Who is responsible for repair/replacement of my fridge/freezer?

frenchygirl123

I purchased a fridge freezer from AO.com on 12/1/20. On 1/6/21 it stopped working. I contacted AO and the put me through to 0800repairs (dont get me started on them!). They said that they would repair it as an act of goodwill. To cut a long story short, an engineer came out and said that a part needed to be ordered.  The next visit was arranged and cancelled 3 times stating that the part was not in stock. I quoted Consumer Rights etc to AO and 0800 and they would not budge. AO eventually gave £150 towards and insurance policy with D&G. D&G engineer (subcontractor) came out. Diagnosed problem and ordered parts.  When the parts arrived he came back and tried to regas the unit. To do this, he needed to cut the gas pipe which left it too short for the generator to connect.  He said to claim from D&G policy. I tried this and they have said that the policy is cancelled and they have refunded any money paid as it was deemed unrepairable on first  visit (ie his second visit to fit the part).  This means that the policy is invalid.  I have a fridge freezer which is totally unusable due to the pipe being cut (before the fridge part was working) and no company will accept liability for replacement.  Its only just over a year old, and I have been without it since June! Please advise me of my next steps.

pinkshoes

Your contract is with AO.

Go back to them and tell them that their repair has failed so you would now like a replacement or a partial refund.

Read up on the 2015 Consumer Rights Act

macman

Who is the manufacturer? How long is the manufacturer's warranty? If one year, it's out of warranty. If two year (as many are) then it's still in warranty and you can go via their warranty.
It's not 'just over a year old', it's about 19 months old.
AO's responsibility is limited to your statutory rights under CRA 2015. I doubt you'll get anywhere based on the attempted goodwill repair, as they were under no obligation to offer that after 18m.
I suspect your only option (if the manufacturer's warranty has expired) is to get an engineer's report and then pursue a claim under CRA 2015.

frenchygirl123

At the time of the fault being reported the appliance was 17 months old. It wasn't ao who offered a goodwill repair. I will be pursuing a claim as I don't believe a £500 item should break down within this time   thank you for your response

macman

This makes no sense. Why would 0800 Repairs offer a 'goodwill repair' on an appliance, unless appointed and authorised by AO? They are an independent service agent. AO would be ultimately paying for the repair.
You still haven't stated who the manufacturer is and how long their warranty is?
Subject to this, you'll need to get an engineer's report (at your expense) and pursue a claim under CRA 2015 to prove a pre-existing fault. However, I'd start with an LBA to AO: if you convince them that you are serious with you intention to take this to Small Claims, they may well cave in, as the cost of defending it will be vastly more than the cost of replacement.

frenchygirl123

0800 are the manufacturer repair agent. The item is fridge master and warranty was 12 months

macman

Right, so the manufacturer granted you a goodwill repair because the item was 5m out of warranty. That route hasn't worked, so your only recourse now is to pursue a claim with AO under CRA 2015, since your contract is with them. You have no contract with Fridgemaster or 0800, so no remedy with them.

Manxman_in_exile

So as the OP contacted AO in the first place, and it was AO who referred the OP to 0800repair, does that count as AO's first opportunity to repair (which failed), so OP can now simply claim a partial refund from AO without further messing about?

macman

Manxman_in_exile said:

So as the OP contacted AO in the first place, and it was AO who referred the OP to 0800repair, does that count as AO's first opportunity to repair (which failed), so OP can now simply claim a partial refund from AO without further messing about?

I doubt it. 0800 offered the repair under the authority of Fridgemaster, as their authorised service agent. Not under the authority of AO, as far as we can tell. So that comes under the manufacturer and their goodwill. Nothing to do with AO or CRA 2015.
This is the usual tactic retailers use, to divert the claims straight to the manufacturers so that they avoid the costs of admin in carrying out a repair or replacement, even though it's them that are contractually liable.
I'd proceed straight to an LBA, 14 days notice, which should at least mean that the complaint gets elevated to a level where someone has the authority to resolve it by authorising a replacement or refund.

frenchygirl123

Lba? Sorry I don't know what that means

pinkshoes

frenchygirl123 said:

Lba? Sorry I don't know what that means

Letter before Action. Google for a template. Basically giving them a deadline by when you want X doing, otherwise you will take them to court.