Washing machine broken aged 20 months

jahyra

I bought my washing machine last April (2013) and whilst it is good at filling and washing, it has decided not to drain. Then it fills again to rinse.....and floods the floor. Yes, it will drain on a spin cycle.

I know it is not reasonable to have something break 20 months in, that is why I contacted the retailer, then responded after they sent me their standard '12 months only, sorry can't help' reply. Which is frankly lying, and given that they are a large supermarket chain, currently not doing so well, I would have thought sprucing up their attitude to customer service might help keep customers. And it's not like they have to deal with it, they send the whole thing back to the manufacturers and get their refund. Anyway.

I have contacted the seller, cited the relevant EU directive, Sale of Goods Act, asked for them to email me. There have been emails. But now they are refusing to budge in writing, it has to be by phone. Anything else I need to do? Am I right in thinking that under EU law I can ask them to give me a refund/new machine, rather than them dictate to me? Because the tone of the phone conversation I had today was that they were discussing what they would do/offer.....I felt that I was not going to be asked. Also. If they offer anything at all, shouldn't they do so in writing?

Any help and advice gratefully received!

paddy's_mum

Exactly the same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. The circuit board/electronics on a Whirlpool washing machine that I had bought from Tesco suddenly failed completely - !!!!!!! The machine was less than 2 years old.

I got the same initial response as you did but once I had insisted on speaking to a more senior person than the clerk who answered the telephone and said that I would a/ be reporting their response to Trading Standards and b/ going to the local store to raise the matter with Customer Services (on a busy Saturday morning!) they decided to be much more reasonable.

Eventually, we settled on an £80 refund which was about right, given that I had had the untroubled use of the machine for the preceding 20 or so months and that the refund offered was about one third of the cost of a new machine.

I'd also add that my local repair man told me that washing machines at the lower end of the price range had a likely life of about 3 years before breakdowns and expensive repairs occurred and that information helped to confirm that the amount refunded was fair and an appropriate remedy.

Hope that helps and good luck.

jahyra

Thank you! Very helpful. I have huge issues with these things being settled over the phone as I am an ex customer services manager from the head office of a rival supermarket - albeit that was pre children and I have retrained and work in a different profession now. I know the wording is everything and I don't trust the inferences in a phone call. I was worried that the law might have changed since my day. Yes, it's Tesco I am dealing with too. Big sigh. You know their original letter contained a typo/spelling error. I would have been shot for that although my letters were signed by the Directors as though they had composed them themselves.

They are supposedly calling me within 72 hours. That is what makes me think they are going to be discussing it first as usually there is a standard amount already set out for refunds etc and they should have been able to settle immediately.

Avoriaz

paddy's_mum wrote: »

...I'd also add that my local repair man told me that washing machines at the lower end of the price range had a likely life of about 3 years before breakdowns and expensive repairs occurred and that information helped to confirm that the amount refunded was fair and an appropriate remedy..

3 years is a ridiculously short lifespan.

We (admittedly just the two of us with no children) got about 27 years out of a Philips washing machine.

Its replacement, an Indesit, is still going strong after 7 years.

Buy cheap buy nine times appears to be the conclusion.

Think of the wasted money, time, effort and landfill changing a washing machine every three years brings.

jahyra

Agreed. 3 years is ridiculous and made to break. Which is why the EU directive gives protection up to 5 years, with the best protection for products of 2 years or less. See 1999/44/EC. Got a feeling some of it is superseded by the Sale of Goods act in this country, but the spirit of the law is the same.

Equally questionable is the fact that retailers (not the manufacturers) are willing to hide behind the rules they set and not the law. Grateful to the contributor above who suggested involving the Trading Standards. If it comes to it I will probably involve my MP.

No matter what price the manufacturer puts on an item, you have a right to believe that it will last a reasonable amount of time, and under 5 years is unreasonable.

Seronera

I'd have a word with the CitizensAdviceBureau. They must hear this sort of carry on every day and know how best to deal with it. I know that cuts to TradingStandards leave them much less time to deal with these matters. I just hope your nearest CAB still exists.

jahyra

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately having time to make phone calls is my problem, as I teach in a special school, the days are long, the breaks are scarce and I am ready to drop when I get home, often well after 6. I am not able to make calls during office hours as a rule because of my responsibilities to the pupils. And of course you are right....if there is still CAB office. Or has the name changed, amalgamated, restructured....

128hdays

What type of washing machine did you purchase?

Ben84

jahyra wrote: »

No matter what price the manufacturer puts on an item, you have a right to believe that it will last a reasonable amount of time, and under 5 years is unreasonable.

Not so many years ago, lasting just 5 years would have been considered bad. Customer expectations have fallen almost as fast as prices and quality.

My Hoover from 1983 is still working after many thousands of washes. Although it's been through a few carbon brushes, belts and door seals over the years, nothing beyond the semi-disposable parts has ever failed. If we're being honest, this Hoover electron was one of the cheaper models at the time as well. It just wasn't too cheap. About £500 in modern money.

It's worth paying a decent price for a machine, but don't buy it from one of the budget brands, all you'll get is a poor quality machine with nicer trim and more cycle types (who uses them all anyway?). If you need to save, get a lower price machine from a good manufacturer. I've found that companies usually buy as few types of part as possible, so a top of the range from some will have a lot of parts identical to their £199 model. If a company make any bargain basement models, or worse mostly make them, their entire range is probably best avoided.

Also, I'd keep away from anywhere that promotes extended warranties too much. I'll rant about those some other time, but paying all that extra money without it going on the build quality is a questionable investment when you think about it.

pd001

jahyra wrote: »

I bought my washing machine last April (2013) and whilst it is good at filling and washing, it has decided not to drain. Then it fills again to rinse.....and floods the floor. Yes, it will drain on a spin cycle.

I know it is not reasonable to have something break 20 months in, that is why I contacted the retailer, then responded after they sent me their standard '12 months only, sorry can't help' reply. Which is frankly lying, and given that they are a large supermarket chain, currently not doing so well, I would have thought sprucing up their attitude to customer service might help keep customers. And it's not like they have to deal with it, they send the whole thing back to the manufacturers and get their refund. Anyway.

I have contacted the seller, cited the relevant EU directive, Sale of Goods Act, asked for them to email me. There have been emails. But now they are refusing to budge in writing, it has to be by phone. Anything else I need to do? Am I right in thinking that under EU law I can ask them to give me a refund/new machine, rather than them dictate to me? Because the tone of the phone conversation I had today was that they were discussing what they would do/offer.....I felt that I was not going to be asked. Also. If they offer anything at all, shouldn't they do so in writing?

Any help and advice gratefully received!

How did you pay for it?
By credit card maybe?
Even just a deposit on a credit card might help.

thescouselander

Just an aside but I don't think washing machines are only designed to last 3 years - to do that would actually be quite hard anyway. The vast majority of machines follow what's called the bath tub curve when it comes to reliability - it looks like this:



The best thing to do is to beast your new machine in the first year to shake out any infant mortality issues. If you're a less frequent user then it might take a bit longer but after that you should have a trouble free experience for a good while until things start to wear out.