HELP NEEDED PLEASE.. Out of warranty Fridge Freezer

rack20

I purchased a new Hotpoint fridge freezer early April 2019, it has never seemed to feel really cold but just put it down to that’s how it works!. Yesterday I noticed things really weren’t cold and the freezer was defrosting, therefore it seems it has now died. The fan doesn’t need come on, the light however does and it is not making any noise what so ever.  I wait over 2 hours on the phone to speak to hotpoint to be told there was nothing they could do.  It cost over £350 and is only 14 months old. I expect there to be more rights on this. Can anyone advise please?
I have been pretty much forced to pay a £16 per month out of warranty insurance or a one off £120 call out charge to get it looked at but it’s taking a week to even do this!
I purchased it via Argos on my Argos card. I have spoken to them and they have fobbed me off too. And said to write to their complaints dept. Before I do this, I would love to hear if I have more rights because to get 14 months out of an expensive product just doesn’t need seem acceptable. I haven’t received any documents about extended warranties either. 
Thanks you and appreciate any help anyone can give me.

JJ_Egan

Confused .

Do you have a paid for warranty on the product that is current .?

Consumer Rights are against the vendor  .Contact Argos under your Consumer Rights .

They may well as you to prove ( to get 14 months out of an expensive product just doesn’t need seem acceptable) via an independent report .

rack20

No I didn’t as I wasn’t sent anything saying the 12 months was expiring and under the current circumstances it wasn’t the first thing on my mind same as when purchasing the product, it comes with 12 months, mid move, didn’t think about extending it if something was provided then, I can’t remember.
I have now had to take out insurance at a more expensive cost to get the engineer out to look at it. But don’t expect to Ben having someone out after 14 months.
I have contacted Argos and they say to write and complain. Wanted some advice before writing to them.

Aylesbury_Duck

You do have consumer rights with Argos.  To exercise them, you need to get someone to inspect the unit and if they say there's an inherent fault that caused it to break down prematurely, go back to Argos and insist on a resolution (with the report).  They will have to refund you the cost of the inspection and then choose to repair, replace or refund.  If they replace or refund, they can take into account the use you've had to date.

JJ_Egan

<I have now had to take out insurance at a more expensive cost to get the engineer out to look at it>

Best wait to see what the report is when inspected.

<I wasn’t sent anything saying the 12 months was expiring >  No its not normal for you to be reminded except by yourself .

knightstyle

Ring Hotpoint and ask about their care plan, £20 a month and 6 months minimum so £120 in total.
For that they will repair everything on the unit.  When our 5 year old FF went wrong I did that and got a new motherboard, new fan, new wheels at the back and even had the door replaced as a heater in it was faulty!
But don't forget to cancel after six payments or you will be paying £20 a month for ever!

DCFC79

rack20 said:

No I didn’t as I wasn’t sent anything saying the 12 months was expiring and under the current circumstances it wasn’t the first thing on my mind same as when purchasing the product, it comes with 12 months, mid move, didn’t think about extending it if something was provided then, I can’t remember.
I have now had to take out insurance at a more expensive cost to get the engineer out to look at it. But don’t expect to Ben having someone out after 14 months.
I have contacted Argos and they say to write and complain. Wanted some advice before writing to them.

You didnt have to rake out that insurance.
You ring Argos and speak to them, if they dont play ball you speak to the card company, it should last longer than the 14 months.

roddydogs

You can take out insurance , then claim after you have a fault that was already their?

StuieUK34

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/little-known-eu-law-gives-8586685
The onus is with Argos, means jumping through hoops to get them to play ball...

shaun_from_Africa

StuieUK34 said:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/little-known-eu-law-gives-8586685
The onus is with Argos, means jumping through hoops to get them to play ball...

The onus is not with Argos.
The law in the UK (Consumer rights act) still requires that the OP proves that the fault is due to something that was present with the appliance when they purchased it.
Newspaper reports such as the one linked to give a totally misleading interpretation of consumer rights. There is no "free 6 year warranty" There is a 6 year timescale in which consumers have the legal right to take action against a retailer but this is not a warranty in the sense it is generally used in the UK.

unholyangel

shaun_from_Africa said:

StuieUK34 said:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/little-known-eu-law-gives-8586685
The onus is with Argos, means jumping through hoops to get them to play ball...

The onus is not with Argos.
The law in the UK (Consumer rights act) still requires that the OP proves that the fault is due to something that was present with the appliance when they purchased it.
Newspaper reports such as the one linked to give a totally misleading interpretation of consumer rights. There is no "free 6 year warranty" There is a 6 year timescale in which consumers have the legal right to take action against a retailer but this is not a warranty in the sense it is generally used in the UK.

To be fair, the article itself seems to be mostly accurate (imagine my surprise given the source). But the headline/website link is misleading. 

The article basically says there no EU law which gives you a 6 year warranty (thats a new one, it was always 2 before!) but there is a UK one of the Consumer Rights Act. Which is slightly misleading since it is only the 6 years that is from UK law, and the rights conferred by the consumer rights (and all of our consumer rights tbh) do come from EU law. 

It also says you have rights if goods are faulty which again, is slightly misleading but all in all, probably one of the most accurate pieces I've ever seen from the mirror.