GHDs Is this right???

hogshead

Ok I'm a newbie so a long post & if the answer is painfully obvious PLEASE be kind in saying so, thanks. Chance are this is also in the wrong section too....newbies you gotta love us ; )

DD has some GHDs which after guarantee fail to heat...that's cool it happens.
We buy another pair & again after the guarantee, 12 mths expires they refuse to heat, sporadic.

OH has a look & it's all down to a fault where the wire is assembled in the irons. We politely contact GHD asking if they do spare parts, enviromentally it's greener to replace the coax than the irons as a whole. Sorry no spare parts but return them & we'll take a look.

£5 recorded delivery & an inspection later we recieve a letter saying it's all down to wear & tear & non repairable due to the warranty having expired.
They will return the ones we sent in if we pay a small charge of £10 for postage & handling!!!!!
Also they will offer £30 off new iron if we don't ask for the old ones back.

They knew that were out of warranty as I'd said so in the original email so it's now costing £15 to be told they're no good...this we already knew.

Reason for wanting them returned is you can buy damaged plate ones on ebay & change the coax, something they could do for pennies.

Any idea what to do from here.

superscaper

I'd expect it to last more than a year. Get a repair/replacement through your retailer. Quote the sale of goods act if they get stubborn. The manufacturer can do what they want after the warranty has expired and refuse to repair it at all. The retailer on the other hand has legal obligations for up to six years after purchase.

Robothell

Surely this would fall under the "fit for purpose" part of the Statuatory Rights and, as such, they should repair or replace them - IMO hair straighteners should last longer than 12 months (although the fact that you opened them up might allow them an "out"......there's some folks over on the "Consumer Rights" thread of the Shop but don't Drop Board that might be able to point you in the right direction.

hogshead

Totally understand re opening them up. I had told them that we had done this so they knew in advance so I wouldn't expect them to flannel that one as a reason.
The fault in question is that the power cord has broken inside the unit where the cord joins the rotating contacts.

Bug bear is that they could easily pop a new power cord in & job done...but that would be to easy & non profitable.

Pandora_Peroxide

To be honest I have heard lots of good things about GHDs when they work but lots of complaints about them breaking quickly. A couple of months ago I took in a parcel for the girl next door. When I dropped it round she said it was a new set of GHDs as hers had broken just out of warranty. She said she rang up and gave them what for and they gave her a hefty discount off a new set in some summer gift set.

If you are after a new set of straighteners my little sis swears by Babyliss ceramic ones. They say on the box they get super hot like GHD ones but are much cheaper.

regularsaver1

There maybe more info on the watchdog website as GHD's were on there last year

faerie_girl

Ask around for another brand.

I have a pair of philips (under the tresme name) cost £35 and lasted over a year. they get up to same temp as GHD. Just as good them. GHD are good, you just pay for the brand though.

lorraine

I back that up about the babyliss 230, they are fantastic!!! I paid £60 and think thats a bargain, have seen them in boots on offer at £40 b4, had mine well over a year and they are still going strong!

hogshead

Watchdog thread is no longer on their site. Anyone know what the feedback on that was?

Will tell DD about the other brands mentioned.
Thanks

Tao81

It is not my wish to offend anyone who has paid a lot of money for GHD straighteners or similar.
However, I do feel I should share something here.

For my teenage daughter a couple of years ago I bought a pair of Woolworths own brand ceramic straighteners, as didn't feel this was too serious a purchase at the time wasn't prepared to spend too much money! Wait for it..........? They set me back the princely sum of £14.99.

Amazingly a couple of years on, they are still working as well as they day I bought them and they certainly get as hot and work just as well as the GHD brand. I know this because friends of mine own GHD's and we have all done comparison tests.

I was so pleased that Woolworths straighteners proved to be as good as the expensive brands (and safer it seems) that I didn't bother buying another pair for myself when the time came (I'd been eyeing up the GHD's and almost went for it!!). We now happily share and use the cheap straighteners regularly ......I have very frizzy curly hair which is a challenge for any brand of straightener I can tell you!

So well done Woolworths! Proves you can't always believe the hype and marketing BS.
Over time having listened to so many complaints and reports of them sparking and having faulty cables I think I would seriously worry about using them at all now, or my daughter using them whilst I wasn't in the room/house experiencing a problem and ultimately electrocuting herself or burning the house down?!!!!!:eek:

They were part of the Woolworths Pamper range if anyone is interested.:D

skintchick

I think it depends on your hair though - I have lots of fine but very wavy, wilful hair and only GHDs can tackle it effectively AND leave it still straight the following day - all other brands make it straight enough until a bit of damp in the air (and this is England after all!) when it pings up - with GHDs it doesn't, not even in fine drizzle, so IMO they are much better than other brands.

But if your hair is pretty straight to begin with then cheaper ones may be sufficient.