John Lewis & Hoover Fridge Freezer Nightmare

kaggi

I have a hoover fridge freezer purchased from John Lewis. The item is defective and after an engineer was out in March it started to work okay for a wee while after a gas refill. He said at the time he had overfilled it so sat for a while longer to release the excess gas. This only fixed the problem for a short while. I then had a missed appointment from another hoover engineer (so sat in all day waiting for them). Finally another turned up, told me the compressor is broken and there is a leak and my floor is wet.

John Lewis is saying the issue is with hoover and the person I spoke with there assured me he is the most senior person in John Lewis and if I even write to their Managing Director they would send it on to him, and there is nothing else they can do. I think he has been quite obstructive and unhelpful, not what I would expect from John Lewis at all.

Hoover is saying they want to repair the item and that the initial gas refill wasn't a repair, so I will have more days sitting at home wondering if they will deign to turn up as I live nowhere near work so need to be here all day.

To add insult to injury they emailed me with an address for one of their internal departments and told me I have to write to this department to get a claim form. To claim for the leak that the engineer they sent told me about. They can't request a form on my behalf, even though their engineer told them about it and has taken pictures. Then apparently I will need to get two or three quotes (more time at home no doubt) from contractors on how much it will cost to fix the damage and then they will review it.

It all seems to be designed to be so much trouble I just throw the item out and buy a new one, but it seems so unfair. Where do I stand and what can I do to get this fixed without me being inconvenienced even more?

sheramber

When did you buy it?

Are you claiming under warranty?

kaggi

I bought it 2 years ago. I’m not sure what I’m claiming under so I was hoping for some guidance on here. I’d like a fridge freezer that works, doesn’t leak over my floor and doesn't require me to keep taking days off to wait for engineers. Im just at the end of my tether.

edgex

Why haven't you asked them to replace it?

BoGoF

You need to know what you are claiming on before anyone can help you.

Your consumer rights are with JL - due to the age of the product onus on you to show it was an inherent fault....engineers report required.

Your warranty rights are with Hoover - whatever the warranty terms are you are stuck with.

Who did you contact first?

DoaM

edgex wrote: »

Why haven't you asked them to replace it?

Because OP isn't entitled to demand a replacement, only a remedy (which is the seller's choice). Such a remedy is Repair, Replace, Refund ... and any refund can be reduced to account for the OP's time of ownership.

Aylesbury_Duck

After two years, I think you're claiming under warranty and not under consumer rights. As such, what Hoover are offering to do is perfectly reasonable if it's in the terms of your warranty with them. They can offer to repair the unit. If you decline that offer, they may have met their obligations and could walk away.

As for the water damage claim, again it's reasonable to ask you to get quotes. They're not going to just pay out whatever amount you demand, they need to see that you've been reasonable and secured a fair price. An alternative course of action would be for you to claim on your home insurance but I suspect that will still involve some hassle, taking time off for assessors to visit, etc.

kaggi

BoGoF wrote: »

You need to know what you are claiming on before anyone can help you.

Your consumer rights are with JL - due to the age of the product onus on you to show it was an inherent fault....engineers report required.

Your warranty rights are with Hoover - whatever the warranty terms are you are stuck with.

Who did you contact first?

I contacted John Lewis first but they’re being really determined it’s Hoovers responsibility and won’t budge and it’s becoming so frustrating and I just feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall.

kaggi

edgex wrote: »

Why haven't you asked them to replace it?

I have and I’ve asked for a refund so I can get another and they’re not entertaining that at all. I just feel they’ve already repaired it and it’s not fixed it.

kaggi

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

After two years, I think you're claiming under warranty and not under consumer rights. As such, what Hoover are offering to do is perfectly reasonable if it's in the terms of your warranty with them. They can offer to repair the unit. If you decline that offer, they may have met their obligations and could walk away.

As for the water damage claim, again it's reasonable to ask you to get quotes. They're not going to just pay out whatever amount you demand, they need to see that you've been reasonable and secured a fair price. An alternative course of action would be for you to claim on your home insurance but I suspect that will still involve some hassle, taking time off for assessors to visit, etc.

Surely there’s a limit to the amount of days I’m expected to sit it for engineers/quotations etc. for something that’s not my fault.

macman

Over 2 years or under 2 years? All JL white goods have a 2 year retailer's warranty. The Hoover warranty will be one year only.