Issue With Miele Washing Machine From John Lewis

David_193

Hi All,
I am new here so this is my first thread. I will try to cut a long story short if I can. Basically, I bought a Miele Washing Machine from John Lewis on 10 July 2020. I am having problems with it vibrating and jumping all over the kitchen if left uncontrolled. I have followed all of the usual trouble shooting steps - ensuring floor is level, feet are level, balanced machine loads etc. I ended up speaking to both John Lewis Tech Support and Miele yesterday both of whom agreed that I was legally entitled to a replacement / refund / exchange as the fault was within 30 days of purchase. Today, however, John Lewis have changed their story somewhat in that they are saying that they can't do anything until the machine has been examined by a Miele engineer and that can't be done until 18 August. Normally, I wouldn't be too bothered but my wife and son are  both NHS frontline workers and their uniforms have to be washed at 60 degrees after every shift. To make matters worse the problem with the machine seems to be getting worse. 
So, the question I have really is -
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 am I entitled to go back to John Lewis and claim an exchange or replacement as the fault has occurred within 30 days of purchase and is basically not fit for purpose? Do John Lewis have the right to make me wait until a fault has been confirmed by an engineer? Any guidance on this would be much appreciated.
Thanks a lot.

davidmcn

Whatever your legal remedies are, realistically you aren't going to be able to enforce them any earlier than 18 August anyway. Can't you get laundry done somewhere else in the meantime?

David_193

Hi, thanks for your reply. I can work my way around the laundry thing for now. I am just annoyed with John Lewis - basically telling me one thing yesterday and then something different today. I have shopped with them for over 40 years but I'm disappointed with their current level of Customer Service. I've spent so much time on this today it's untrue. I got to the stage of thinking if I was entitled to a refund I would just demand it today and buy a new machine elsewhere.

Socajam

Maybe the person who told you that, was not aware of the policy, and after checking with a Supervisor was corrected.

David_193

Hi SocaJam, thanks for your reply. you may well be right. I'm basically just trying to find out if I am entitled to a refund. If I am then I'll go back to them and buy another machine elsewhere.

Manxman_in_exile

We had a similar problem about five years ago with a washing m/c from JL.  Are you absolutely sure it is faulty and that it is on the level?  I thought ours was level but JL sent someone out and he said it wasn't level.  A few minutes later he had it working perfectly.

I can fully understand why JL want confirmation that it's faulty and not a levelling issue*.  (AIUI, if you want to exercise your short term right to reject within 30 days, the supplier is entitled to ask you to show that the item is both actually faulty and that the fault was there when you bought it)

*Others may disagree but I don't think a levelling problem that can be corrected is a "fault".  It would have been daft for me to reject our machine when it was "fixed" in two minutes.

zoob

Ok sounds like the machine is faulty and yes they have to replace repair or refund but it’s totally reasonable for the to inspect and confirm the machine is faulty and not misuse, machine not connected properly or all transit bolts, packing etc have being removed properly 

Being a frontline worker doesn't give you anymore rights or entitlement than normal people and not relevant under consumer law  

Keep_pedalling

I don’t so how anyone could diagnose the machine as faulty over the phone, this could very easily be a levelling issue.  Who installed the machine?

neilmcl

David_193 said:

Hi, thanks for your reply. I can work my way around the laundry thing for now. I am just annoyed with John Lewis - basically telling me one thing yesterday and then something different today. I have shopped with them for over 40 years but I'm disappointed with their current level of Customer Service. I've spent so much time on this today it's untrue. I got to the stage of thinking if I was entitled to a refund I would just demand it today and buy a new machine elsewhere.

JL haven't told you one thing and then something different. They were correct in saying that you are entitled to a refund/replacement etc if it is indeed faulty but the key word is "if". They are of course entitled to check this out for themselves, legally speaking if you wanted to reject the machine then the onus is on you to prove that it's faulty but they're not asking you do this.

roddydogs

Thought miele were the best you could get.

The_Rainmaker

Have you taken the travel bolts out?