Oven comes on, fan works and heats up but then fan cuts out

marywooyeah

Hi 
I hope someone may be able to help please.  Basically my oven heats up and the fan comes on, it runs for about 15/20/25 mins then the fan cuts out and the heat drops or perhaps vice versa I'm not entirely sure.  Food is not cooking properly and we have been for weeks without an oven now.
I paid National Applicance Care £72 to come out to look and my mum let the guy in as I was at work.  He said they couldn't replicate the fault but there was a split in the door seal so that needed replacing as it was allowing heat to escape and was causing the fault.  I was skeptical as the seal has been like that for about two and a half years.  They returned 16 days later having charged me £50 for a new door seal, I told the guy again I didn't believe it was the door seal and he turned the oven on for a minute, watched it boot up, turned it off, unscrewed the back and said they could quote for a new fan motor but it might not fix the problem.  I said I wasn't happy, I have two kids and am a single parent so I don't have money to spare and didn't see how the problem could be the door seal.  He told me to leave it running for 1.5hrs with no food in it and call the office if there was a problem.  I said I knew as soon as he left if I left it running it would cut out again but he turned on his heel, walked off and left the front door open.  He spoke over me and interrupted me repeatedly during his visit.  Unsurprisingly the same thing happened when I tried to use the oven.  I got a quote text to me that night for £79 for a motor which they are telling me may not even fix the fault.  Surely if the motor was faulty the fan wouldn't work at all?

I called the office this morning and their solution was to send the guy back out to turn the oven on and wait until it cuts out.  Which is what he should have done both times but didn't.  They said they can order the motor with no guarantee it will work and told me that the door seal "was never going to fix the problem and that I had chosen to order it" when really they had told me it was required so I had ordered it on their recommendation.  The woman spoke over me and interrupted me a lot too, put the phone down on me twice despite me making it clear that I have anxiety and was finding it difficult to be on the phone to them, and said that I can't have a refund and all they will do is send someone out and order this part.  I don't want to deal with them anymore as they have been out twice, failed to find the problem, charged me an extortionate amount of money for a rubber seal which they are now saying I didn't need, spoken to me badly, upset me and put the phone down on me.

I don't know what to do, how to get this £120 back and I still have a broken oven.  I have tried calling back but everytime I call they just cut the call off.  I'd be grateful if someone has any idea what the problem could be or how I can get my money back.  I already tried the bank but they won't raise it as a dispute because the guy came out and the part came.  They told me to try trading standards so I will call them and I have left google and trip advisor reviews.

Thanks in advance

Sandtree

Whats the make and model? How old is it?
Have you put a oven thermometer into the oven and tracked temperature over an extended time? After the 15 minutes and the fan having stopped does the temp slowly drop to ambient or does it hold at some other temp/osculate around a certain temp? 

marywooyeah

Hello
Thank you for your response.  
It is an AEG Competence oven.  It was here with the house when I bought it 6 years ago.  I don't have an oven thermometer unfortunately.  I put it on earlier and monitored it - it worked for 30 mins before cutting out, the temperature dropped and was slightly warn athe fan went off.  After about 20 minutes it came back on and finished cooking the food - both the temperature went back up (200 degrees) and the fan came back on.  It seems to be that it works fine for a varied amount of time, cuts off then comes back on eventually but the lights etc still work so it's not that the power goes off.
I hope that makes sense, thank you 

Emmia

Does the oven have a non-fan setting? 
Does this work in order to cook food reliably & could you use that in the interim?

I'm wondering if it is the thermostat on the oven which is on it's way out? If it's that you'll probably have the same issue in a non-fan mode.

marywooyeah

Hi
I have put it on the grill setting and it heated up - after about 20 mins it didn't seem as warm but I can't tell conclusively - just waved my hand inside and it didn't seem as warm.  Don't know if this helps at all?
Thanks in advance

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Mary.

"I paid National Appliance Care £72". What was this for - a fixed-price repair? Or was it the bill for the oven door seal?

To be 'fair' to NAC, a fault that doesn't actually manifest itself or is intermittent, is very hard to repair. In fact, it's usually pretty much pointless even trying - unless you have the luxury of time. But then, to be fair to the rest of mankind, trying to blame a leaky door seal is nuts, and was never going to be the issue; you are owed that money back at least (unless you quite like the new door seal...)

Anyhoo, if it was a 'fixed-price' repair, then they still should be fixing it; it shouldn't cost you an extra penny. If it was simply a 'bill' for the door seal, then you have grounds for complaining.

I guess the thing to do is to find a repair co that does offer a fixed-price repair. This is AEG's own, I think: https://www.serviceforce.co.uk/aeg-repairs/oven-hob-repairs/?out_of_warranty=1 Give them the symptoms and let them give you a quote.

You make a few references to NAC's repair fellow and telephone staff 'speaking over you and interrupting you' - I wonder if there's perhaps some element of your anxiety coming across in a way that they find hard to communicate with? Could they, too, find you are speaking over them and interrupting them, so they unhelpfully respond by doing the same - trying to get their point across?

What to do? I don't think I'd allow NAC any more time on this; I've never impressed by a 'replace it and see' policy' unless they agree to only charge for the part that actually does fix it!

I'd call AEG above, and see if it's fixed-price. If so, go for it. If not, go on your local Facebook page and ask for recommendations for an appliance repair fellow. When you call either up, explain the symptoms clearly - that it's intermittent, and will likely take a while to appear.

Sandtree

You can get a thermostate for a couple of quid, maybe less, and it would be worth double checking whats happening to the temp. Similar test it in conventional mode if you can turn the fan off.

When the fan came back on did you leave it for another hour or such to make sure it doesnt go off again?

marywooyeah

Hello both - JC I'm very mindful of only speaking when the other person has finished talking so I don't interrupt or interject over people speaking and if someone does it to me I stop speaking immediately, allow them to finish but then point out that they have done so.  I think it's a combination of my anxiety and tbh just basic mannners.
I'm really not happy with their approach and how I have been treated, I feel ripped off at having been charged 50 for the door seal with them having said it was required but then afterwards saying it never would have fixed it.
I think I may have to order a thermostat online and see if a handyman can fit it - I've already lost £120 now when things are tight anyway so I can't really afford anything else.

Sandtree - I left it for about half an hour or so I think - I was worried about generating a big electricity bill by keep doing it

Laz123

I had a similar problem but when the technician came it was working so couldn't fix the problem. After a long time of to-ing and fro-ing it turned out to be a loose wire connection at the back which the vibration of the fan sometimes made the wire not connect properly.

Jeepers_Creepers

marywooyeah said:

Hello both - JC I'm very mindful of only speaking when the other person has finished talking so I don't interrupt or interject over people speaking and if someone does it to me I stop speaking immediately, allow them to finish but then point out that they have done so.  I think it's a combination of my anxiety and tbh just basic mannners.
I'm really not happy with their approach and how I have been treated, I feel ripped off at having been charged 50 for the door seal with them having said it was required but then afterwards saying it never would have fixed it.
I think I may have to order a thermostat online and see if a handyman can fit it - I've already lost £120 now when things are tight anyway so I can't really afford anything else.

Sandtree - I left it for about half an hour or so I think - I was worried about generating a big electricity bill by keep doing it

In which case, you have been treated very badly - as well as paid out for a part that simply would not have fixed your oven.

Ah, the £120 was their £72 call-out charge, and £50 for the part? They haven't fixed it, though, and couldn't have with that part, so I believe you are entitled to a significant refund. It might get tricky if they claim they simply couldn't replicate the actual fault, so it was a 'wasted' trip for them - but you are still liable for it (I had this with a 'fixed-price boiler repair recently - they judged a repair not 'cost-effective', but they still pocketed the £95 call-out part of the charge... They coughed up after a few emails.)

When you called them out - was it on a 'fixed-price repair' service, or just 'come out and fix it'? If the former, they still should fix it. If the latter, you really don't want to see them again (that guy was not competent), but you still want the vast bulk (perhaps all, for the nuisance...) of that £120 back. Start composing an email - use CAB's website for templates. They did not provide the service you asked of them, etc etc.

Meanwhile, I suggest either a local appliance repair fellow (if they come with a solid recommendation), or else a 'fixed price repair' like what I hope AEG provide above.

Sandtree

marywooyeah said:

Sandtree - I left it for about half an hour or so I think - I was worried about generating a big electricity bill by keep doing it

So save doing until you have a thermometer to really see whats going on.

Most ovens are 3kw so even at a moderately high unit charge of 18p per kw/hr it means running the oven at max for an hour is 54p, running it at below max obviously less.