Question regarding warranties

Robster88

Hello. 

I have a question regarding warranties for kitchen appliances that were newly installed before I purchased the property. For a bit of background, I purchased a property late last year (Dec 19) and the seller installed a brand new kitchen before marketing the property to make it more saleable. I believe the kitchen was installed by Howdens. One of the appliances stopped working (indeed it may have never worked - the first time it was turned on it shorted the electrics) and an electrician has confirmed there is a fault with it that was causing the electrics in the property to short, and so has had to remove it. 

As the item is practically brand new, it should still be under warranty, however as I didn't purchase it I'm not sure where I stand legally. I have tried registering the appliance, however they require proof of purchase. Is there an unwritten (or indeed written) rule about what happens in this sort of circumstance? 

Cheers 

dimbo61

Contact Howdens direct and ask.
They now offer 3 years cover on any new appliances sold by them.
Be nice and see what happens.

eddddy

You have no contract with Howdens, or the appliance manufacturer - so they have no duty to do anything for you.

But if you explain to the manufacturer, they might do something on a 'goodwill' basis.

You have a contract with the person you bought the house from, but they almost certainly didn't give any warranties about the appliances in the contract.

In theory, you could ask the person who sold you the house to make a warranty claim on the appliance - but I suspect they may not want to get involved.

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Robster.

I reckon you are covered. The Sale Of Goods Act deems that products must be of 'Satisfactory quality', and an oven that doesn't last a year patently isn't. Your claim would be against Howdens, if it's them wot supplied it. 

You will, of course, need to have confirmed that it was Howdens-supplied (or able to show who did supply it), and also some 'proof' of its purchase date, so absolutely try contacting the previous owner via your solicitor - all you want is something to show when it was bought and installed, and I think most folk would be more than happy to do this if they can.

It might be that actual proof of purchase is not required; if the oven is a current model which, perhaps, has only been out for a year or two, then it's obvious that the oven has failed within that time - an unreasonable period, so unsatisfactory quality. 

You first try the 'correct' route - trying to obtain receipts and stuff. If that fails but you do find out it was, say, Howdens supplied, then you write to them outlining your claim; the oven definitely came from you, it's definitely less than 2 years old, ergo you are liable. Please do the right thing. If you don't, I will get it repaired, and then make a small claims against you (MoneyClaimonline.gov) - whilst also entertaining all my friends on Facebook with the process. 

You have nothing to lose - you are going to have to have it fixed/replaced regardless. I'm quite happy to make a nuisance of myself with things like this, and it almost always works, regardless of how intransigent the retailer is initially. BUT, I always have to know I'm in the right before I start, either legally or morally.

Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance? Great. Phone them up and see what they say.

One thing to be aware of, tho' - what actually happened when you turned on this oven? Did it trip the main RCD in your 'fuse'box? Ie, did the fusebox go 'clunk' and everything electrical in the house goes off? If so, there is a very good chance that what you have is a 'leaking' oven element (could be oven or grill, etc), and this is what's doing the tripping. Ie, there isn't a complete 'short' circuit as such, but a 'short' leakage, enough to trip the RCD. In which case, all you need is a new element - and that won't be covered as it's a 'consumable' item.

Just how good was your sparky? Would he know to test for this? It is very unusual for an oven to actually become properly 'faulty'. 

eddddy

Jeepers_Creepers said:

I reckon you are covered. The Sale Of Goods Act deems that products must be of 'Satisfactory quality', and an oven that doesn't last a year patently isn't. Your claim would be against Howdens, if it's them wot supplied it. 

You will, of course, need to have confirmed that it was Howdens-supplied (or able to show who did supply it), and also some 'proof' of its purchase date, so absolutely try contacting the previous owner via your solicitor - all you want is something to show when it was bought and installed, and I think most folk would be more than happy to do this if they can.

It might be that actual proof of purchase is not required; if the oven is a current model which, perhaps, has only been out for a year or two, then it's obvious that the oven has failed within an unreasonable time period. 

You first try the 'correct' route - trying to obtain receipts and stuff. If that fails but you do know it's, say, Howdens supplied, then you write to them outlining your claim; the oven definitely came from you, it's definitely less than 2 years old, ergo you are liable. Please do the right thing. If you don't, I will get it repaired, and then make a small claims against you (MoneyClaimonline.gov) - whilst also entertaining all my friends on Facebook with the process. 

Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance? Great. Phone them up and see what they say.

One thing to be aware of, tho' - what actually happened when you turned on this oven? Did it trip the main RCD in your 'fuse'box? Ie, did it go 'clunk' and everything electrical in the house goes off? If so, there is a very good chance that what you have is a 'leaking' oven element (could be oven or grill, etc), and this is what's doing the tripping. Ie, there isn't a 'short' circuit as such, but a 'short' leakage, enough to trip the RCD. In which case, all you need is a new element - and that won't be covered as it's a 'consumable' type item...

Just how good was your sparky? :-)

The first point is... the Sale of Goods Act was replaced by the Consumer Rights Act on 30 September 2015.

But more importantly the Consumer Rights Act (and for that matter, the Sale of Goods Act) are not relevant here - because the OP has no contract with Howdens.

i.e. The OP didn't buy anything from Howdens, the OP didn't pay Howdens any money etc, etc.

Jeepers_Creepers

eddddy said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

I reckon you are covered. The Sale Of Goods Act deems that products must be of 'Satisfactory quality', and an oven that doesn't last a year patently isn't. Your claim would be against Howdens, if it's them wot supplied it. 

You will, of course, need to have confirmed that it was Howdens-supplied (or able to show who did supply it), and also some 'proof' of its purchase date, so absolutely try contacting the previous owner via your solicitor - all you want is something to show when it was bought and installed, and I think most folk would be more than happy to do this if they can.

It might be that actual proof of purchase is not required; if the oven is a current model which, perhaps, has only been out for a year or two, then it's obvious that the oven has failed within an unreasonable time period. 

You first try the 'correct' route - trying to obtain receipts and stuff. If that fails but you do know it's, say, Howdens supplied, then you write to them outlining your claim; the oven definitely came from you, it's definitely less than 2 years old, ergo you are liable. Please do the right thing. If you don't, I will get it repaired, and then make a small claims against you (MoneyClaimonline.gov) - whilst also entertaining all my friends on Facebook with the process. 

Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance? Great. Phone them up and see what they say.

One thing to be aware of, tho' - what actually happened when you turned on this oven? Did it trip the main RCD in your 'fuse'box? Ie, did it go 'clunk' and everything electrical in the house goes off? If so, there is a very good chance that what you have is a 'leaking' oven element (could be oven or grill, etc), and this is what's doing the tripping. Ie, there isn't a 'short' circuit as such, but a 'short' leakage, enough to trip the RCD. In which case, all you need is a new element - and that won't be covered as it's a 'consumable' type item...

Just how good was your sparky? :-)

The first point is... the Sale of Goods Act was replaced by the Consumer Rights Act on 30 September 2015.

But more importantly the Consumer Rights Act (and for that matter, the Sale of Goods Act) are not relevant here - because the OP has no contract with Howdens.

i.e. The OP didn't buy anything from Howdens, the OP didn't pay Howdens any money etc, etc.

Yup, you're almost certainly right :-(  (And Google failed me on the replacement for the SoG Act - I searched for the Consumer Protection Act and couldn't figure out why it wasn't correct...)

Worth a chase of the original owner, tho', because I understand most warranties are transferable. When you sell a product which has remaining warranty, you can almost always make a legitimate claim.

Robster88

Thanks for your replies everyone. Today I spoke to Howdens, who told me to contact the appliance manufacturer. I contacted the appliance manufacturer, and they told me to contact a local service centre. I contacted the local service centre, and they told me contact the appliance manufacturer. I contacted the appliance manufacturer (again) and they told me I needed to contact the person I bought the house from, so all in all not a very productive day..