AO damaged carpet

llmjdd

Looking for some help here. 

We’ve had a bit of a nightmare during lockdown with appliances. Our oven broke, fridge freezer broke and washing machine needed replaced. All on a now reduced income as my partner is down to part time. Basically we’re having a financial nightmare. 

Today AO delivered our fridge freezer today and have managed to create a trail through the entire flat of black oil... on our cream (!!!) carpets. 

I’ve raised it with them and will go through the due process, of course. 

But I’m just wondering if anyone knows what we’ll be entitled to here as I’m convinced this won’t be cleanable seeing as it’s black oil on cream. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to replace both carpets now and I just simply cannot afford that. 

I could cry. Any advice is most welcome, but please, please do not reply telling me to just live with it - it is VERY bad, just not liveable. 

theonlywayisup

If you have raised it with them, then there's little more you can do for the time being other than take photos and keep a detail of all time/dates of contact with them.

How did you pay?  Asking as this may also be a way forward if you don't get any joy with AO themselves.

Do the delivery drivers have any idea what it may be?  Difficult to see the oil is from the appliance, so more likely something they stood in perhaps?

Don't cry about it.  It will be sorted, but you may just have to take a deep breath until it is. 

llmjdd

theonlywayisup said:

If you have raised it with them, then there's little more you can do for the time being other than take photos and keep a detail of all time/dates of contact with them.

How did you pay?  Asking as this may also be a way forward if you don't get any joy with AO themselves.

Do the delivery drivers have any idea what it may be?  Difficult to see the oil is from the appliance, so more likely something they stood in perhaps?

Don't cry about it.  It will be sorted, but you may just have to take a deep breath until it is. 

It’s oil from the old broken machine that dripped because they carried it out at an angle. 

It was paid for on credit card. 

They have said they will pay to “fix” it and I am awaiting a claim form, but to me that implies a clean, which I don’t think will restore it back to the level of clean it was.

What I want to know is if that is the case, am I entitled to replace at their expense?

I’ve seen reports that the process can take 6months - surely I can’t be expected to live with a filthy carpet for 6months?!

GDB2222

You have to let them try the cheaper option of cleaning it, and I imagine they'll do that in a couple of weeks. If they don't, hire a carpet cleaning contractor. AO are a reputable firm, and I expect they'll sort you out fairly. 

Whilst I have no doubt the trail is black and oily, it probably isn't oil. There isn't any oil in a freezer. It's possible that something melted inside when it failed, but it's your responsibility to empty and clean it before it's collected. So, there could be an argument that this is your fault, not AO's.  If it isn't actually oil, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that it cleans up nicely.  Problem solved. 

If you need new carpets to solve the problem, AO may start to get rather more picky. The fact is that a freezer is not like a motor car. It's not loaded with black oil, and so the question arises how that got there in the first place.

llmjdd

GDB2222 said:

You have to let them try the cheaper option of cleaning it, and I imagine they'll do that in a couple of weeks. If they don't, hire a carpet cleaning contractor. AO are a reputable firm, and I expect they'll sort you out fairly. 

Whilst I have no doubt the trail is black and oily, it probably isn't oil. There isn't any oil in a freezer. It's possible that something melted inside when it failed, but it's your responsibility to empty and clean it before it's collected. So, there could be an argument that this is your fault, not AO's.  If it isn't actually oil, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that it cleans up nicely.  Problem solved. 

If you need new carpets to solve the problem, AO may start to get rather more picky. The fact is that a freezer is not like a motor car. It's not loaded with black oil, and so the question arises how that got there in the first place.

It was actually the delivery men that said it was oil from the old unit. 

It was cleaned and prepared for them collecting it, but this came from the inside of the machine, not visible to the eye when cleaning, they were as surprised as we were. 

Thanks for your help. 

GDB2222

llmjdd said:

GDB2222 said:

You have to let them try the cheaper option of cleaning it, and I imagine they'll do that in a couple of weeks. If they don't, hire a carpet cleaning contractor. AO are a reputable firm, and I expect they'll sort you out fairly. 

Whilst I have no doubt the trail is black and oily, it probably isn't oil. There isn't any oil in a freezer. It's possible that something melted inside when it failed, but it's your responsibility to empty and clean it before it's collected. So, there could be an argument that this is your fault, not AO's.  If it isn't actually oil, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that it cleans up nicely.  Problem solved. 

If you need new carpets to solve the problem, AO may start to get rather more picky. The fact is that a freezer is not like a motor car. It's not loaded with black oil, and so the question arises how that got there in the first place.

It was actually the delivery men that said it was oil from the old unit. 

It was cleaned and prepared for them collecting it, but this came from the inside of the machine, not visible to the eye when cleaning, they were as surprised as we were. 

Thanks for your help. 

I absolutely believe you, and I believed you the first time too. But, that doesn't invalidate any of what i said before. Freezers don't have oil in them. Full stop. It's not how they work.

So, how that oil got there is a question, and whether the men transporting the freezer could reasonably have been expected to allow for it? I'm just warning you that there could be trouble, as I'm sure that the T&Cs make you responsible for emptying the freezer before the men arrive. That would, quite likely, include any oil that had leaked out of food stored in the freezer.

It's obviously not the answer you wanted to hear. You wanted to hear that AO are totally responsible. They may well work on that basis, as a matter of goodwill. 

DiddyDavies

GDB2222 said:

I absolutely believe you, and I believed you the first time too. But, that doesn't invalidate any of what i said before. Freezers don't have oil in them. Full stop. It's not how they work.

I beg to differ. If freezers and refrigerators didn't have oil in them, the compressors would very quickly seize up and need replacing on a regular basis because the refrigerant gas used doesn't have any lubricating properties.
This is the main reason for some appliances needing time to settle after being moved as the oil that should be in the compressor could have been forced into other parts of the system, leaving little or no oil where it's most needed.

I think this sums up what happened to the OP:
https://www.hunker.com/13407488/black-oily-stuff-leaking-from-under-the-refrigerator

A black, oily substance leaking from under a refrigerator is caused by either a water leak from the drip pan beneath the appliance or an oil leak from the refrigeration system.

GDB2222

The amount of grease in the compressor is tiny. Just enough for lubrication of the piston. That article refers to "refrigeration oil" - which does not accord with my idea of reality.

Water from the drip tray wouldn't be oily. The black would be fungus growing in the water. I suppose that would look oily, but hopefully it will wash out easily enough. 

Homer_home

Why haven't you tried cleaning your carpet yourself?

DiddyDavies

GDB2222 said:

The amount of grease in the compressor is tiny. Just enough for lubrication of the piston. That article refers to "refrigeration oil" - which does not accord with my idea of reality.
 

Firstly, it's oil. not grease. There is a big difference between the two.
Secondly, The amount of oil in the compressor of an average household fridge freezer will typically be somewhere in the region of 60ml to 90ml (about 3 fluid ounces) which is why these compressors have a small sump in the bottom of them. It is also why time is needed for the oil to drain back into the sump if the appliance has been tilted whilst moving it and this amount of oil would be more than enough to leave a nice oily trail along a carpet.

DiddyDavies

Homer_home said:

Why haven't you tried cleaning your carpet yourself?

IMO, not a good idea.
If it is oil, getting all of it out without spreading the stain would be extremely difficult and if this was to happen, AO could then claim that as the OP made the damage worse, they are no longer liable.
It would be safest to wait until AO have investigated and come to a decision before doing anything with the carpet.