Asda (George) - Outdoor Furniture issue (Warranty)

John_Jizzle

Hi all, 

I bought an outdoor table and chairs last year from Asda online (£120). Yesterday the glass table just exploded in the sun (wasn't even that hot). I spoke to Asda but its now out of the 12 month warranty (was purchased Feb 21) so they said they won't do anything about it.

Is there anything I can do about it - or just give it up and buy another...... from somewhere else. I paid on paypal (so I think it's now also out of that window)

thanks

Ergates

In theory yes.   Consume Rights Act says that items should be of reasonable quality and reasonable durability - and breaking after 16 months doesn't meet those requirements.   However, as the table is over 6 months old, Asda can ask that you provide evidence that the fault is down to a manufacturing defect rather than accidental damage or misuse - and getting that might prove challenging.

John_Jizzle

Thanks for the reply - they have come back and offered £10......

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Have you emailed the CEO office? (just Google "ceo email asda" it should be the top result), they might offer you more goodwill if you didn't fancy going down the route of showing the table had an issue  

TELLIT01

There can be problems with glass tables when strong sun follows rain, and the table hasn't been dried off.  The blobs of rain effectively concentrate the suns rays onto a small area, like a magnifying glass, and the intense heat causes the glass to explode.

Ergates

The other problem with glass tables (or anything else made of toughened glass) is that they can receive accidental damage over time that doesn't cause any visible mark, but causes microscopic fractures and weaknesses in the structure of the glass.  Once these have built up to a certain level, the glass can be shattered by some tiny triggering event that wouldn't normally cause a table to break (e.g. someone putting a cup down on it), or a relatively gentle heating/cooling event (like here - the sun shines on it), or sometimes just nothing at all.

The other thing that can happen is there can be tiny imperfections/contaminants in the glass that slowly expand over time.  Once again, when these reach a certain level the glass can suddenly shatter with the slightest of touches, or just spontaneously.

If the shattering was down to a build of minor knocks over time - is that a manufacturing defect, or is that accidental damage?   If it's a result of microscopic contaminants, then in theory that would be detectable - but the cost of getting it tested would be significantly more than the cost of the table.

jon81uk

John_Jizzle said:

Thanks for the reply - they have come back and offered £10......

Given the original price thats not an awful offer, you could try and get them up to £20.

Its not going to cover the cost of replacement glass I expect as getting something made to order in the UK would be very different to the original likely made in China.