John Lewis Fridge/Freezer out of warranty and now parts are discontinued

Moleary1980

Good evening,

Hoping someone may be able to offer some advice. Our John Lewis Fridge/Freezer is out of warranty by about a year. It has developed a fault with the fan. We got an engineer out who checked it over and went away to order the part. Unfortunately the fan is discontinued and as such we have been advised a repair can not happen. 

Phoned John Lewis to see if they can support, we don’t think it’s reasonable that the parts are discontinued and the only option we are left with is to purchase a new fridge. John Lewis advised that we should go away and do some research as to what our consumer rights are before they will talk to us about it, as they can’t offer advice. 

I am at a loss really. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks

Mike

shaun_from_Africa

How long is it since you purchased the appliance?
What is the model number as it's often possible to find spares from independent parts companies.

grumbler

How long was the warranty?

Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act aren't limited by the warranty. The fridge is supposed to 'last a reasonable length of time', that is definitely longer than the warranty. You can demand repair or replacement from JL, and if the part really was discontinued this only makes your position stronger should you decide to sue them.

>> Consumer Rights

>> Small Claims Court

shaun_from_Africa

grumbler said:

You can demand repair or replacement from JL, 

They can't demand anything at present.
If they can  show that the fan failed due to a manufacturing defect and it's within 6 years from purchase, they can ask JL to provide a remedy.
This remedy can  be a repair, a replacement or a refund which can be a partial one to allow for the time that the OP had good use of the unit.
The "reasonable time" for something to last can take the price paid into account so if it was a budget appliance and it lasted 4 years, this may be a reasonable life.

Jackmydad

Have a look somewhere like this (no affiliation)
https://www.espares.co.uk/search/ma1650pt1552/fridges-and-freezers/motor/john-lewis
There are several fan motors (I'd assume that's the fault) listed for John Lewis.
You'll need the model number to get the right one.

Moleary1980

Thanks for your replies. Model number JLAFFSS2013. I’ve looked on the spare parts site and it doesn’t have that model number. The warranty was for 3 years, so the fridge is 4 years old. 

MovingForwards

https://shop.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/fan-motors-551

I googled JLAFFSS2013 spare parts and a load of potential shops popped up with spares. Sometimes it's easier to put less information in the search terms.

theonlywayisup

Moleary1980 said:

Thanks for your replies. Model number JLAFFSS2013. I’ve looked on the spare parts site and it doesn’t have that model number. The warranty was for 3 years, so the fridge is 4 years old. 

As the fridge is over 6 months old, the onus is on you to show the fault is inherent.  You can commission a report, the cost of which will be borne by you unless the fault is proven as inherent.  If the fault is inherent, you can use your Consumer Rights to go back to the retailer for a remedy and for the cost of the report. 

Your warranty is entirely separate and as the machine is no longer covered (expired) there is no point in referencing it to the retailer/manufacturer.

A final option is as others have suggested, you source the part yourself.  

grumbler

theonlywayisup said:

As the fridge is over 6 months old, the onus is on you to show the fault is inherent.  You can commission a report, the cost of which will be borne by you unless the fault is proven as inherent.

I don't think that an expert is needed to prove that some internal fan failure is an inherent fault. It's just common sense. The only question is whether 4 years is a reasonable lifespan for a fridge. IMO, it definitely isn't, even for a budget one.

BTW, AFAIK, JL appliances are made by Electrolux. It's worth contacting them or Electrolux to find out the corresponding Electrolux model that has exactly the same part.

shaun_from_Africa

grumbler said:

theonlywayisup said:

As the fridge is over 6 months old, the onus is on you to show the fault is inherent.  You can commission a report, the cost of which will be borne by you unless the fault is proven as inherent.

I don't think that an expert is needed to prove that some internal fan failure is an inherent fault. It's just common sense. The only question is whether 4 years is a reasonable lifespan for a fridge. IMO, it definitely isn't, even for a budget one. 

When discussing consumer rights, it's what is written into legislation that is important and not common sense.
Yes, the fan has failed but why it failed is relevant.
Did the OP leave the fridge/freezer door door open so the fan was running for far longer than it should?
maybe they forced too much food into the appliance and this caused something to jam the fan and it burnt out. or maybe these was too little airflow around the outside and it simply overheated.
This page from Trading Standards explains the law perfectly including exactly what the report needs to state:
https://www.bromley.gov.uk/leaflet/122483/14/684/d

grumbler

Luckily, most judges in SCC do have some common sense that the law relies on. The term "reasonable" is a good example of this.

Did the OP leave the fridge/freezer door door open so the fan was running for far longer than it should?

No expert will be capable of establishing this as a fact. And, basically, this is sort of fan that is supposed to work permanently - like in computers, servers etc. UK isn't the hottest place on Earth.

maybe they forced too much food into the appliance and this caused something to jam the fan and it burnt out.

The fan cools the hot heat exchanger that is outside of the cold compartment (or blows the cool air into the fridge). If it can be blocked by the food inside the fridge, then it's just not fit for purpose.

maybe these was too little airflow around the outside and it simply overheated

If it was too hot for a fan, how could the fridge work for four years?

That said, IMO, it's a winning case if it gets to a court. So, any money spent on a worthless 'report' will be recovered.

IMHO, if JL fob the OP off, a Letter Before Action will do the job. Also, I think this is a bog standard fan, similar to those used in PCs and  the so called 'engineer' just was as incompetent as most if his colleagues.The only they can do is to REPLACE and with EXACTLY  the same.