Faulty vacuum cleaner

bigadaj

Recently purchased a dust devil vacuum cleaner, promptly delivered and used and all seemed good. Lead was short and oddly located and loud but had good suction.

The following day on its second use the lead shorted out, leading to burns on the arm of my partner, burn to the carpet and tripping the electrics in the house.

Informed them of the issue, very concerned and apologetic on the phone, they sent out a cordless upgraded version within a couple of days and said their legal team were looking into it.

A week later a legal 'without prejudice' letter received saying that as a goodwil they would be recrediting the payment card, that they believe damage is caused by running over the cord (which didn't occur and was stated so by phone and email) and that was their final offer. Also enclosed pre paid bag for courier collection.

I've recorded a report/ complaint on the cab website as trading standards now just refer to them, both at the suppliers location and our home.

Just wondered what others opinions were on this.

wealdroam

bigadaj wrote: »

Recently purchased a dust devil vacuum cleaner, promptly delivered and used and all seemed good. Lead was short and oddly located and loud but had good suction.

The following day on its second use the lead shorted out, leading to burns on the arm of my partner, burn to the carpet and tripping the electrics in the house.

Informed them of the issue, very concerned and apologetic on the phone, they sent out a cordless upgraded version within a couple of days and said their legal team were looking into it.

A week later a legal 'without prejudice' letter received saying that as a goodwil they would be recrediting the payment card, that they believe damage is caused by running over the cord (which didn't occur and was stated so by phone and email) and that was their final offer. Also enclosed pre paid bag for courier collection.

I've recorded a report/ complaint on the cab website as trading standards now just refer to them, both at the suppliers location and our home.

Just wondered what others opinions were on this.

Sounds reasonable to me.

bigadaj

wealdroam wrote: »

Sounds reasonable to me.

Well it was until the legal letter.

There's obviously a manufacturing problem, and the consequential damage that their fault has caused, I'd have expected a better offer, particularly as its a without prejudice letter. This letter also accuses us of doing soemthing we've categorically stated didn't occur.

London50

If you are unhappy with the offer then inform them that you are not satisfied, see then if they up the offer closer to what you expect.
You could also have an independent check on the item to see if the fault could be inherent but remember you would need to pay for that yourself then if correct claim back from the company.

unholyangel

bigadaj wrote: »

Well it was until the legal letter.

There's obviously a manufacturing problem, and the consequential damage that their fault has caused, I'd have expected a better offer, particularly as its a without prejudice letter. This letter also accuses us of doing soemthing we've categorically stated didn't occur.

So what figure did you tell them you were claiming for and did you give them a breakdown of said costs?

Are they offering this amount in full & final settlement?

bigadaj

unholyangel wrote: »

So what figure did you tell them you were claiming for and did you give them a breakdown of said costs?

Are they offering this amount in full & final settlement?

No, it's their first shot across the bows.

As you say we'll compile some costs and respond, just was a very abrupt change from their customer services guys being very concerned and helpful to the abrupt legal response, just got my back up and feel less sympathetic, as it's obviously not their intent.

It would be £2-300 for the carpet to be replaced, not sure how you value a burn to the arm though.

Will consider the independent inspection which is a reasonable idea, as it looks as though there was a wiring problem on the lead which led to it shorting out and the burn and fire.

wealdroam

bigadaj wrote: »

...not sure how you value a burn to the arm though.

Well one way of doing that is working out how much it actually cost you.

Some things to consider might be -

Visit to hospital:
- cost to get there and back,
- costs of travel of essential visitors to the hospital,
- cost of any private medical treatment that wasn't available on the NHS.

Cost of subsequent wound dressings.

Loss of earnings during recovery.

bigadaj wrote: »

...and the burn and fire.

Fire??

But you told us it tripped the electrics - presumably almost instantly.

This is becoming a bit difficult to believe.

George_Michael

How did the lead catching fire manage to burn both the carpet and the person using the vacuum?

LilElvis

George_Michael wrote: »

How did the lead catching fire manage to burn both the carpet and the person using the vacuum?

I know if something I was holding burned me my reflex reaction would be to drop it.

bigadaj

LilElvis wrote: »

I know if something I was holding burned me my reflex reaction would be to drop it.

Yes, that's exactly what happened.

It's useful to ask some questions on a forum but people's responses can be odd, as above.

Will crack on with further inspection and dialogue, thanks for teh useful comments.

I thought the motoring forum was a bit cynical., but people post some odd comments on here, not a habitual visitor and won't be returning.

bigadaj

George_Michael wrote: »

How did the lead catching fire manage to burn both the carpet and the person using the vacuum?

As below, lead caught fire, burned operator, dropped and burnt carpet, electrics then tripped.

You don't appear to be Poirot!