Mini fridge not cold enough, manufacturer test states instead that my unit is very cold, what now?

erik85

Hi all, 

I bought a mini fridge off Amazon, now a little bit more than six months ago.
The fridge is not from one of the known big manufacturers, but my understanding is that it is an established manufacturer in the niche of mini/beer/wine fridges.
The fridge looks well built and the price reflects that (180 or 200 quid if I remember correctly).
Also, to be noted that it is a proper fridge with a compressor and the spec says that the temperature range is 3°C to 18°C (+/- 2°C). In my mind I should therefore expect to achieve at least 5C in a room with a normal temperature of 19C.

At first temperatures were indeed good, at most I could indeed achieve 5C, which was fine. However few months in the temperature started to climb and it reached a point when it was averaging 11C.
Steps I have taken: increased or decreased the load in the fridge to create more cold mass / improve air circulation. No change.
Tinkered with the settings, no sensible change.
Checked my standalone thermometer was actually functioning correctly by placing it in our kitchen fridge, it recorded 3C as per fridge setting.
Nevertheless what instruments were reporting, the temperature difference between contents of the mini fridge and contents in our main fridge was quite sensible.

At this point I contacted the manufacturer (five months after purchase), they were opposing at first, then I quoted the 2015 consumer right act and they agreed to have the fridge delivered back to them for inspection.
They ran a test (which they sent me via PDF) where a probe logged temperatures every 2 minutes for a period of 3 days.
The interesting facts here is that temperatures were averaging  -0.8C and oscillating between a minimum of -2C and a maximum of 0.1C, i.e. 4C less than the minimum operating temperature of the fridge as stated on their technical sheet.

Also the log reports that when the fridge was turned on, there was a decline in temperature of more than 16C (from 17.2C to to 0.7C) in 20 minutes; when I first bought the fridge it had been a matter of hours before the device reached operating temperature.

I obviously know nothing about the environment temperature of where their test was run (it could be they were testing it in an un-heated environment like a warehouse) and of course I don't know if they filled the fridge with ice packs (which is what I am maliciously thinking seeing the sudden drop in temperature after switching it on and the ridiculous sub-zero temperatures it logged throughout the test).

Based on the PDF log, their engineers deems that the fridge is fully functioning and they want to sent it back.

What are now my rights, considering I logged the problem with them first five months after buying the fridge and we are now standing at seven months post purchase date?

From my point of view, I definitely don't want to receive the unit back as I know it is under performing; I would be not so happy to receive a new unit (as there are quite some bad reviews on Amazon stating the same problem) and my ideal resolution would be to receive my money back and look elsewhere for a mini fridge.

Thanks

JJ_Egan

Consumer Rights act  apply to the vendor not the manufacturer .

Who did you actually buy from .

If you are claiming against the vendor under CR then you would need to prove your assertions via an independent report .

jimbo6977

Where you had installed it, did the unit have enough space around it for the warm air to escape?

erik85

JJ_Egan said:

Consumer Rights act  apply to the vendor not the manufacturer .

Who did you actually buy from .

If you are claiming against the vendor under CR then you would need to prove your assertions via an independent report .

The vendor is Amazon. So how do I get an independent report? I would need to look for a professional fridge engineer perhaps? I can imagine the costs for having him/her over and produce the report would be on me and would not be refunded even if the fridge is deemed unsatisfactory? Also, am I right in thinking that as we are now 7 months later than when the unit was purchased, if the report deems the unit unsatisfactory, I probably wouldn't get the total amount I paid for?

erik85

jimbo6977 said:

Where you had installed it, did the unit have enough space around it for the warm air to escape?

jimbo6977 said:

Where you had installed it, did the unit have enough space around it for the warm air to escape?

Yes it definitely had, it was installed along an empty wall in actually the coldest bedroom of the house

Undervalued

erik85 said:

JJ_Egan said:

Consumer Rights act  apply to the vendor not the manufacturer .

Who did you actually buy from .

If you are claiming against the vendor under CR then you would need to prove your assertions via an independent report .

The vendor is Amazon. So how do I get an independent report? I would need to look for a professional fridge engineer perhaps? I can imagine the costs for having him/her over and produce the report would be on me and would not be refunded even if the fridge is deemed unsatisfactory? Also, am I right in thinking that as we are now 7 months later than when the unit was purchased, if the report deems the unit unsatisfactory, I probably wouldn't get the total amount I paid for?

No. If the report finds that the item is faulty then the seller will have to reimburse you for the reasonable cost of the report in addition to properly repairing the fridge.

However, if the report finds that there is nothing wrong with the fridge, or that it has been damaged due to misuse etc, then the cost of the report (and any repair) is down to you.

Alderbank

Erik, when you ran your test at home can you remember how much the motor was running?
You say that the fridge ran at 11C which means it was cooling a little from ambient of say 15C but was above the set temp.
I would expect the motor to run 10-30% of the time. Was it running continuously or hardly at all? These indicate different kinds of fault.

JJ_Egan

I wonder if the room was to cold .(Yes it definitely had, it was installed along an empty wall in actually the coldest bedroom of the house )

Manufacturer says nothing wrong , why on earth would they falsify the result .

If the manufacture has tested then its likely that an independent report would come to the same conclusion .

Aylesbury_Duck

Seems to me that either the problem has fixed itself in transit between you and them, or it's something to do with the location you're running the unit in.  As JJ_Egan wonders, is the place you're using it too cold?  For example, I have an old fridge-freezer I keep in the garage and use as an extra freezer when needed, but I can't use it in very cold periods because the thermostat is in the fridge section and therefore, a frosty night means the compressor never comes on and the freezer defrosts.  

My money's on a partial blockage in the coolant system that's been dislodged in transit, meaning the fridge now operates properly.

erik85

The room is the coldest bedroom of the house, which therefore will be between 18 to 19 degrees.

MattMattMattUK

Third vote for the room it was in possibly being too cold. I think the minimum room temperature for most fridges and freezers is 10-12C, although some Beko ones do go down to -15c.