Washing machine faulty after six days. Refund?

Spam38

Hi. I'm new to the forum so hoping this is the correct place to post.
Basically we have had a Beko washing machine for 6 days before it tripped the sockets in the kitchen twice before going kaput. Rung Argos who tried to send a repair engineer out to which I informed them I don't want a repair I want a refund. They said an engineer will still have to come to write a ticket issuing it as having a fault. All is good there. The problem I have now is they are coming tomorrow and I am at work. My husband will be at home and he's not good with arguing a case such as this and I fear the engineer will try to carry out work without him knowing of the argument he can have within our rights. I have told him to not let him repair the item bit I know how sneaky people can be! Any advice would be a great help. Sorry for the long post.

WTFH

The shop (at their discretion) can repair, refund or replace.
If you bought it online, you might have rights under DSR, but that depends on exact dates of when it was delivered, when the problem occurred and when you informed the supplier.

Spam38

I had the washer delivered on the 22st December. The fault was noticed on the 28th and I rang the straight away. I ordered it online through Argos. Does that help my argument at all?

George_Michael

WTFH wrote: »

The shop (at their discretion) can repair, refund or replace.

The law (SOGA) gives consumers a reasonable time after buying goods to ensure that they are as described and conform to contract, and if they don't, those goods can be rejected for a full refund without giving the retailer the option to repair or replace.

6 days is in no way an excessive amount of time to fully test something like a washing machine, so the op will have the right to a refund if the fault is confirmed.

Spam38

Thank you for that. Just been looking at the "which" page also and have a clearer idea now where we stand. I just wish I was here tomorrow to sort it!

whitegoods_engineer

Well, with around 30 years in the repair business, I would say that an installation error is the most likely cause.

I can probably count on 2 hands, the number of washing machines I have attended, just newly installed, having a genuine fault. It rarely happens.

The chances are, the engineer will attend and find a problem with the installation causing the fault.

The engineer attending will not be trying anything "sneaky". It's no skin off his nose if it doesn't get repaired. He is just there to ascertain whether the machine has a fault or not.

If it does, then you could argue that you want a replacement or refund. However, let's see it the other way round. Let's say it turns out the fault has been caused by the installation. If so, the engineer could charge for the visit and labour since the machine does not have a fault!

In reality, most engineers will, under these circumstances, not charge, as a gesture of goodwill, and therefore save you the cost of a call out and labour.

It always amazes me how many people instantly assume an appliance is faulty before considering other possibilities.

Spam38

Thank you for that. The washer worked fine before tripping my sockets out twice. Now it doesn't do anything at all! I'd say tripping my fuse box is definitely a fault and not something we have done when installing it.

whitegoods_engineer

Spam38 wrote: »

Thank you for that. The washer worked fine before tripping my sockets out twice. Now it doesn't do anything at all! I'd say tripping my fuse box is definitely a fault and not something we have done when installing it.

I'm not saying it isn't a faulty machine, it does happen but very rarely since they are carefully checked at the end of production.

What I am saying is, be open minded. The retailer will need an expert to at least check and report back on the machine. They can't just assume (as you have) that the machine is faulty without checking it.

I can't tell you how many times I've been called to a just-installed appliance which 'didn't even complete one wash and is stuck full of water' (so must be faulty, right?)

The reason invariably is that the installer has failed to remove the cap on the end of the pipework under the sink to which he's attached the drain hose!

So the appliance gets as far as the first rinse, then can't get rid of the water, then goes into error.

I've had customers saying "I don't want this repairing, I want a refund" as I'm walking through the door, without even giving me a chance to look at the machine.

Now your fault is patently electrical, so It's not the same but have you unplugged it and tried it in another socket? Could easily be a power socket fault.

Anyway, the engineer will find out when he looks at it. Let us know what he finds!

Spam38

Yes I see what you're saying. I'm just not happy to have had previous trouble with my old washer only to carry on with a new one. The pipe we have used was from the old machine so is ok but I have no idea why it's done what it's done. It made a noise I'd say was very similar to a soldering iron or welding noise as it blew the trip then it stopped doing anything at all. I have never had anything like that happen before. I just want a machine to work for a decent amount of time.

shaun_from_Africa

Have you had a good look around the washing machine, especially at the power lead and the socket/spur where it is connected?
(make sure that the power is off at your consumer board before doing this).

It's possible that the lead was damaged on installation or the washer is sitting on the cable, or maybe some water has managed to leak onto the socket.

It's unlikely, but it would better finding this before the engineer arrived.

Truepat

I suppose it could just be a connector inside that got dislodged following transit and a couple of uses. Let us know how you got on with the engineer but Argos is a big company and I am sure they will sort the problem out to your satisfaction.