Help needed! John Lewis won't honour a NEFF guarantee

ssparks2003

stuart_thefc said:

Thanks for all your comments and points on the law.
I guess in this new world, we all have to lower our expectations of what we thought were brands that went above and beyond the letter of the law. 

As you have already been told JL are already going above and beyond the letter of the law by offering you a full refund,  so there appears to be no need to lower your expectations there. 

jon81uk

DiddyDavies said:

jon81uk said:

Have you tried claiming on the Neff warranty Warranty Terms and Conditions | NEFF UK (neff-home.com) says they should repair or replace.

But if it can't be repaired and a direct replacement isn't available, they state:

• We are not obliged to provide a replacement which matches the other appliances in the household. The replacement will be from the local product portfolio.

So if the OP was to try to insist that NEFF follow the warranty terms, they may end up with an appliance that is totally different in appearance to their requirements.

But a replacement appliance may be more valuable than the £375 they have been offered.
If what they have is no longer available then no action can get something that will be the same in appearance, so just need to get replacement or accept the refund. 

stuart_thefc

Handyknowledge said:

I think you bought a end of line unit hence the price if you think it's premium to pay £375 I paid £2k for my one that is not premium. You bought as low price the price you can afford to spend.

So you think because I did not pay the full retail price or as much as you, that it’s not a premium brand? I bought what was sold as a brand new product at a discounted price. Buying an Audi with £2000 off the list price does not stop the Audi from being a premium product or require Audi to meet its warranty requirements.
The N50 KI7862F30G I bought has had a minor update on the NEFF UK website and JL Peterborough, where I bought the items, is still listed as a retailer.

Therefore, inline with the JL promise, I would expect this model to be the replacement. As I used to work for Bosch, I know the price I’ve paid JL still has a margin in it and as this is a NEFF breakdown, they would, as the engineer told me, compensate JL. If buying products marked down or in clearance has any limitations in the guarantee offered or service provided, this should be made clear at the point of purchase and within the receipt issued. Neither John Lewis or NEFF, where the products were registered, advised any changes or terms specific to the discount. The fact the invoice received from NEFF today was £0 and the engineer noted ‘Internal gas leak not repairable. Concent given footprints customer to return to John Lewis and we will give rtg number for exchange.’

As for end-of-line, JL advised the last one they sold was in July 2020. Now perhaps that had something to do with lock-downs/global pandemics/store closures - and as I mentioned, this model is still listed on NEFF UK with JL as a retailer.

ps have no idea what ‘footprints’ mean in the NEFF report!

stuart_thefc

jon81uk said:

DiddyDavies said:

jon81uk said:

Have you tried claiming on the Neff warranty Warranty Terms and Conditions | NEFF UK (neff-home.com) says they should repair or replace.

But if it can't be repaired and a direct replacement isn't available, they state:

• We are not obliged to provide a replacement which matches the other appliances in the household. The replacement will be from the local product portfolio.

So if the OP was to try to insist that NEFF follow the warranty terms, they may end up with an appliance that is totally different in appearance to their requirements.

But a replacement appliance may be more valuable than the £375 they have been offered.
If what they have is no longer available then no action can get something that will be the same in appearance, so just need to get replacement or accept the refund. 

The value paid is not relevant to the retailer as the manufacturer has accepted responsibility for an exchange - so if we paid £375 or £1000 the net impact on JL would be £0. The model we purchased has had a slight modification, but is still available and JL are listed as a reseller.

stuart_thefc

ssparks2003 said:

stuart_thefc said:

Thanks for all your comments and points on the law.
I guess in this new world, we all have to lower our expectations of what we thought were brands that went above and beyond the letter of the law. 

As you have already been told JL are already going above and beyond the letter of the law by offering you a full refund,  so there appears to be no need to lower your expectations there. 

The JL guarantee for large household items I linked to, does not exclude items purchased under clearance and it was not a term on the receipt I have. Therefore I think you are mistaken in your reference to ‘going beyond the letter of the law’ as they state ‘If we can't repair your item, we'll replace it with an item of equivalent specification.’.
So at the moment, I would state they are in breach of the terms of their own public guarantee.

Aylesbury_Duck

You can argue all you like with people on here, but the fact is that JL are doing nothing that infringes your consumer rights and are actually offering an enhanced solution.   It's not one you like,  but that doesn't make it wrong.

You're going to have to rely on charm, or just wearing them down.  You have no law or facts on your side, though, no matter how hard you try and convince people on here otherwise. 

I'd focus your energies on working with JL to see if you can negotiate an outcome you are happy with, rather than trying to persuade people on here to give you the answer you want to hear, because that isn't working. 

jon81uk

stuart_thefc said:

ssparks2003 said:

stuart_thefc said:

Thanks for all your comments and points on the law.
I guess in this new world, we all have to lower our expectations of what we thought were brands that went above and beyond the letter of the law. 

As you have already been told JL are already going above and beyond the letter of the law by offering you a full refund,  so there appears to be no need to lower your expectations there. 

The JL guarantee for large household items I linked to, does not exclude items purchased under clearance and it was not a term on the receipt I have. Therefore I think you are mistaken in your reference to ‘going beyond the letter of the law’ as they state ‘If we can't repair your item, we'll replace it with an item of equivalent specification.’.
So at the moment, I would state they are in breach of the terms of their own public guarantee.

They might be going against their wording, but that isn't the law. Giving a full refund after a year of use is above and beyond the law.

stuart_thefc said:

jon81uk said:

DiddyDavies said:

jon81uk said:

Have you tried claiming on the Neff warranty Warranty Terms and Conditions | NEFF UK (neff-home.com) says they should repair or replace.

But if it can't be repaired and a direct replacement isn't available, they state:

• We are not obliged to provide a replacement which matches the other appliances in the household. The replacement will be from the local product portfolio.

So if the OP was to try to insist that NEFF follow the warranty terms, they may end up with an appliance that is totally different in appearance to their requirements.

But a replacement appliance may be more valuable than the £375 they have been offered.
If what they have is no longer available then no action can get something that will be the same in appearance, so just need to get replacement or accept the refund. 

The value paid is not relevant to the retailer as the manufacturer has accepted responsibility for an exchange - so if we paid £375 or £1000 the net impact on JL would be £0. The model we purchased has had a slight modification, but is still available and JL are listed as a reseller.

John Lewis have offered you a refund, the maufactuerer has offered a replacement. The value of the £375 is relevant to you as that is the amount being refunded. Would you rather have £375 from JL or a replacement from Neff?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Would loss of a bargain not come in to play here.

Cost of replacement minus purchase cost (whilst accounting for a year of use)? 

stuart_thefc

jon81uk said:

stuart_thefc said:

ssparks2003 said:

stuart_thefc said:

Thanks for all your comments and points on the law.
I guess in this new world, we all have to lower our expectations of what we thought were brands that went above and beyond the letter of the law. 

As you have already been told JL are already going above and beyond the letter of the law by offering you a full refund,  so there appears to be no need to lower your expectations there. 

The JL guarantee for large household items I linked to, does not exclude items purchased under clearance and it was not a term on the receipt I have. Therefore I think you are mistaken in your reference to ‘going beyond the letter of the law’ as they state ‘If we can't repair your item, we'll replace it with an item of equivalent specification.’.
So at the moment, I would state they are in breach of the terms of their own public guarantee.

They might be going against their wording, but that isn't the law. Giving a full refund after a year of use is above and beyond the law.

stuart_thefc said:

jon81uk said:

DiddyDavies said:

jon81uk said:

Have you tried claiming on the Neff warranty Warranty Terms and Conditions | NEFF UK (neff-home.com) says they should repair or replace.

But if it can't be repaired and a direct replacement isn't available, they state:

• We are not obliged to provide a replacement which matches the other appliances in the household. The replacement will be from the local product portfolio.

So if the OP was to try to insist that NEFF follow the warranty terms, they may end up with an appliance that is totally different in appearance to their requirements.

But a replacement appliance may be more valuable than the £375 they have been offered.
If what they have is no longer available then no action can get something that will be the same in appearance, so just need to get replacement or accept the refund. 

The value paid is not relevant to the retailer as the manufacturer has accepted responsibility for an exchange - so if we paid £375 or £1000 the net impact on JL would be £0. The model we purchased has had a slight modification, but is still available and JL are listed as a reseller.

John Lewis have offered you a refund, the maufactuerer has offered a replacement. The value of the £375 is relevant to you as that is the amount being refunded. Would you rather have £375 from JL or a replacement from Neff?

Thanks Jon - all I'd like is a replacement

stuart_thefc

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Would loss of a bargain not come in to play here.

Cost of replacement minus purchase cost (whilst accounting for a year of use)? 

You are right 'a bargain' was the deal at the time as we were looking for two units to sit next to each other. Based on that purchase, we bought the matching kitchen units from IKEA to fit the fridge freezers and had them all installed.
We did not contemplate that only a year later that one of the fridge freezers would be unrepairable and need a replacement.
So our ideal solution remains replacement of a unit that is still available from NEFF, even if not 'online' with JL.
I should find out today and will update the post with the news.
Thank you all for your comments.