Washing machine issues

naxtek

Not sure if this is the right forum - it's a mix of washing machine problems and consumer rights.

Just moved into a house (late Dec) and bought a brand new washing machine to go in it from a large online retailer.

I paid extra for installation, which they half did, but they couldn't finish properly. This wasn't really their fault - the stop tap for the washing machine also controlled a pipe for the previous owner's ice making fridge-freezer, which was left uncapped, so turning on the water supply to the washer would have flooded our kitchen! Anyway, they did everything they could up to the point of turning on the water and testing it. Later that day, I bought an end-cap to block off the pipe in the kitchen temporarily (we'll get a plumber to take it out and cap it off when we redecorate the kitchen). In the mean time, we decided it would be best to turn the stop tap off when the machine isn't in use because I don't 100% trust the end cap (this detail becomes relevant in a minute).

Since having the machine, we've used it a number of times on various settings and every time we used it, it had two faults: -

1. It didn't draw any fabric conditioner from the drawer; and
2. It didn't drain properly so our clothes were sat in a puddle of water after every wash cycle.

Having exhausted our own knowledge through trying different settings, I decided the machine must be faulty so contacted the retailer who in turn arranged for the manufacturer to send an engineer to investigate.


An engineer visited yesterday and pretty much blamed the installers. Apparently there is a horseshoe shaped clip for the waste pipe which wasn't installed and nor was it left with the appliance - the delivery/installation crew must have taken it away with the packaging. They also failed to correctly level the machine.


Having rectified these problems, the installer was then confident the machine would now work - but upon turning it on to test, he found that the machine was filling with water despite being (electrically) turned off which it shouldn't do. He blamed this upon high water pressure and indicated the stop tap should be left half-open only to reduce the water pressure so that the internal stop valve in the machine would work. He adjusted the stop tap a couple of times, leaving it at about a third open. He tested it, everything seemed fine, and he left. Not wanting to mess with it, I left the stop-tap exactly as the engineer had set it (despite my concerns about the end-cap on the other pipe).



We tried a load of washing yesterday evening and it did seem a bit better. Only a small puddle of water left in the machine after the cycle, and it did draw some (but not all) of the conditioner through.


This morning, I came to the machine to find that despite being turned off electrically overnight, and the stop-tap being exactly where the engineer had set it, the machine's internal stop had failed and it had filled with water overnight to the point where water was leaking from the drawer and had flooded our garage .


I'm really not happy with this washing machine but I'm not sure what to do?


Should I:

1. Contact the retailer and arrange another repair; or
2. Contact the retailer and demand a replacement machine - given this is only 2 weeks old and it hasn't worked right from new; or
3. Arrange for someone independent to come and verify if the engineer is correct about us having too high water pressure?

What are my rights in this situation? As it was purchased online, would the DSRs help me?

wealdroam

Contact the retailer and reject the goods as not conforming to contract.

adouglasmhor

Is it clean or dirty water?
If clean the water valve is not shutting completely or opening a tiny ammount over time, nothing to do with supply presure.
If dirty it is backfilling because it is lower on the system than a drain or outlet.

naxtek

It's definitely clean water and the stop isn't working.

When I turned the stop tap off you could hear it stop trickling.

Could the retailer or manufacturer argue the water pressure is too high? I'm not aware of the previous owners or neighbours having any such problem. Is it just an excuse they've spun?

adouglasmhor

It's just an excuse in my view.