John Lewis Electrolux washing machine shrunk my clothes

ChrisMoney2020

Our John Lewis washing machine has shrunk our clothes. Another user has demonstrated the same model overheats (search youtube for John Lewis Washer Dryer JLWD161 Malfunction). Over £800 of our clothes have been ruined. A first incident happened late last year; they then replaced parts in the machine under guarantee; and then it happened again recently, before they replaced parts again.

Both John Lewis and the manufacturers, Electrolux, initially insisted they had no responsibility for any damages their machine caused to our clothes. After endless back and forth John Lewis offered a "goodwill" payment of £120 for the first incident and, after the second incident, on saying we'd go to the media, they offered another "goodwill" £150 and Electrolux offered just £50. But we would still be £500 out of pocket, while I am also now out of work due to Covid - AND we have no guarantee it won't happen again in the future. I'm frustrated we have had to fight so hard to get even what they've now offered and am worried it could happen again. They have not even confirmed whether or not they have investigated if the machine has an inherent fault, though I note it is no longer being sold.

What would you advise we should do?

Thanks so much

pinkshoes

I'm assuming £800 would be the retail value, so they have quite fairly paid you (generously) for the second hand value.

Overheating to what temperature? One of my kids switched mine to a 90C wash and yet not a single garment got shrunk! What sort of clothes were you washing?!?! I don't think I could fit £800 of everyday garments in my washing machine.. Or was this your weekly wash of diamond encrusted knickers?

I suggest you take the £150 and re-purchase the clothes second hand that were shrunk. If it comes to more than this for their second hand value, then perhaps send a letter before action and threaten to take them to court for the rest of the money.

powerful_Rogue

Why do you keep using the machine if you know it can shrink your clothes?

Only ever experienced this once when I put the OH's jumper in with a wash. Never again after the ear bashing I got!

photome

Wish I had £800 of clothes to put in the wash... I don’t really

JJ_Egan

Struggling to find £800 worth of clothes to go in a washer .

Spank

I misread that to be £800 washing machine. The only time I've had a problem with destroying stuff due to heat was when I boil washed the dogs blanket.
If it's happened twice sell it after they repair it and get a different machine

eddddy

From what you've posted, it sounds like the situation might be as follows:

• JL sold you a washing machine which had a fault which made it 'not fit for purpose'
• That means that JL breached their contract with you
• You are entitled to claim for (reasonably foreseeable) consequential losses from JL, that result from that breach of contract

A court would probably award damages on this basis:  say a dress cost £120, and it would be reasonable to expect 4 years use from it.  If the washing machine ruined the dress when the dress was 1 year old, you've lost 75% of it's value = £90.

So if you can't get the outcome you want any other way, you could try making a court claim against JL.

But firstly, in your position, I would put  JL on notice (i.e. tell them) that you are continuing to use the washing machine, unless they tell you not to.

Jumblebumble

Spank said:

I misread that to be £800 washing machine. The only time I've had a problem with destroying stuff due to heat was when I boil washed the dogs blanket.
If it's happened twice sell it after they repair it and get a different machine

And this time I would buy a Miele
We have the cheapest Model that has been used in a family of 5
It has run perfectly for 5 years 
The drive belt stretched which I changed myself
John Lewis would sell you one today for £629 with £100 gift card and I would not even consider anything else if I could afford it.

ChrisMoney2020

Thanks for everyone's comments. I should clarify it didn't shrink £800 of clothes in one wash! We don't own anything that expensive! First time we became aware of it was after multiple washes had shrunk - combination of everyday t-shirts, smart shirts and some nice skirts/dresses. It wasn't obvious until after I put some tops on and thought it odd they seemed a bit short... and then realised dozens of clothes had shrunk by at least one size. (No it wasn't because I got fat! Unless I also had a growth spurt.)

They fixed it we thought and seemed fine for several months... And then it happened again... But again was several washes before we realised.

Bit of a rock and hard place now - risk it damaging clothes again which I agree seems dangerous (even though it's again been fixed in theory)... but the alternative is shell out for another machine, which also seems crazy when the current one is still is guarantee. Agreed, we could get a cheap replacement, although the reason we got a John Lewis one was because it was meant to be reliable and last many years and save us trouble and excessive repair costs. So much for that I guess! Thanks for the suggestion of Miele though - I'll look into that. As for selling it on to help pay for a new one, I don't think it's on to flog that machine to someone else if it's likely to shrink their clothes.

I think that the manufacturers/sellers should be accountable, which they have gone some way to being, although only after much fighting - but aside from us already being massively out of pocket, it's that risk of it happening again. Sounds like my only option to get the rest of the costs to date may be to take them court - but that's no small undertaking.

Re. depreciation - Some of the clothes were a few years old and maybe had indeed depreciated although totally wearable, but some had been barely worn and some of those that shrunk the second time were clothes we'd just bought to replace the ones that shrunk after the first incident! As one of you suggested, we could replace the damaged clothes with purchasing second hand clothes to keep the costs down, though apart from those you can try in local charity shops, it's much harder to find and know if it fits or suits (finding identical replacements is unlikely in most cases) and comes without any guarantees - but in practise, we'll certainly be looking into that option.