What's fair compensation?

Ringarosie

Hi everyone,
I not sure if this us the right place to post this as I'm a newbie so apologies if I'm in the wrong place

We had a new gas cooker delivered & fitted last Thursday from John Lewis (cost £600 once fitting etc added on), we used it once with no problem but when I went to switch it on on Sunday it blew the fuse in the plug & tripped the house power, replaced the fuse & it did it again, & again. So no Sunday roast for us.

Rang JL and they gave me number for the Zanussi engineer, rang them on Monday morning (not open on a Sunday) & they said they couldn't get someone out until the following Tuesday (8 days away), I kicked up a fuss & suddenly a cancellation appointment was available for yesterday so I took an emergency day off work & they eventually turned up at 4pm & said they couldn't fix it & would need to order a part. Part apparently not available until next Monday in the meantime they've written DO NOT USE all over the notes so I now have no cooker.

Rang up JL again & said not acceptable to have no cooker for over a week & I wanted a new cooker rather then the broken one replacing (there is a limit to how often I can eat takeaway even if the kids don't agree!), they then rang up Zanussi and miraculously part is now being delivered within 48hrs & they will contact me to make emergency appointment to fit it. They haven't contacted me yet but the 48hrs isn't up yet so I'll hold fire on that one.

What I want to ask you guys is should I be asking for compensation from John Lewis? They've been perfectly polite & have got the delivery brought forward from Zanussi but they haven't offered me anything to compensate for the fact I've had to use a days holiday (& will need another one when they do come to fix it) & won't have been able to cook for my family for at least 4/5 days by the time it's fixed, they also weren't keen on replacing the cooker & only wanted to repair it. Am I being unreasonable to expect compensation? And if I do ask what's a reasonable amount?

Any advice gratefully received

southcoastrgi

maybe they can give you a goodwill gesture, a year or two of extra warentee ?

Gordon_Hose

The only financial loss you've suffered is paying for takeaways.

They might offer something as a goodwill gesture, but I wouldn't expect much TBH... a JL gift card with £20 on it I expect.

Plumber90

Things happen, how were they to know the cooker was going to blow up. They have helped out as much as they can and got things sped up for you so I don't really see what the problem is ???

vaio

Plumber90 wrote: »

Things happen, how were they to know the cooker was going to blow up. They have helped out as much as they can and got things sped up for you so I don't really see what the problem is ???

I guess the problem is that the OP has lost two days holiday (= two days wages??) and has had to buy take away food for a week at significant extra cost.

OP, I'd drop JL a letter saying that whilst you are content to allow a repair you reserve your right to reject the goods in the event of any further trouble and that you will be in touch about your financial losses once the issue is resolved.

When it is resolved add up what it has cost you and let them know

Gordon_Hose

Lets not rule out the fact they can ignore the OP's request for compo completely.

No harm in asking though.

macman

You're not entitle to any consequential loss, though you can ask. If you want to ask, you need to quantify your actual losses, not just ask what is 'reasonable'.
You are not entitled to a new cooker: the retailer can replace, repair or refund at their discretion.

2013yearofthehouse

I would ask for compensation for days off, but not for food - they could argue takeaways weren't neccessary as supermarkets sell plenty of ready to eat food - it's getting warmer now, you could have salads or even picnic food (not neccessarily a full on picnic!), not ideal I know and still an inconvenience if you don't usually eat that type of food. This is how we got by when John Lewis delivered our cooker, but couldn't/wouldn't install it (our old one was already broken so they still took it away). We also considered buying a cheap microwave, but decided not to as the wait wasn't as long as we thought it might be (we were a week with the broken one and then another week waiting to get the new one installed).

vaio

Sometimes I wonder if the right to reject faulty goods, the right to have faulty goods repaired and the right to have consequential costs covered etc etc etc all as contained in the Sale of Goods, other consumer legislation and assorted common law developed over time actually exists or is just a figment of my imagination.

OP...maybe you should consider yourself lucky they are doing anything to help you get the cooker you've just paid £600 for into a state where you can actually use it for cooking

jamski07

I would ask. Sorry but you don't expect something brand new, regardless of value really, to be faulty. As others have said if you don't ask you don't get. Be polite, and see what happens. Your not trying to get something you don't deserve. A £20 voucher would be adequate imo.

the_matrix

Be nice and tell them about your days off and how you love JL. Ask if it was you what would you say was reasonable for JL to give. I'm sure you can get £50 JL voucher out of them.