MSE News: Hotpoint tumble dryer help: 3 extra tricks to get you a refund

unholyangel

Rotti wrote: »

Rubbish! They are labour saving devices that should allow you to be elsewhere in the house while they do their work although preferably not in bed asleep.

Yes but the advice is usually not to leave them running completely unattended (in bed or leave the house) at all and to have a fire alarm fitted near the appliance if you're going to leave it unattended (ie when in another room).

Apparently despite having a delayed feature start, many/most manufacturers will have a warning in the manual not to leave the appliance unattended.

Rotti

I'm not getting into it with you-know-who again but I recall a way back in this thread someone mentioned that they'd had their machine modified and then smelled burning coming from the back of it. This leads me to wonder if it was correctly modified in the first place and what was done.
Th reason being - my brother-in-law has just been to visit and having made a noise at high level has had his machine modified, not by a Hotpoint engineer but a contractor and it took 20 minutes not the hour mentioned by another poster. He has the same vented model as I do and was told that the problem is a seal at the back of the machine that overheats and spontaneously combusts!! Not my words this time but the terminology used by an engineer before you jump in! Even though I clean my lint trap after every use I have to wonder in that case how the advice to do this stops a seal at the back catching fire?

unholyangel

Rotti wrote: »

I'm not getting into it with you-know-who again but I recall a way back in this thread someone mentioned that they'd had their machine modified and then smelled burning coming from the back of it. This leads me to wonder if it was correctly modified in the first place and what was done.
Th reason being - my brother-in-law has just been to visit and having made a noise at high level has had his machine modified, not by a Hotpoint engineer but a contractor and it took 20 minutes not the hour mentioned by another poster. He has the same vented model as I do and was told that the problem is a seal at the back of the machine that overheats and spontaneously combusts!! Not my words this time but the terminology used by an engineer before you jump in! Even though I clean my lint trap after every use I have to wonder in that case how the advice to do this stops a seal at the back catching fire?

The others that have said they had their machine fixed mostly said the repair takes about 30 mins and that its to do with fluff/lint building up around the heating element. The fix is a sort of box guard thing on the back panel which is supposed to prevent the fluff/lint coming into contact with the heating element.

Or at least, thats what I picked up from the posts on the other thread.

dexterlivi

I would have thought it obvious, that now I am aware that there is a potential fault/fire risk with the machine I should want it fixing or replacing in a reasonable time frame to ensure I keep my family and home safe. If the potential fault was something less risky i.e.. the door catch was unlocking intermittently and they were looking at replacing catches, I would be less keen to get the matter resolved quickly as it has no real risk. As to Hotpoint responding, they have emailed me back asking what number was best to get me on and at what time. Having provided this info they then have not done so. It should be noted that the only reason I got a response is because I went through the complaints process. Prior to this the contact I got was an automated email saying they would be in touch within 10 weeks to then inform me when they would then arrange the repair. I personally don,t feel that the time line was adequate for something that is seen as a fire risk and which will invalidate any insurance claim should the appliance go up in smoke. I appreciate that faults like this happen but more serious faults need resolution much sooner, pretty similar to one of the big car firms immediately recalling certain models a few years back due to potential faulty breaks (sorry cant remember which one) but you get the gist.I am aware that some people will not get a repair until Dec this year and even into Jan next year. For something that is a potential fire risk that seems far to long, even for the most reasonable person.

dexterlivi

Worryingly my insurance company would not give me an assurance that they would pay out in the event of a fire, even after the modification. There words were " the underwriters will make the decision at the time of the claim". Even the customer service advisor thought this was unhelpful so still potential a problem even after repair. I have been sent a text in the last 30 minutes offering an engineer visit on the 20th of this month so I have to give them a thumbs up. However I am of the view that I should still push for a replacement purely because of the lack of assurance from the insurance company to pay out even after the modification.

unholyangel

dexterlivi wrote: »

Worryingly my insurance company would not give me an assurance that they would pay out in the event of a fire, even after the modification. There words were " the underwriters will make the decision at the time of the claim". Even the customer service advisor thought this was unhelpful so still potential a problem even after repair. I have been sent a text in the last 30 minutes offering an engineer visit on the 20th of this month so I have to give them a thumbs up. However I am of the view that I should still push for a replacement purely because of the lack of assurance from the insurance company to pay out even after the modification.

You'll likely find most insurance companies won't answer a question like that about any specific circumstances because they'd be opening themselves up to allsorts if they said "yes we'd pay out" and then at the time, they didn't pay out due to xyz.

Insurance companies tend to try and use any loophole they can to get out of paying.

For example if your house was hit by lightning and that caused one of your appliances to go on fire, you'd likely find an "act of god" clause being used as their get out.

AJXX

dexterlivi wrote: »

Worryingly my insurance company would not give me an assurance that they would pay out in the event of a fire, even after the modification. There words were " the underwriters will make the decision at the time of the claim". Even the customer service advisor thought this was unhelpful so still potential a problem even after repair. I have been sent a text in the last 30 minutes offering an engineer visit on the 20th of this month so I have to give them a thumbs up. However I am of the view that I should still push for a replacement purely because of the lack of assurance from the insurance company to pay out even after the modification.

So then ask for a replacement? You don't have to "push" for it - the standard options are free modification or reduced price replacement from their current line - if you're utterly unable to wait for a modification for whatever reason then I don't think it's unreasonable to pay for a reduced price replacement unit.

After all everyone on here likes to make out how scared they are or concerned etc... Yet when told they need to pay just £59 or whatever it is for a replacement machine within a few weeks it's the end of the word.

With the greatest respect people often moan about the wait times on here and how unacceptable they are - but at the end of the day consideration needs to be taken as to the sheer numbers involved in this. It's all well and good us on here denouncing it as "unacceptable" etc... But in the real word what action are Hotpoint supposed to do exactly - they're still employing more engineers as far as I'm aware but she sheer numbers mean this is going to take time.

You've complained and been given a faster date, but as we've already debated on here - where did that come from? Most likely someone else has been pushed back to make way for you.

Zandoni

AJXX wrote: »

So then ask for a replacement? You don't have to "push" for it - the standard options are free modification or reduced price replacement from their current line - if you're utterly unable to wait for a modification for whatever reason then I don't think it's unreasonable to pay for a reduced price replacement unit.

After all everyone on here likes to make out how scared they are or concerned etc... Yet when told they need to pay just £59 or whatever it is for a replacement machine within a few weeks it's the end of the word.

With the greatest respect people often moan about the wait times on here and how unacceptable they are - but at the end of the day consideration needs to be taken as to the sheer numbers involved in this. It's all well and good us on here denouncing it as "unacceptable" etc... But in the real word what action are Hotpoint supposed to do exactly - they're still employing more engineers as far as I'm aware but she sheer numbers mean this is going to take time.

You've complained and been given a faster date, but as we've already debated on here - where did that come from? Most likely someone else has been pushed back to make way for you.

You really need to contact Hotpoint and point them towards this thread, you're bound to get all sorts of free gifts.

AJXX

Oh for pity sake!

I get that you don't agree with me but do you really have to make these sly digs all the time whilst not actually contributing to the person who posted?

Just because we have a difference of opinion doesn't mean you have to resort to continually implying that I "worship Hotpont".

Have you actually responded to a poster recently or do you purely linger here to throw mud at people who dare suggest Hotpoint aren't actually the devil they're being made out to be?

Zandoni

AJXX wrote: »

Oh for pity sake!

I get that you don't agree with me but do you really have to make these sly digs all the time whilst not actually contributing to the person who posted?

Just because we have a difference of opinion doesn't mean you have to resort to continually implying that I "worship Hotpont".

Have you actually responded to a poster recently or do you purely linger here to throw mud at people who dare suggest Hotpoint aren't actually the devil they're being made out to be?

Well that's the way it appears to me.

Have a look through the thread, why do you need to ask.