Smoking Indesit Washing Machine

Si_Clist

On 9th May this year, we bought an Indesit washing machine from John Lewis. This morning, when we undid the door to remove the washing, smoke came out. Not a huge amount, and no sign of overheating, but definitely smoke - not steam. This has obviously alarmed my Lady Wife somewhat.

Phone JL, who took the best part of 20 minutes to say the best we can do is send a bloke out to look at it, and the earliest we can do that is in 10 days time! I said that's no good to me, JL said "Try phoning Indesit to see if they can get a bloke out sooner". So I did, and the best they can do is in 11 days time ...

We would like JL to come and take the thing away and refund us, but obviously they're not going to want to do that. If we wait 10 days for a chap to come out, fit a new widget and say "sorted", we're not going to trust the thing. So the question is - what are our options at this point?

shaun_from_Africa

Si_Clist wrote: »

So the question is - what are our options at this point?

Legally, you have to allow JL one chance to repair the appliance if they wish to do this. This repair can be by themselves or the manufacturer provided that JL advised you to contact them.

If it were to then go wrong again, you can reject it and ask for a refund which would be a full refund within the first 6 months and possibly a reduced refund after this.

Aylesbury_Duck

Your options at this point are:

1. Wait 10/11 days for someone to come and look at it. Hand-wash, use a friend's machine or a launderette in the meantime.
2. Disconnect it, put it aside and buy a new one today in the hope that you end up with a full refund for the smoking one.

Once it's been inspected you may have other options at that point, ranging from repair, replacement or refund.

wagtamm

Si_Clist wrote: »

On 9th May this year, we bought an Indesit washing machine from John Lewis. This morning, when we undid the door to remove the washing, smoke came out. Not a huge amount, and no sign of overheating, but definitely smoke - not steam. This has obviously alarmed my Lady Wife somewhat.

Phone JL, who took the best part of 20 minutes to say the best we can do is send a bloke out to look at it, and the earliest we can do that is in 10 days time! I said that's no good to me, JL said "Try phoning Indesit to see if they can get a bloke out sooner". So I did, and the best they can do is in 11 days time ...

We would like JL to come and take the thing away and refund us, but obviously they're not going to want to do that. If we wait 10 days for a chap to come out, fit a new widget and say "sorted", we're not going to trust the thing. So the question is - what are our options at this point?

As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. :eek:

If I were you, the only option I would be considering at this time would be calling for the fire service to attend to ensure the fire is fully extinguished, and even if it is, will not reignite.

Particularly so, when you are "not going to trust the thing".

tacpot12

Are you sure you haven't caused the problem by washing something that should not be washed? Do you know whether JL will charge for the engineer to come if you have caused the fault?

pinkshoes

tacpot12 wrote: »

Are you sure you haven't caused the problem by washing something that should not be washed?

Like what?? Lithium? Potassium? Caesium?

Si_Clist

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

...If it were to then go wrong again, you can reject it and ask for a refund which would be a full refund within the first 6 months and possibly a reduced refund after this.

Sorry, but is that 6 months from new, or from the date of the repair?

LilElvis

Si_Clist wrote: »

Sorry, but is that 6 months from new, or from the date of the repair?

Six months from purchase.

tacpot12

pinkshoes wrote: »

Like what?? Lithium? Potassium? Caesium?

Trainers, handbags, coins, anything with a "Do not machine wash" label on it - I was thinking that some sort of foreign object could have got trapped between the drum and the door seal. This can produce a burning smell.

Thinking about it, overloading the machine might cause the belt to slip which would also cause a burning smell and possibly smoke.

Si_Clist

Thanks folks. It's not worth me getting bent out of shape about - we'll just wait for the Indesit bloke to turn up in 10 days time, then keep our fingers crossed that it busts again before it's six months old ...

Fosterdog

wagtamm wrote: »

As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. :eek:

If I were you, the only option I would be considering at this time would be calling for the fire service to attend to ensure the fire is fully extinguished, and even if it is, will not reignite.

Particularly so, when you are "not going to trust the thing".

You would actually waste the time of the incredibly underfunded and overworked EMERGENCY service just to look at a washing machine that is clearly not actually on fire. There really can be smoke without fire, it's most likely something out of position inside the machine (or a foreign object) that is causing friction, which can cause smoke without fire. Just last week I saw a car with a smoking rear wheel, there was no fire just something seized causing the smoke, should they have also wasted the fire services time or do the sensible thing and get recovered to a garage for a mechanic to look at it?