Consumer Rights Act versus a 17month old Microwave

DiddyDavies

I don't think that appliances are made to fail, simply that the manufacturers are giving consumers what they want and that is extremely cheap goods and one way to achieve this is to use low quality parts.
I also have a fairly old microwave oven (Panasonic) and from memory, this is now about 14 or 15 years old and is made from pretty heavy gauge metal where as many of the modern ones seem to be extremely flimsy in comparison.
My tumble dryer is the same. It's an old Hotpoint condenser dryer and I bought it in 2004. I know that efficiency wise it won't be good but it works perfectly and like the microwave, it's very solidly made compared to many modern examples.

MattMattMattUK

As with most things a lower initial outlay is rarely more economical long term.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

DiddyDavies said:

I don't think that appliances are made to fail, simply that the manufacturers are giving consumers what they want and that is extremely cheap goods and one way to achieve this is to use low quality parts.
I also have a fairly old microwave oven (Panasonic) and from memory, this is now about 14 or 15 years old and is made from pretty heavy gauge metal where as many of the modern ones seem to be extremely flimsy in comparison.
My tumble dryer is the same. It's an old Hotpoint condenser dryer and I bought it in 2004. I know that efficiency wise it won't be good but it works perfectly and like the microwave, it's very solidly made compared to many modern examples.

That is true but even with inflation a microwave wasn't £600 14 years ago. Global use of white goods and other appliances is increasing, manufacturing has progressed both which should drive down costs. 

One thing is for sure, goods not lasting as long will benefit the companies that make them, otherwise they wouldn't do it. Although I do agree consumers push for cheap and that drives the market, the problem now is you don't know if paying more will actually result in better quality or a longer life.  

HelloJ123

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Just to add another spanner into the works; I completely understand that I didn't pay much money for the Microwave, but I did check "*****?" for their reviews. I wanted a microwave that would last, and it's still even now, listed as a Best Buy. Even taking price out of the equation, it seems that for items under the magic £100 mark, that manufacturers/ retailers can get away (at the detriment of both consumers and the environment) with sub-par products. They know it doesn't make financial sense for us to fight them for it. Why should it be acceptable that a white good product is replaced as often as pair of shoes? 

On a side note - Can anyone provide some suggestions on a new microwave?

SPOWER

Hi.  That's awful, your experience.  Me, personally, I would buy a cheap one, COOKWORKS at Argos is a good one.  Don't buy digital, just one with a dial.  Less to go wrong.  The one I have is Swan from very.co.uk.  If you google £30 off a £60 spend for very you will get a code number and just buy one from here and get £30 off.  Then close the account.  Not sure if that helps.  I am having terrible problems too with a holiday camp.  As if we don't have enough to deal with.  Good luck.

Tokmon

HelloJ123 said:

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Just to add another spanner into the works; I completely understand that I didn't pay much money for the Microwave, but I did check "*****?" for their reviews. I wanted a microwave that would last, and it's still even now, listed as a Best Buy. Even taking price out of the equation, it seems that for items under the magic £100 mark, that manufacturers/ retailers can get away (at the detriment of both consumers and the environment) with sub-par products. They know it doesn't make financial sense for us to fight them for it. Why should it be acceptable that a white good product is replaced as often as pair of shoes? 

On a side note - Can anyone provide some suggestions on a new microwave?

Just because your microwave failed after 17 months it doesn't mean that particular model in general is a sub par product. To make a microwave where every unit is guaranteed to work for atleast 6 years would be extremely expensive and nobody would be willing to pay that much. Even models of Microwave that last 20+ years for some people will have certainly had examples of them being faulty after a short period of time due to the variability of a large scale manufacturing process for consumer priced items.

mobileron

Shame we cant buy the Sharp microwaves anymore,they were great quality and £399 when first launched.

DiddyDavies

mobileron said:

Shame we cant buy the Sharp microwaves anymore,they were great quality and £399 when first launched.

Amazon.co.uk : Microwave Ovens

Twong72

HelloJ123 said:

On a side note - Can anyone provide some suggestions on a new microwave?

imo electronics now a day's are low level quality and poor parts used anyhow this is for pretty much everything, id recommend either buy basic cheap disposable stuff right down to the £40-50 quid Asda microwaves or you can buy higher end microwaves £100-200+ but just get an extended cover or insurance on it if its cheap like £20-30 this way you just have a bit of peace of mind it can be repaired and if it cant you get a refund or exchange at least.

I bought a Candy microwave from Amazon a few years back it was the only high end one which was large enough for full size dinner plates and had the right size think the 3 year extended warranty was like £10 quid or something:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Candy-900W-Digital-Microwave-White/dp/B07BNP3K2W/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Candy+microwave&qid=1612018511&sr=8-3

Just wanted something with a handle and easy to use which this one does fine.