Out of warranty washing machine damaged property help!!

tommyboy92

Hi all

Looking for some advice before I contact the retailer. 

I have a 15 month old washing machine that has recently been leaking from the back inlet hose. The leak has gone under our laminate and gone un noticed until the damage was too far gone. 

Since pulling out the machine the inlet hose has collapsed inside the machine rendering it faulty. 

So my question is, is the retailer still liable to fix property damage under CRA when I quote it?

thank you 

knightstyle

IMO the retailer is not liable, it is one for your insurance to fix.  But I am not an expert.

molerat

What do you mean by "collapsed inside the machine" ?  The only reason machines normally leak is if the inlet is not screwed on properly.  If the inlet fitting is damaged it is possible it has been pushed hard against the wall - is there a mark on the wall ?

tommyboy92

Yeah we tried the insurance company and they say it is not covered (always the case). 

Where the inlet connection is usually rigid it has become loose. So it moves around in the housing. There isn’t any marks on the wall so it doesn’t appear to have knocked into anything. And it has been tight on for 15 months, do you not think this would class as a manufacturing defect then? 

flashg67

Possibly a defect but you might need an independent report to prove it and then the retailer can deduct an allowance for the use you've had from ny remedy they might come up with. If it is there fault, I can't see them covering consequuential damage without taking them to small claims. It is unusual for this to happen - never seen it myself over many washers I've owned - is there a chance it's been overtightened?

Aylesbury_Duck

Who installed the machine?  It's almost certainly a fault with the installation, rather than a fault of the machine itself.  I suspect the water connection was either cross-threaded, the washer was missing or pinched, or movement of the machine has "walked" or vibrated it sufficiently to flex the hose enough over time that it's eventually split. My money's on the last of those, the collapsing inlet being the tell-tale sign.  I reckon it's been too close to the back wall, and it's vibrated sufficiently over 15 months to have caused the hose to split or the inlet housing to have been broken.

If the machine or hose were inherently faulty, the leak would have occurred much earlier.

Two more questions: Was it properly levelled when installed, and were the transit bolts removed.  If the answer to either of those is "no", then it's definitely a vibration-related failure.

deannagone

Did you see it being installed?  Or do it yourself?  Without looking at it I'd also be wondering if the inlet hose was an old one rather than a new one.