Small Claims: Washer Dryer

rustyboy21

Finally on this subject, you are out of pocket £45, so you are looking at small claims court action. Isnt this going to cost you £25 at least? Is it worth it?



https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees

OlliesDad

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Finally on this subject, you are out of pocket £45, so you are looking at small claims court action. Isnt this going to cost you £25 at least? Is it worth it?



https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/court-fees

If the OP won then the retailer would pay the court fee.

rustyboy21

OlliesDad wrote: »

If the OP won then the retailer would pay the court fee.

But there is still a chance they would lose, so is it worth it?


If it was a few £100 then that is different, but factoring the cost of a day off work( possible), car park in the city for the duration of the case, time spent preparing etc, again, Is it worth it?


IMO, I would say that the OP should speak again, rationally and calmly to the installer. Say their installation, was really no different than a FS version and to avoid any court costs, would they refund the difference between the integrated install and the FS install, which works out at £45 +vat. If I was approached in this way, I would do it, not down to fear of a court case, but through concluding that it was more of a FS install, so didn't warrant the extra money. Although, on checking a couple of large suppliers of white goods, like John Lewis, they do charge more than double the install for integrated appliances than FS and do not do alteration work to any cabinets, so the supplier is offering what other companies would do.


IMO, I feel that the OP may have gone about this in the totally wrong way and has got the backs of the company up, that is why they are being firm in their decision. You only have to see how he has gone about answering posts on here, to see this may be possible.

wealdroam

rustyboy21 wrote: »

IMO, I would say that the OP should speak again, rationally and calmly to the installer. Say their installation, was really no different than a FS version and to avoid any court costs, would they refund the difference between the integrated install and the FS install, which works out at £45 +vat. If I was approached in this way, I would do it, not down to fear of a court case, but through concluding that it was more of a FS install, so didn't warrant the extra money. Although, on checking a couple of large suppliers of white goods, like John Lewis, they do charge more than double the install for integrated appliances than FS and do not do alteration work to any cabinets, so the supplier is offering what other companies would do.

The OP told us the installation was free.

rustyboy21

wealdroam wrote: »

The OP told us the installation was free.

Then what the bloody hell is he moaning about? If he has researched it as he says, then he would come up with the point that not a lot of them would touch the door with a 10ft bargepole, especially after they find out it needs working on.


OP Life is too short, take it out of the profit you have made from selling your flat.

shaun_from_Africa

About 1 year ago, I purchased a new built in washing machine and the wooden cupboard door hinge positions were totally different to the old washer.

I fitted the door, but this took me a couple of hours as I had never attempted this sort of job before and where the new holes needed to be positioned is something that has to be absolutely spot on. Any slight error and the door would never fit properly so I checked the measurements, double checked them, then checked again before drilling.
Apart from the time it took, I also had to buy the cutter which cost £12 and I will probably never use it again.

If there is ever a next time, I would be more than happy to pay someone £45 to do the job for me.

Idiophreak

rustyboy21 wrote: »

But you have already stated that the door had to be reworked in order to fit new hinges in different places, that is not a 2 minute job ( re read your last posts)

Sorry, you've missed the point.

I *thought* when I agreed for them to come and fit the thing that it would be as easy as them unscrewing a couple of screws and doing them up again...which is why I *expected* that, not having been told otherwise, when they said "fully fitted" the thing would be fully fitted.

As I said, I wasn't an expert, I hadn't done research, I just knew they'd have to change the door from the one machine for the other and assumed this is what I was paying the extra money for.

So I just don't understand why you suggest I should have expected to have to pay a carpenter to complete this job. At the time I *thought* it was just screwing and unscrewing and expected someone who has a job installing integrated appliances to be able to manage it.

rustyboy21 wrote: »

But there is still a chance they would lose, so is it worth it?

If it was a few £100 then that is different, but factoring the cost of a day off work( possible), car park in the city for the duration of the case, time spent preparing etc, again, Is it worth it?

IMO, I would say that the OP should speak again, rationally and calmly to the installer. Say their installation, was really no different than a FS version and to avoid any court costs, would they refund the difference between the integrated install and the FS install, which works out at £45 +vat. If I was approached in this way, I would do it, not down to fear of a court case, but through concluding that it was more of a FS install, so didn't warrant the extra money. Although, on checking a couple of large suppliers of white goods, like John Lewis, they do charge more than double the install for integrated appliances than FS and do not do alteration work to any cabinets, so the supplier is offering what other companies would do.

Ah, you see, this is the problem. Irrespective of what you might think, I *did* start off being perfectly reasonable about this. I tried both approaches - I mentioned that I'd been left out of pocket by their failure to inform me of this possible additional cost and asked them to cover the difference (£45). Failing this, I asked them to cover the difference between a FS installation and a stand alone installation, as per your suggestion...all perfectly politely, all softly softly...but I was refused...I catchee no monkey.

Honestly, I thought a reasonable, honest professional would accept either of these arguments and hand the money over and that would be that. Especially as I'd already paid them around £200 more than the going rate for the thing for convenience.

(as an aside, in the new house, I had issues with my washing machine install from knowhow. I called them up, pointed out my issues and my refund was in my account the next day...this was kinda what I was expecting to happen here...)

As to whether it's worth it, the reason I'd bother is because someone has to, right? Essentially, they've admitted that they made a mistake, they've admitted that this mistake cost me time and money, yet they're still refusing to reimburse me simply for the extra money it cost me. And, following their shenanigans with their website, it's clear this isn't a one off - they're a bunch of cowboys and somebody really ought to make a stand to show them this isn't how you should run a business.

As you say, there are *many* other things I'd rather do with my time...but I'm really compelled by a "sense of duty" on this one.

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Then what the bloody hell is he moaning about? If he has researched it as he says, then he would come up with the point that not a lot of them would touch the door with a 10ft bargepole, especially after they find out it needs working on.

I've researched it now. I understand it now, now I'm a proper "expert". At the time, I hadn't. I looked on a couple of websites for comparable prices, found that they wouldn't install integrated appliances. Was offered a price, on the phone, for an appliance fully fitted, thought "well, it's a lot of money, but I don't have many options" and went for it.

The machine, delivered, was £350 on John Lewis. I paid this company £560 in the end - so I paid them £210 more for the convenience of them integrating the thing. So I was surprised that the extent of their "integration" was to attach the taps that any other installer does for ~ £20.

As for the "free installation" thing, I find that all a bit of a nonsense. I was never told ahead of time that the installation was free and I don't believe it matters much anyway...I paid for the thing delivered and installed for a set price. For that price I expected it to be delivered and installed, not just delivered.

Idiophreak

Idiophreak wrote: »

As to whether it's worth it, the reason I'd bother is because someone has to, right? Essentially, they've admitted that they made a mistake, they've admitted that this mistake cost me time and money, yet they're still refusing to reimburse me simply for the extra money it cost me. And, following their shenanigans with their website, it's clear this isn't a one off - they're a bunch of cowboys and somebody really ought to make a stand to show them this isn't how you should run a business.

Meant to say...and, financially, it's probably just about worth it.

At the moment I'm £70 down. If I won, they'd have to pay for my time off work - ~£40 for half a day iirc. So I'd get £110 for half a day off work, which is probably just about worthwhile.