Appliance delivery damage noticed after 6 months

andis21

On the 1st of may 2017 (just over 6 months ago) I purchased a beko washing machine from currys on my credit card.
It was delivered without any visable damage to the packaging and placed in my garage while I refitted my utility room.

I've now finished my delayed refit and come to fit the washing machine to find that despite the packaging being untouched the machine is very badly damaged and unusable. It looks to have been dropped from a height and the drum has smashed into the side and bent the whole front of the machine as well as the side panels.
Currys say they won't do anything due to the timescale. Beko said I would have had to report it within 7 days of delivery.

Are they correct and is my next port of call my credit card company?

Andrew.

[Deleted User]

If they're correct, there will be no point in going to your card company.

[Deleted User]

This will be a tough one to fight. Any reasonable person will inspect the goods with a reasonable time - 6 months is not reasonable. It doesn't make any sense that a washing machine would be damaged as you describe and the packaging not show that.

It could have happened at the factory but given how quality control is so automated these days, it's very very unlikely that damage would have occurred there.

If I was a merchant, I'd be fighting your claim - who knows what could have happened to a product in the 6 months after delivery. You might be able to get an engineer inspection to determine if the damage happened during manufacture but I can't see how they could determine that other than say rust on damaged parts.

spadoosh

Ill be impressed if you get anywhere with this.

Put simply you need to check the product, you didnt and youll probably find you pay the price for it.

I think your best bet would be a sincere (almost grovelling) letter of complaint to currys. Avoid using words like 'rights' as theyd wipe the floor with you. Admit fault on your part but in the interest of a good future relationship, you a feel a refund (id probably go with partial refund) would go a long way to offsetting something which you clearly feel they are responsible for.

If youre a longstanding customer of currys (ie regularly buy electrical equipment from them) your complaint will probably have more weight.

Like i said though, i wouldnt be expecting much. Im fairly sure youll be relying on their goodwill.

Keep_pedalling

The only way I can see happening is if the machine was shipped without its transit bolts. But even if that was the case after 6 month how do you prove that you did not transport the machine after removing those bolts.

Fosterdog

What sort of packaging did it have? Very few brands of white goods use cardboard packaging, they usually use polystyrene around the edges and clear think plastic wrapped around it all so the level of damage you described would be visible through the clear packaging. I’m on my second Beko washing machine and they both came packaged like that, with the most recent being within the last six months, so I doubt they’d use different types of packaging for different models.

The outer packaging wouldn’t fit the machine if it was bent out of shape so couldn’t have happened before it was packed and if it happened after, any damage that could cause the drum to bend the side and front of the machine would also destroy the packaging.

neilmcl

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

The only way I can see happening is if the machine was shipped without its transit bolts. But even if that was the case after 6 month how do you prove that you did not transport the machine after removing those bolts.

Good point. OP, are the transit bolts still in place?

CoolHotCold

Fosterdog is correct. Beko machines come packaged with poly packaging on top, bottom and corner supports. It is then wrapped in a plastic wrap to keep debris out.


Its unlikely the level of damage OP is reporting was done during delivery without notice.


In either case, Currys are unlikely to do anything due to the length, Beko are under no obligation or requirement. And fighting it through the courts would rely on what a reasonable person would believe.

And most reasonable people would say that 6 months is far more than reasonable.

A Month to check and report damage, reasonable, 6 months? no way.

andis21

Thanks for the replies.
The machine was packed in polythene sheet and polystyrene with cardboard edging.
You'd think the damage would be noticeable through it but the polystyrene edge shields hid the fact that the front was knocked out of line and the ballooning on the side was again hidden by the strips along the bottom.

There are no scratches at all to the machine so it's been dropped in the packaging.
The fact it's sustained such a huge amount of damage without the packing being damaged goes to show how strong the wrapping is.
I was gobsmacked.
It's not the sort of damage you could do dropping it from a small height. I'd struggle to make as much mess if I pushed it out of my bedroom window.

Three of the transport bolts came out without too much struggle. The fourth was badly bent. It was at this point I realised something was wrong and pulled the front wrapping off to reveal the damage.

I shall approach the vendor nicely and see if I get anywhere.

neilmcl

The fact that the transit bolt is bent does give credence that it has indeed been dropped significantly prior to packing but proving that to the seller is another thing entirely. You could go all the way and take it to court if they don't budge and you might be in luck due it being very unlikely, on the balance of probabilities, that a customer could've caused this sort of damage but whether you'd want to is up to you.

Make sure you take pictures of all the packing and the damage etc. Also, you might want to contact your credit card co. as they are also potentially liable.

DoaM

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. So take a nicely nicely approach at first with Currys. If that gets nowhere then you could go the Letter Before Action route ... if no acceptable response to that then raise an MCOL claim for the value of the machine. Chances are they'd provide an agreeable remedy rather than risk court, as the cost to them of going to court (win or lose) would not be worth it.