Brand-new Wickes hob top shatters in weeks

jimmypick

Hi all,

My wife and I bought a new kitchen from Wickes before Christmas, which included an Electrolux electric hob top.

Within a matter of weeks, it has shattered. My wife moved a saucepan from one hob to another and the saucepan lid slid off from a height of around 4 inches. It hit the glass edge and the hob top has shattered.

We phoned the Wickes store and were very disappointed with their customer service. We had to phone seven times over a fortnight before we got anywhere.

Their decision, after consulting with Electrolux, is to offer us a new hob top at a reduced price of £126. We wanted a replacement for free and that they would pay for the installation.

Am I entitled to this and how can I go about achieving this?

BorisThomson

The damage was caused by your wife dropping a pan, not an inherent fault. A reduced price replacement seems generous.

lincroft1710

Your wife damages the hob and you expect a free replacement?

Gavin83

The offer seems very generous to me. Great customer service from Wickes.

jimmypick

I might not have been clear in my opening post, but my argument is that for £500 I expected better quality than what we got. It wasn't like something heavy dropped from a big height. It was a small lid which fell from no more than six inches. Surely it's not fit for purpose if it's so flimsy?

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

jimmypick wrote: »

Hi all,

My wife and I bought a new kitchen from Wickes before Christmas, which included an Electrolux electric hob top.

Within a matter of weeks, it has shattered. My wife moved a saucepan from one hob to another and the saucepan lid slid off from a height of around 4 inches. It hit the glass edge and the hob top has shattered.

We phoned the Wickes store and were very disappointed with their customer service. We had to phone seven times over a fortnight before we got anywhere.

Their decision, after consulting with Electrolux, is to offer us a new hob top at a reduced price of £126. We wanted a replacement for free and that they would pay for the installation.

Am I entitled to this and how can I go about achieving this?

Try your house insurance

In my house I slam down pans on the stove, throw them in the sink and have never managed to damage my stove!

George_Michael

jimmypick wrote: »

from a height of around 4 inches. It hit the glass edge and the hob top has shattered.

jimmypick wrote: »

which fell from no more than six inches.

Not bad. 4" to 6" in just under an hour.

Being very heat resistant, the glass on the hob would be tempered which although makes it extremely hard and scratch resistant but being hard means it would be brittle and easy to crack or shatter which is why the following is stated in the user instructions for Electrolux glass and ceramic hobs:

Be careful not to let objects or cookware fall on the appliance. The surface can be damaged.

LilElvis

jimmypick wrote: »

I might not have been clear in my opening post, but my argument is that for £500 I expected better quality than what we got. It wasn't like something heavy dropped from a big height. It was a small lid which fell from no more than six inches. Surely it's not fit for purpose if it's so flimsy?

Bite their hand off and accept their offer. Paying £126 for a £500 replacement item when the original was damaged by the user is very generous.

jimmypick

George_Michael wrote: »

Not bad. 4" to 6" in just under an hour.

I didn't think of measuring it. 4-6 was a guess. But I just have and the height of the pan used was a mere 3.5 inches.

jimmypick

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

Try your house insurance

In my house I slam down pans on the stove, throw them in the sink and have never managed to damage my stove!

Thanks for this reply. I have student houses and have never had any sort of crack in a ceramic hob top - and judging by the mess they're left in, they're not exactly looked after!

My wife says she was very careful - she's hardly dropped something heavy! the problem appears to be that it hit the very edge. It's made a small chip and there's a crack gone along one of the hobs. I can't believe that something can be sold that's so flimsy and not fit for purpose and that the customer isn't entitled to a like-for-like replacement.

I offered Wickes pictures but they weren't interested.

cajef

jimmypick wrote: »

I didn't think of measuring it. 4-6 was a guess. But I just have and the height of the pan used was a mere 3.5 inches.

In order to move the pan she must have lifted it so it could have been any height above 3.5", do you really expect them to supply a replacement for free and pay for fitting when it was damaged by yourselves?