was a v expensive Miele and his fridge freezer was something like £5k+. Porsche Cayenne driving, gay, Finnish dentist - enough said!