Zanussi Fridge Repair - Breach of Contract?

EP

Hello,

This is re a failed fridge repair of a Zanussi fridge.

Fridge is circa 5 years old.

We went for a “FIXED PRICE REPAIR” with Zanussi:

https://www.zanussi.co.uk/support/repairs/

Max cost £135.

What happened:

• Initial repair (thermostat + re-gassed) unsuccessful
• Second visit – engineer considered unrepairable

Contacted Zanussi (part of Electrolux) first by phone to ask whether we could have a refund of the £135. Phone response was “you should get a full refund”.

Then contacted them by email to get this in writing and the response was as below:

"Morning.

Thank you for your email.

If on the rare occasion we could not repair your appliance we would not refund you the £135, however we would contribute £75 towards a replacement if that was purchased directly from us.

Kind Regards,

Aftermarket Sales Team" 

Contract was for repair of the fridge at a cost of £135, which was not carried out. The offer of a discount is a side issue.

Can we get a refund - under breach of contract? Or chargeback/s75 claim?

p3ncilsharpener

No.  The terms and conditions are quite clear.

1. What if my appliance cannot be repaired?

1. If your appliance is deemed repairable, but we cannot complete this within 14 days of our first visit and you decide not to continue with the repair, we will refund the price of the repair less the Call Out fee.

2. If we deem your appliance to be beyond economical repair, we will offer you a £75 (inc. VAT) discount off a new appliance when purchased directly from us through our Contact Centre.

A poorly paid CS rep misinforming you about a refund is just a mistake and doesn't form part of the contract.

EP

Thanks for the reply.

But it doesn't mention the question of a refund. The £75 could be compensation for being without a fridge - in our case 6 weeks as they cancelled appointments etc.
 
Per section 4:

4. What is included in a Fixed Price Repair

1. The price of the Services includes the following:

1.a repair of a single fault for a single domestic appliance;

2.the costs of necessary labour and parts (up to a maximum of £500)

"Repair of a single fault" - not performed.

Does this mean if I take my car to a garage and ask them to repair a fault and they don't, I would be liable to pay for all the time and other costs etc they incur? What is the statute to refer to? I will check it out for future reference...

Rgds.

user1977

EP said:

Does this mean if I take my car to a garage and ask them to repair a fault and they don't, I would be liable to pay for all the time and other costs etc they incur? 

Yes, if the result of their work is discovering that it's impossible or not economic to do the repair. So I would expect the same principle to apply to the fridge.

Sandtree

EP said:

Can we get a refund - under breach of contract? Or chargeback/s75 claim?

What part of the contract have they breached?
Chargeback/S75 requires a breach of contract though under a chargeback the tests are often relatively light but they are not a binding decision

The contact centre operative did give you the wrong advice but it appears that you haven't taken any action as a consequence of that advice and therefore it hasn't resulted in you having sustained any losses... if you'd gone out and bought a new machine because you were expecting the £135 back and it would have been cheaper to buy it from Zanussi with the £75 discount then you would have an argument for the difference between the two prices. 

p3ncilsharpener

EP said:

Thanks for the reply.

But it doesn't mention the question of a refund. The £75 could be compensation for being without a fridge - in our case 6 weeks as they cancelled appointments etc.
 
Per section 4:

4. What is included in a Fixed Price Repair

1. The price of the Services includes the following:

1.a repair of a single fault for a single domestic appliance;

2.the costs of necessary labour and parts (up to a maximum of £500)

"Repair of a single fault" - not performed.

Does this mean if I take my car to a garage and ask them to repair a fault and they don't, I would be liable to pay for all the time and other costs etc they incur? What is the statute to refer to? I will check it out for future reference...

Rgds.

It doesn't mention a lot of things.  No contract is going to be exhaustive.  If there is no mention of a refund under the circumstances then the default assumption is there is no right to a refund.

EP

user1977 said:

Yes, if the result of their work is discovering that it's impossible or not economic to do the repair. So I would expect the same principle to apply to the fridge.

Contract was for "repair" not discovery of fault...

p3ncilsharpener

EP said:

user1977 said:

Yes, if the result of their work is discovering that it's impossible or not economic to do the repair. So I would expect the same principle to apply to the fridge.

Contract was for "repair" not discovery of fault...

Even the "front page" ad says

• An offer of a discounted appliance if we can't repair 

NSG666

EP said:

Contract was for "repair" not discovery of fault...

The headline offer was for a fixed price repair but the T&Cs are quite clear what happens if the appliance cannot be repaired.

EP

Sandtree said:

EP said:

Can we get a refund - under breach of contract? Or chargeback/s75 claim?

What part of the contract have they breached?

Contract was for "repair" of fridge - no one can dispute that.
Consideration was £135.
Performance of contract. Was the fridge repaired? No. They have admitted that.
Has there been a failure by one of the parties to perform their duties as stipulated by the contract? Yes - the duty was one of repair and this was not performed. (How can you fail to perform a contractual obligation and not be in breach of contract?)
I now need to be placed in the position I would have been in had the breach not occurred. This would be a full refund - not a £75 discount on a new appliance.

NSG666

EP said:

Contract was for "repair" of fridge - no one can dispute that.
Consideration was £135.
Performance of contract. Was the fridge repaired? No. They have admitted that.
Has there been a failure by one of the parties to perform their duties as stipulated by the contract? Yes - the duty was one of repair and this was not performed. (How can you fail to perform a contractual obligation and not be in breach of contract?)
I now need to be placed in the position I would have been in had the breach not occurred. This would be a full refund - not a £75 discount on a new appliance.

Small Claims Court then. Please do come back and let us know how you got on.