Is this very very minor imperfection to back of new fridge anything to worry about?

neilmcl

sourpuss2021 said:

Thank you both for your reassuring explanation!   It's the first time I've had a new fridge .

The deep freeze section of the freezer is certainly working!

Maybe too well. The optimum freezer temp should be around -18C to -20C. What is your fridge reading?

Bendy_House

neilmcl said:

sourpuss2021 said:

Thank you both for your reassuring explanation!   It's the first time I've had a new fridge .

The deep freeze section of the freezer is certainly working!

Maybe too well. The optimum freezer temp should be around -18C to -20C. What is your fridge reading?

Seemingly 2oC. That's a bit low too - unless, perhaps, it's at the very bottom of the fridge.

sourpuss2021

Thank you for your expert comments, I really appreciate it!

The fridge was reading 2c as that's what I'd set it to.  Have now gone for the 4c setting as I see that's what's recommended.

The -27c reading (actually -29c when I took it out) came from the rapid freeze drawer at the bottom of the freezer.  Just measuring the temperature of the middle drawer now.

It's a Hotpoint H5NT 811I W H 1 but I can't see on the label or paperwork what sealant it uses.

Here's another photo showing the damage.  On closer inspection it's clearly been scraped, because there is also missing paint.   

I will phone Hotpoint/AO and see if there is any chance of someone coming out and replacing the back of it, as that would seem less hassle than getting a new one up the stairs again.  Unless maybe it doesn't work like that and it's easier for them to just replace it.  

Belenus

I will phone Hotpoint/AO and see if there is any chance of someone coming out and replacing the back of it,

They won't do that.

Even if they had someone with the skills, tools and equipment, all the refrigerant would escape (it may be illegal to allow that) and it would probably cost many times the cost of a new unit to repair your unit on site.

As Section62 writes above there is a risk of latent damage that may not reveal itself until some months or even years have passed.

I would demand either a new undamaged unit or a discount plus a written guarantee that they will replace it if it fails in the area where the damage has occurred.

sourpuss2021

It's -21c in the middle section of the freezer.

Thanks for setting me straight Belenus, so I won't spend any more time in the queue to speak to Hotpoint!  I'd imagined it would be a simple matter of unscrewing and replacing!

I'm wondering if maybe the delivery guys might have accidentally bumped it on one of the concrete steps to the front door or one of the wooden stairs up into my 1st-floor flat.  I wasn't watching them too hawkishly!

They did take it out of the packaging before carrying it in.  Obviously it would have been safer leaving it unwrapped but probably they made a judgement about getting it up here.

I will call AO, my past experience has been that they are very good at sending out replacements.

GDB2222

I’m not surprised that it’s working now, but I agree with @Section62 that you should get a replacement. Or, if they will offer you a sizeable discount,  it might be worth risking it. Bear in mind that you could lose an awful lot of food if it breaks.

Am I spoiled? It never would have occurred to me to accept as new an item that had clearly had a big bash like that.

Section62

sourpuss2021 said:

I'm wondering if maybe the delivery guys might have accidentally bumped it on one of the concrete steps to the front door or one of the wooden stairs up into my 1st-floor flat.  I wasn't watching them too hawkishly!

They did take it out of the packaging before carrying it in.  Obviously it would have been safer leaving it unwrapped but probably they made a judgement about getting it up here.

On the new pictures you can clearly see 'witness marks' - possibly with paint in them - on the insulation behind the cooling radiator.

I'd suggest that is only likely to happen if the radiator was forced back into the insulation and moved around for some length of time allowing paint to be transferred.  It looks like the kind of damage I'd expect during transport, where vibration/movement causes parts to rub against each other and cause wear and/or transfer paint.

But the damage also appears to have involved quite a lot of force - so my money would be on careless handling during loading (a container/lorry).

I don't think it likely you could do that type of damage just by an accident whilst carrying it up the stairs.

Either way, I would expect the delivery people to notice that amount of damage and tell you about it.

Section62

sourpuss2021 said:

It's a Hotpoint H5NT 811I W H 1 but I can't see on the label or paperwork what sealant it uses.

The product safety data confirms it uses Iso-Butane (R600a) as the refrigerant (which is flammable).

The safety instructions also include the warning -

"WARNING: Do not damage the appliance refrigerant circuit pipes."


So if either AO or Hotpoint quibble about giving you a replacement because the damage isn't significant (in their view) then point out that the manufacturer's instructions explicitly warn about damage to the refrigerant circuit pipes - and don't specify that some amount of damage is Ok.

ashe

Okay great I will let them know. That's a good point you make about not invalidating the warranty, thank you!  There is a sticker on the front saying to phone Hotpoint for a 10 year guarantee

Just a heads up that this 10 year warranty is likely only on the compressor itself and the rest of the fridge probably only has 1 or 2 years parts and labour on the rest. pretty much all fridge freezer companies do this and its quite sneaky but the sticker probably says it in small print. 

We had an LG fridge and we had to write to AO with a template letter off Which? because we'd had LG out 6 times during the 2 year warranty but because the last time they came out was 2 months before the warranty expired they deemed it as "working as expected". We claimed it wasn't fit for purpose and AO argued it and offered us £50 "goodwill" towards LG's quote of £200 to come out and fix it for the 7th time, we stuck to our guns and got the full purchase price back less a calculated amount for wear and tear - it was bout £250 off. We had to pay £25 for an engineer to come out and write a report but he confirmed it wasn't fit for purpose. 

We then used a discount code and a cashback scheme with Samsung to get a really high end one with a 5 year warranty and all in all had to put about £200 cash towards the massively upgraded one so it worked out quite well, but moral of the story is never just trust what the sticker says, register your warranty and when buying your next one I would definitely get one with a 5 year parts and labour warranty included in the price

sourpuss2021

Thank you for your further feedback. You know a lot about fridges, Section62!

Thank you for the heads-up about warranties, ashe.

I've just spoken to AO and they are sending me a replacement fridge-freezer on Saturday!  I think I'd have regretted it if the fridge started having problems in a few years time and I'd long since spent any partial refund.

I've seen they sell a lot of their damaged stock on their eBay store so perhaps this fridge will make it there.   Although from what Section62 says, that's unlikely in this instance due to the nature of the damage...