ice cream maker - advice needed

clarabelle12

Sorry this is long but would appreciate advice
I bought an ice cream maker (expensive!) in July 2013. (I know this is a while ago but bear with me) purely to make dairy free ice cream for my son. I use it a few times that summer and a few times during the summer of 2014. When I went to use it in summer 2015 (2 years old now) I found that it no longer churned. I was pretty annoyed given how little it had been used and how much it had cost.
I contacted Amazon who pointed me to the manufacturer (Gaggia). For various reasons, I didn't contact them until December and they replied with the following:

'We do repair the Gelateira machines if you would like to book it in just send us your address and we will make arrangements to get it collected, we do not charge for any diagnostic work that we carry out.'

Great, I thought - it's probably not worth repairing but they will let me know and it will only cost me money if I decide to get it repaired.

They have now told me that it needs a new motor (I expected this) and that it has no refrigerant (!! not sure how) and will cost £300 to repair - this includes collection which was never mentioned.
They are now saying that if I don't get it repaired there is still a charge of £49 for collection which has never been mentioned until now and seems rather a lot.

What should I do? I'm annoyed that my expensive machine has only made around 10 tubs of ice cream in it's life and now really really annoyed that they are trying to charge me for something that they were not upfront about. I would have just binned it if I knew there was a collection charge at all, let alone one of £49

Thanks if you got through all that

DigForVictory

Ow. Darn.
You could try the line that the article is defective (as in unfit for purpose) & has been demonstrated as such by their own technicians & since you were never advised of the cost that they can keep the thing & be glad you are not seeking a proportionate refund of the sale price?

In the meantime I found this website was handy for links to ways of making icecream without a machine, but I appreciate busy mums have finite time!

wealdroam

Do you understand that you can seek a remedy from the seller for upto six years following the sale?

It looks like you bought it from Amazon, so it is they you should've insisted dealt with this.

A short extract from MSE's Consumer Rights guide explains:

Know who's responsible

When returning items, beware shops trying the oldest trick in the book: saying they're not responsible for the shoddy goods and you must call the manufacturer. This is total nonsense!

If a company fobs you off by saying “go to the maker instead”, it's wrong. It's the retailer's job to sort it.

It doesn't matter if it's an iPod from a high street shop or a designer frock from a department store. If something's broken, torn, ripped or faulty, the seller has a legal duty to put it right as your contract is with it.

Of course you now have the complication that the manufacturer has the thing.

You will probably need to prove to Amazon that the problem is due to an inherent fault, but maybe the manufacturer can confirm this for you.

unholyangel

wealdroam wrote: »

Do you understand that you can seek a remedy from the seller for upto six years following the sale?

It looks like you bought it from Amazon, so it is they you should've insisted dealt with this.

A short extract from MSE's Consumer Rights guide explains:

Of course you now have the complication that the manufacturer has the thing.

You will probably need to prove to Amazon that the problem is due to an inherent fault, but maybe the manufacturer can confirm this for you.

Luxembourg only has the minimum 2 year limitation period from what I remember so OP may not be able to take action against amazon even if it is inherently faulty.

clarabelle12

Thanks - I was going to go back to Amazon - they did say to if Gaggia weren't helpful - I just wasn't expecting the £49 collection charge. I'm not sure what to do about that. Obviously, I don't think I should have to pay but I'm not sure where I stand legally.

Gaggia have said that they no longer make the same model but refuse to comment on why the motor has broken on so little use and the refrigerant has magically dissappeared!

naedanger

clarabelle12 wrote: »

Thanks - I was going to go back to Amazon - they did say to if Gaggia weren't helpful - I just wasn't expecting the £49 collection charge. I'm not sure what to do about that. Obviously, I don't think I should have to pay but I'm not sure where I stand legally.

Gaggia have said that they no longer make the same model but refuse to comment on why the motor has broken on so little use and the refrigerant has magically dissappeared!

In order to get Amazon to repair/replace/partially refund then they are likely to ask you for evidence the item was inherently faulty. If (as it seems) Gaggia deny that it was inherently faulty you should get another report from an expert saying that it was. I suspect this may be quite a lot of work. (Personally I think your chances of success should ultimately be quite high as it seems unlikely the item was physically damaged and so it sounds likely that the machine was not sufficiently durable when you bought it.)

If you decide to just write off the machine I would certainly not pay the £49 collection charge if this was not made clear when you returned the item. If Gaggia are unhappy they could try and sue you but they would need to show that you had agreed to this payment.

DCFC79

I take it you have proof of the no charge for diagnostic work being carried out ?

If you do then complain you were told about the no charge for the diagnostic work eg find the fault.

clarabelle12

Thanks everyone - the quote in the OP was the email that they sent me before they collected it:

email convo went like this:

me: I have been advised by Amazon to contact you. I purchased an ice cream maker which stopped working in July, after 2 years and less than 10 uses. Please can you advise me.

Gaggia: We do repair the Gelateira machines if you would like to book it in just send us your address and we will make arrangements to get it collected, we do not charge for any diagnostic work that we carry out.

me: my address is....

Gaggia: Please open the attachment below to find a label for your Gelatiera. Our driver will be in your area on Thursday 04/02/16 for collection. We will contact you via E-mail on Wednesday with an estimated time of his arrival.

that was it!!!
I feel as if they are totally trying it on but I'm a law abiding kind of girl and want to make sure I'm in the right here. They at no point mentioned any charge whatsoever for collection/delivery/disposal.

naedanger

clarabelle12 wrote: »

I feel as if they are totally trying it on but I'm a law abiding kind of girl and want to make sure I'm in the right here.

My view is that they are trying it on and that you should have no concern about disputing the bill and refusing to pay.

(In the hopefully extremely unlikely event that you were to lose on this matter in the civil court it would obviously not make you any less law abiding.)

hollydays

Is it definitely gaggia?
http://gaggia-service.co.uk
The above company is independent and I've seen some negative stuff about them
Also known as " Gaggia service uk"

clarabelle12

holly - yes, I think it is!!! I've just compared the contact details given to me by Amazon with the ones on the website and they are the same!!
Amazon told me to contact the manufacturer and gave me the details to contact - I didn't check out their credentials!

That just makes it even more complicated

Thanks for you help