AEG Fridge Freezer - less than 4 years old and alreday beyond repair

ilikepoints

Just wanted people's opinions on what they think a fair resolution to my situation would be.

I have an AEG Fridge Freezer which cannot be repaired.

It has already been repaired twice (1st one just outside guarantee) at a total cost of £190. It was also replaced at the start of its life as it arrived with bits smashed off it.

I was unable to claim back any of the costs of the repairs even though it was the same repair twice. AEG admitted that their appliances should last 6 years on average.

I have had seperate offers from both AEG and the retailer in terms of discount off a new AEG Fridge freezer. i won't say the details of these offers as I don't want to prejudice people's opinions.

However, I will say that AEG have been incredibly awkward and unhelpful thoughout the life of the appliance, and have become generally rude and obnoxious recently.

i do realsie that my relationship is with the retailer in terms of contracts/sales of goods act, but still would have expected more from AEG if they were actually a responsible company.

kwatt

Hi,

Why can't it be repaired? How old is it now?

Some manufacturers and retailers are better then others, often there's vast differences in terms of how well they handle customer service and, believe it or not, Electrolux (who own AEG and that's who you're dealing with through Service Force I expect) are one of the better ones usually.

Depending on the age depends on what they are liable to do about it although they should consider the history, but that may be the reason you're getting any offer at all.

K.

nickj_2

even 6 years doesn't seem a to be much for a f/f to last

Stompa

nickj wrote: »

even 6 years doesn't seem a to be much for a f/f to last

I agree, I'd feel pretty annoyed if mine only lasted that long.

kwatt

Depends really.

If I bought a car and the engine blew up after 5 years and a replacement was more than 1/3 the cost of a replacement car would I repair it? Would anyone, given that the vehicle is now likely to be worth less than that?

Does that make the manufacturer liable? Does it make the retailer or dealer liable?

The short answer is no, in law it doesn't as there's no warranty of durability, it comes down to what's considered to be "reasonable" in a court and that's where you pays your money and trusts to luck. As the claimant in a civil case there's no legal aid and all costs are down to you, many (especially unscrupulous) retailers and brand owners play on this as they know that the vast bulk of people will do nothing as it's more cost and hassle than it's worth.

Trading Standards are extremely unlikely to help as they don't have enough money to fight the battles they have let alone take up the challenge of a single broken fridge, washing machine or whatever product you care to imagine. They can rattle the sabres all they like, in the end, many of the retailers and brands that behave in this way know that they are extremely unlikely to do much of anything about it. The pukka companies would have tried to help you long before it reached that point.

In other words, a lot of this is down to us, consumers. Sadly, all too often, it's where we look for a bargain.

The annoying part is what is charged to repair, not the fact that it broke. All machines will break, it's only a question of how long they last until they do and, subsequently, how much they cost to put right. It also depends on how the retailer and manufacturer deal with the situation, as I said, some are better than others and it's only when you have a problem that you often find out if you made a bad choice or not.

I can empathise with people as we always buy goods in good faith, well most of us anyway, but then to get stonewalled by any retailer or brand owner is not nice. However the best advice I can give anyone with my experience in the electrical industry it to buy wisely, research and don't take it as read that everything has an expected lifespan with electrical appliances as, quite frankly, that's an assumption that is incorrect.

K.

MarkyMarkD

As the claimant in a civil case there's no legal aid and all costs are down to you, many (especially unscrupulous) retailers and brand owners play on this as they know that the vast bulk of people will do nothing as it's more cost and hassle than it's worth.

Given the size of the transaction, this will be a small claims court case and hence the OP would not be liable for the other side's costs and their own costs should also be negligible.

I don't think putting the OP off from taking legal action is the right advice.

The six years AEG have quoted is complete tosh. A fridge/freezer should last a LOT longer than that.

kwatt

It is small claims, correct. Against the retailer and it depends on who it is but, if the retailer has made an offer of remedy already. as stated, then the court won't look too favourably on it and you're only arguing the difference between the offer and the cost to replace. The retailer is perfectly entitled to take into account the use that the OP has had until the point at where the machine is BER/scrapped and deduct that from the original purchase price.

Whether the inevitable compromise somewhere in between is worth the hassle of day/s off work etc. is up to the OP.

There is no stipulation on how long any goods should last in the sale of goods act whatsoever. It all comes back the old "reasonable" thing.

Without more clarity it's not possible to advise much further other than with generalisations.

I'm not saying I agree with the system or how it works, I just know how it goes.

K.

Debt_Free_Chick

White goods aren't built to last these days, IMHO - they're practically disposable, so when one goes wrong, you chuck it out and buy another! :mad: Too many sealed units and unserviceable parts! :mad: I suspect this is why AEG (and others, no doubt) only predict an average lifetime of 6 years.

Even if we think the average lifetime is more like ten years, after six , I don't think it's reasonable to expect the full replacement cost (or a new FF for free). After all, the OP has had six years use of the old FF, albeit with problems.

If they're offering a 60% discount off a new one, that's roughly equivalent to having had use of the old one for nothing. I'd be looking for that as a discount. Nothing scientific - it just feels reasonable IMO.

kwatt

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

White goods aren't built to last these days, IMHO - they're practically disposable, so when one goes wrong, you chuck it out and buy another! :mad: Too many sealed units and unserviceable parts! :mad: I suspect this is why AEG (and others, no doubt) only predict an average lifetime of 6 years.

Some are, some aren't DFC. Depends on who built it usually and what the attitude is to lifespan, but many (especially the top names, run of the mill stuff) are not designed to last anything like they used to.

This article explains some of it, hopefully it's easy enough to follow but the figures shown there have gotten worse through 2006 and, on washing machines at least, nowadays the bulk are replaced under 8 years old. There are still quite a few that will last longer but, if you're in the business of flogging white boxes, this situation suits you just fine.

Alarmingly there has been a considerable increase in machines being replaced under 4 years old, and a shocking increase on those under 2 years of age being replaced. But then, people buy still buy them.

K.