Fine bone china cup - <5 months old - cracked on use

shanejosephdonnelly

Hey MSEs,
My sister bought me a cup as a birthday present in August - I've only used it a few times, and it says its "fine bone china". I made some coffee this morning and when I poured it into the cup a huge crack appeared right through it, all across the bottom and all the way up the side .

Anyone know if I would be entitled to a refund or replacement with this being a cup? It was £12 - so I don't think that it has lasted for a reasonable length of time given its price.

Thanks in advance.

shaun_from_Africa

Bone china is extremely fragile and most manufacturers advise that the cups should be pre-warmed before pouring in boiling water.

If the cup was cold when you poured the coffee in, this could easily have caused it to crack.

Valli

There's every chance that there was a hairline crack, perhaps from washing up, which the boiling water 'enlarged' when you went to make the coffee.

However all is not lost - possibly.

I had a similar incident when a mug (made/sold by a 'trendy' designer/retailer - initials CK) cracked in the dishwasher even though it was labelled dishwasher safe. It had been a gift for my daughter from her friend.

I emailed the company concerned and 'expressed my disappointment' and thought they should know that, despite the label the mug had been broken by the dishwasher. I did not word it as a formal complaint, but told them I was drawing their attention to the issue; especially as my dishwasher was a recent model recently installed.

They sent me a replacement free of charge.

shanejosephdonnelly

It's kept on top of a machine to warm it up - so it wasn't cold.

shaun_from_Africa

In which case, following the advice from Valli would probably be your best bet.