John Lewis faulty goods

Katty123

Hoping for some advice please. I have a 2 year old washing machine, 6 months out of warranty, bought from John Lewis. It cost over £400 and a washing machine repairer has said that the bearings have gone and its basically uneconomical to repair as the parts alone are about £200. I have been arguing with John Lewis for nearly 2 hours. Originally they offered no help, so I quoted the sale of goods act and they are insisting on a Bosch engineers report costing £95, which I can understand. However, they are implying that faulty bearings are down to wear and tear and a 2 year lifespan is reasonible for a washing machine and thus we would be entitled to nothing. They also said that even if the report shows an inherent fault, we will only get £50 of the report cost back and they will only pay half towards the repair. Are they right? Have I misunderstood the SoG Act, I thought that if the fault was proven to be a manufacturing defect, the retailer was obliged to pay for a repair or replacement, not just pay a contribution?

bris

No, you haven't misunderstood the act. If they are insisting on a report that costs £95 and is found in your favour then they must pay this. You can and should get an independent report keeping the possibly biased Bosch engineers out the loop which again they would have to pay for if found in your favour.


Similar to the repairs, if the report is in your favour then they need to foot the bill. You should however be aware that they get to choose the remedy, repair, replace or refund which ever suits them best, they can and will take the 2 and a half years use into consideration when issuing any refund.

neilmcl

You're absolutely correct. Under SOGA if the fault is proven to be inherent then the seller is obliged to cover all costs of a remedy (including paying for any initial report)

If they choose a repair then they must cover the entire cost. Bear in mind though they could choose to refund instead with the amount adjusted for the usage you've already had from the machine.

Who have you been talking to about this, a store manager or someone from JL customer services?

wealdroam

Katty123 wrote: »

Hoping for some advice please. I have a 2 year old washing machine, 6 months out of warranty, bought from John Lewis. It cost over £400 and a washing machine repairer has said that the bearings have gone and its basically uneconomical to repair as the parts alone are about £200. I have been arguing with John Lewis for nearly 2 hours. Originally they offered no help, so I quoted the sale of goods act and they are insisting on a Bosch engineers report costing £95, which I can understand. However, they are implying that faulty bearings are down to wear and tear and a 2 year lifespan is reasonible for a washing machine and thus we would be entitled to nothing. They also said that even if the report shows an inherent fault, we will only get £50 of the report cost back and they will only pay half towards the repair. Are they right? Have I misunderstood the SoG Act, I thought that if the fault was proven to be a manufacturing defect, the retailer was obliged to pay for a repair or replacement, not just pay a contribution?

You are almost right about SoGA.

If the problem is deemed to be due to an inherent fault, then you are entitled to a remedy from the seller. That remedy could be either a repair, replacement or a refund - which could be a partial refund to take account of the use you have had.

You can express your choice of remedy, but you cannot force the seller to provide a disproportionate remedy. This effectively means that the seller can choose the most cost effective remedy as long as it does not cause significant inconvenience.

If the report does show the fault is inherent, then JL must refund the full cost of producing that report as well as supplying the remedy.

There is no provision in SoGA for the seller to pay half the cost of a repair. If a repair is decided upon, again assuming it is inherently faulty, then the full cost of that repair falls to the seller.

agrinnall

Despite being a long term fan of JL I have recently found their customer service to be somewhat lacking. The latest was ordering a printer online, they took the money from my card that day and sent an email to say it would be delivered within 7 days, but still no sign 14 days later. When I rang them up they said that the delivery time was now 4 weeks, but were unable to tell me if that was 4 weeks from the original order or 4 more weeks from the date of the call. So I cancelled the order, and yesterday, slightly against my better judgement, placed an order for the same printer with PC World to be delivered to my local store, even though it was £20 more there. And 27 hours later I'm happily printing with it.

Katty123

bris wrote: »

No, you haven't misunderstood the act. If they are insisting on a report that costs £95 and is found in your favour then they must pay this. You can and should get an independent report keeping the possibly biased Bosch engineers out the loop which again they would have to pay for if found in your favour.


Similar to the repairs, if the report is in your favour then they need to foot the bill. You should however be aware that they get to choose the remedy, repair, replace or refund which ever suits them best, they can and will take the 2 and a half years use into consideration when issuing any refund.

I'm glad you brought up the issue of the Bosch engineer, I was wondering if I would be better getting someone else to assess it as its not in Bosch's interests to report one of their products as inherintly faulty is it?

Katty123

neilmcl wrote: »

You're absolutely correct. Under SOGA if the fault is proven to be inherent then the seller is obliged to cover all costs of a remedy (including paying for any initial report)

If they choose a repair then they must cover the entire cost. Bear in mind though they could choose to refund instead with the amount adjusted for the usage you've already had from the machine.

Who have you been talking to about this, a store manager or someone from JL customer services?

I've been on the phone to at least 3 customer service advisors, and 2 from technical support, but they all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet of, don't pursue it because you'll get nowhere and be out of as well.

tomtontom

This thread may help:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5348739

Based on the other poster's experience, I'd contact Bosch directly.

neilmcl

agrinnall wrote: »

Despite being a long term fan of JL I have recently found their customer service to be somewhat lacking. The latest was ordering a printer online, they took the money from my card that day and sent an email to say it would be delivered within 7 days, but still no sign 14 days later. When I rang them up they said that the delivery time was now 4 weeks, but were unable to tell me if that was 4 weeks from the original order or 4 more weeks from the date of the call. So I cancelled the order, and yesterday, slightly against my better judgement, placed an order for the same printer with PC World to be delivered to my local store, even though it was £20 more there. And 27 hours later I'm happily printing with it.

To be fair that sort of thing can and does happen to all online retailers.

Zandoni

Katty123 wrote: »

I've been on the phone to at least 3 customer service advisors, and 2 from technical support, but they all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet of, don't pursue it because you'll get nowhere and be out of as well.

Did you try to speak to the advisor's manager?

agrinnall

neilmcl wrote: »

To be fair that sort of thing can and does happen to all online retailers.

I agree, but that doesn't excuse them not keeping me informed or being prepared to do anything to try to provide a definitive delivery date. And it's just the latest of a run of issues with JL.com, mainly with electronic items. I just expect better from them, so it's doubly disappointing when they get it wrong.

And just to add to the list of errors, today a courier appeared at the door bearing the printer that I'd cancelled a week ago! So now I have to give house room to an unwanted box until DPD come to pick it up next week.