Reasonable length of time?

Manxman_in_exile

hangryconsumer said:

kaMelo, your response is exactly why poor people stay poor. Cheap machines don't last as long. What is the definition of a "cheap machine" that you have described as "almost a disposable item". Planned obsolescence.

I'm getting ZERO joy at this situation. I joined this forum to get help with the Consumer Rights Act, which turns out to be useless, and here I am weeks later, still without a washing machine.

I contacted a company called RANSOM SPARES more than 48 hours ago and they have not responded to my request re: the carbon brushes for sale being the correct part. Yet they seem to have many positive reviews saying that their staff were really helpful and got them the right part for their machine. Maybe I should have just ordered a new washing machine straight away, you're right, but it's too late now since I've travelled down this horrible path of trying to fix things and not send another thing to landfill, so what's your advice right now at this precise moment? Give up and just order a new machine?

Both the first and second responses to this thread pretty much explained how the Consumer Rights Act works in this sort of situation.

Any statutory rights you have lie against the retailer and not the manufacturer.  As the w/m is over 6 months old there is no statutory presumption that it is faulty or that it is otherwise of unsatisfactory quality - you have to "prove" that there was something wrong* with the machine from the moment that you bought it.  Usually you would do this by getting an independent report from a suitably qualified engineer or other expert that this was the case.  (Although I don't think the legislation specifically requires such a report - just that you must show that it was "faulty" from the outset*.)  If you are successful you should be able to recover the cost of the report from the retailer.

I'm not certain I understand whether you still want to try to pursue your statutory rights against the retailer or whether you've decided to fix it yourself or pay to get it repaired?  If you want to pursue the retailer you have to make sure that you make it perfectly clear to them that you are exercising your statutory rights - otherwise they'll likely fob you off with any old tosh.

But if you just want to get it repaired and you live in the Norfolk/Suffolk area, I know a repair man who will look at it and - the last time I used him - if he can't fix it, he won't charge you.  Perhaps he could give you a report saying it was "inherently* faulty" too?

And what are the answers to the questions just asked by @the_lunatic_is_in_my_head


*the phrases "wrong from the moment of purchase" and "inherently faulty" are simplifications of the actual legislation, but they'll suffice for these purposes.