Consumer rights 17 October 2022 at 6:48PM edited 17 October 2022 at 6:50PM in Consumer rights 6 replies 231 views

kiwiman

Hi all.
I purchased a John Lewis fridge / freezer in March 2021. It had a 3 year warranty.
Within weeks it had managed to defrost itself. I contacted John Lewis and they told me to turn it off at the switch, wait 5 minutes and turn it on again.
This, I dutifully did and all was well until 3 weeks ago when it defrosted itself again. This time I was told to contact Haier who were the manufacturer to arrange an engineers visit and again to turn the appliance off and on again. It came on again and was working when the engineer turned up 5 days later. He advised me he would not be trace any fault while the appliance was working and if it happened again, to leave the switch alone.
Of course, 2 weeks later, it again defrosted. I arranged another visit, the first available was in eleven days and after 3 days it managed to re-boot itself. I informed Haier of this and their agent and they said they may have to charge for the visit if the appliance is working when the engineer arrived. I am at present in the ridiculous situation of hoping it defrosts again before the engineer turns up. I had no idea this appliance was manufactured by Haier as it was advertised as a John Lewis fridge/freezer. Looking at the reviews for Haier on Trustpilot, if I had known, I would certainly never had bought it.
To be fair to John Lewis, they have compensated me, [ as a goodwill gesture ] on 2 occasions to the tune of £50 for the loss of foodstuffs. I phoned them  today and they said if I can get an uplift number from Haier they will replace the appliance with one of equal value, If Haier won't give me this can anyone tell me my rights?
Thanks.

powerful_Rogue

kiwiman said:

Hi all.
I purchased a John Lewis fridge / freezer in March 2021. It had a 3 year warranty.
Within weeks it had managed to defrost itself. I contacted John Lewis and they told me to turn it off at the switch, wait 5 minutes and turn it on again.
This, I dutifully did and all was well until 3 weeks ago when it defrosted itself again. This time I was told to contact Haier who were the manufacturer to arrange an engineers visit and again to turn the appliance off and on again. It came on again and was working when the engineer turned up 5 days later. He advised me he would not be trace any fault while the appliance was working and if it happened again, to leave the switch alone.
Of course, 2 weeks later, it again defrosted. I arranged another visit, the first available was in eleven days and after 3 days it managed to re-boot itself. I informed Haier of this and their agent and they said they may have to charge for the visit if the appliance is working when the engineer arrived. I am at present in the ridiculous situation of hoping it defrosts again before the engineer turns up. I had no idea this appliance was manufactured by Haier as it was advertised as a John Lewis fridge/freezer. Looking at the reviews for Haier on Trustpilot, if I had known, I would certainly never had bought it.
To be fair to John Lewis, they have compensated me, [ as a goodwill gesture ] on 2 occasions to the tune of £50 for the loss of foodstuffs. I phoned them  today and they said if I can get an uplift number from Haier they will replace the appliance with one of equal value, If Haier won't give me this can anyone tell me my rights?
Thanks.

Independant report highlighting the issue and then present it to John Lewis. However if there is no fault when inspected, then you will be liable for the inspection fee and have no recourse.

Manxman_in_exile

Keep your fingers crossed that Haier give you an uplift number.  After three years JL are offering you more that they are legally required to if they are offering a fridge of equal value.

Point out to the Haier engineer that it obvioulsy is faulty, even if not evident on their visit, as you wouldn't keep calling them out otherwise and risk paying a call out fee.

But if Haier won't oblige you need to argue it out with JL as best you can.

mattyprice4004

Manxman_in_exile said:

Keep your fingers crossed that Haier give you an uplift number.  After three years JL are offering you more that they are legally required to if they are offering a fridge of equal value.

Point out to the Haier engineer that it obvioulsy is faulty, even if not evident on their visit, as you wouldn't keep calling them out otherwise and risk paying a call out fee.

But if Haier won't oblige you need to argue it out with JL as best you can.

3 years? It was bought in early 2021, so about half that.  

Manxman_in_exile

mattyprice4004 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

Keep your fingers crossed that Haier give you an uplift number.  After three years JL are offering you more that they are legally required to if they are offering a fridge of equal value.

Point out to the Haier engineer that it obvioulsy is faulty, even if not evident on their visit, as you wouldn't keep calling them out otherwise and risk paying a call out fee.

But if Haier won't oblige you need to argue it out with JL as best you can.

3 years? It was bought in early 2021, so about half that.  

Whoops!  

It'll depend on the terms of the 3 year warranty then.

I'd still tell the engineer it must have a fault otherwise I wouldn't keep calling them out risking being charged for it.

And if Haier won't oblige the OP needs an independent report as per @powerful_Rogue's suggestion.

But if it's a real intermittent fault and it doesn't manifest itself when it's being investigated, then the OP is sort of stuck

ThumbRemote

Film it next time it happens. Little video with commentary on your phone, showing it turned on at the socket and not working, then power cycling it and showing it starting to work after. 

If they still won't believe you, that's the proof for court. 

kiwiman

Thanks for the help.
I've been on to Haier today for the uplift number which predictably they have refused to give me.
Their engineer is due next Tuesday and they have said I will not be charged for the visit.
They have said, they will act on his report.