Warranty issue - caught between retailer and manufacturer

kkamj

Hi,

Can anyone advise who we should be putting pressure on to get a faulty appliance replaced, retailer or manufacturer, the scenario is as follows:

My mum purchased the an AEG fridge freezer from a retailer who (apparently) sell both 'New' and 'Graded' appliances, it was sold as a new appliance with full manufacturer warranty, with no mention of 'Graded' (we didn't even know what this was until today)

As soon as it was purchased mum registered for the warranty with AEG successfully.

A few weeks later the appliance broke and she contacted AEG who said to contact their repair company which she did. The repair company have been out 3 times in the last few weeks to try to fix it. Today the repair company have said they are unable to fix it and they phoned AEG technical dept. to ask for a replacement. AEG have said that it isn't under warranty and as it is 'Graded' and not a new appliance, they advised to contact the retailer as it was their issue and should be under their 3 month retailer warranty.

The retailer said it has a full manufacturer warranty and should be dealt with by AEG and in any event their retailer warranty would no longer be valid as the appliance had had an attempted repair done on it.

The purchase was cash, not on a credit card so we don't have any legal back up!

Thanks!

neilmcl

kkamj wrote: »

Hi,

Can anyone advise who we should be putting pressure on to get a faulty appliance replaced, retailer or manufacturer, the scenario is as follows:

My mum purchased the an AEG fridge freezer from a retailer who (apparently) sell both 'New' and 'Graded' appliances, it was sold as a new appliance with full manufacturer warranty, with no mention of 'Graded' (we didn't even know what this was until today)

As soon as it was purchased mum registered for the warranty with AEG successfully.

A few weeks later the appliance broke and she contacted AEG who said to contact their repair company which she did. The repair company have been out 3 times in the last few weeks to try to fix it. Today the repair company have said they are unable to fix it and they phoned AEG technical dept. to ask for a replacement. AEG have said that it isn't under warranty and as it is 'Graded' and not a new appliance, they advised to contact the retailer as it was their issue and should be under their 3 month retailer warranty.

The retailer said it has a full manufacturer warranty and should be dealt with by AEG and in any event their retailer warranty would no longer be valid as the appliance had had an attempted repair done on it.

The purchase was cash, not on a credit card so we don't have any legal back up!

Thanks!

Yes you have "legal back up" just not against any credit card company. Your statutory rights are with the retailer, the manufacturer obligations end at their warranty and as you don;t seem to have one in this instance then they (the manufacturer) don't need to do anything.

DCFC79

Have you checked the receipt to see if it mentions a new appliance eg"New AEG Fridge Freezer" ?


Definitely speak to the retailer, was it a store you can visit or online only ?

DoaM

DCFC79 wrote: »

Definitely speak to the retailer, was it a store you can visit or online only ?

As OP paid by cash (and I'm assuming this doesn't mean bank transfer) then it's almost certainly an in-store purchase.

kkamj

Thanks for your replies, we have been back to the retailer who said it was nothing to do with them, they were very rude and hung up on us.

Any idea what our next course of action should be? is it small claims?

Thanks in advance

pinkshoes

kkamj wrote: »

Thanks for your replies, we have been back to the retailer who said it was nothing to do with them, they were very rude and hung up on us.

Any idea what our next course of action should be? is it small claims?

Thanks in advance

Write to the retailer giving them 14 days to replace or refund the item. (Obviously adding clear details of scenario e.g. bought on XXX as brand new, broke on XXXX, manufacturer stated XXXXX etc...)

JJ_Egan

As above .
Use a LBA letter before action templates .
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/legal-system/taking-legal-action/small-claims/making-a-small-claim/

kkamj

Thanks, I've sent the letter via email and will post on Monday.