Being charged for engineer visit

CEON44

In June this year i bought an induction hob cooker through Currys. It is a hotpoint ( whirlpool) After a couple of months i noticed one of the front “rings” was switching itself off in occasions. Not all the time but now and again. I decided to call whirlpool to ask about this. They suggested sending the engineer and arranged date. When engineer arrived he did a few tests but found no fault. I had told him it was intermittent and unlikely to happen when he was there. Any way he left with no answer to the problem. It still happens intermittently but i just ignore it. Unfortunately today though i have received a bill for £60 from whirlpool for the engineer visit. They said that because he found no fault the warranty does not cover his visit. Ive never heard if people being charged like this before and want to ask for advice here before I contact whirlpool. Any thoughts?

TadleyBaggie

What does the warranty say?

tightauldgit

It's certainly not unusual for companies to try to charge people for engineer visits where no fault is found - but I genuinely can't tell you if it's something that can be challenged, especially if they didn't make you aware of the potential to be charged before the visit. 

TELLIT01

Did you make it clear to Whirlpool that it was an intermittent fault at the time they said they would send an engineer?  It's common for a charge to be made if no fault is found.

shiraz99

It's pretty much standard practice I'm afraid. Why should they cover the cost of a call out and their diagnosis when there's no fault been found.

cmthephoenix

If they've tested it and don't believe there is a fault then it is up to you to prove there is one - video evidence or independent report will do. £60 is very cheap if there is no fault - it will probably cost Whirlpool more than that!

cymruchris

It might have been turning off as a result of an in-built safety mechanism, usually due to overheating. Was it happening when you had lots of things on the go, and multiple rings running?

Have you seen it happen since?

If you could evidence that the problem was ongoing, and could get a video of it happening, you might be able to contest the charge, but if it was doing what it was supposed to be doing, i.e. cutting out as a thermal overheat protection - then I wouldn't say it could be challenged. (Not everyone realises that induction hobs have overload cutouts)

DullGreyGuy

According to the engineer that Samsung has sent us a few times (long story) its the norm for virtually all brands but its rarely applied.

I had similar concerns with an intermittent problem with our freezer but thankfully despite the problem not presenting itself at the time of the visit the diagnostic equipment read that there was a fault.

Certainly Samsung have been very clear each time that I have to accept the charge if no fault was found, before they could directly do the bookings and the local engineer called to arrange the visit they'd repeat the no fault message. Surprised therefore that they didnt mention it to you... though appreciate its normally in the long "legal statement" that we all kind of zone out during 

CEON44

Thank you for the replies. First of all it is still happening although not frequently which is why I basically ignore it. Whirlpool did not make me aware that i would be liable to pay if no fault was found. If they had i think i would maybe have held back calling them out as i knew it was intermittent and by sods law the likelihood of showing up while an engineer was there would be zero percent. What is interest from some of the comments though is the overheating cut out. I went through the manual and see no mention of that but it may be a possibility. Whats strange is the engineer made no mention of such a thing when he was there. As for making a video that would be impossible as you would need to be standing filming literally every second you use the cooker. I will probably ring them up and see if i can work something out with them. 

TELLIT01

I think all you can do for now is make a note of any time it cuts out with as much information as possible about how many 'rings' were in use and how long it had been in use for.  You may spot a pattern which will help in a final diagnosis.  If it has to be on for a while, put it on before the engineer is due to arrive if you do have to call them out again.

cymruchris

CEON44 said:

Thank you for the replies. First of all it is still happening although not frequently which is why I basically ignore it. Whirlpool did not make me aware that i would be liable to pay if no fault was found. If they had i think i would maybe have held back calling them out as i knew it was intermittent and by sods law the likelihood of showing up while an engineer was there would be zero percent. What is interest from some of the comments though is the overheating cut out. I went through the manual and see no mention of that but it may be a possibility. Whats strange is the engineer made no mention of such a thing when he was there. As for making a video that would be impossible as you would need to be standing filming literally every second you use the cooker. I will probably ring them up and see if i can work something out with them. 

If you are absolutely sure there's no mention of a safety cut-out/overheat protection in the manual (Check it again from cover to cover) - I would write to them (better than phone to get it in writing) to ask whether the model you have does in fact have such a mechanism. If they reply with 'Yes that model does have an overheat safety cut-out' - then I'd reply with 'Why isn't it in the instructions then? And why didn't you inform me of this as a possibility prior to arranging an engineer? And why didn't the engineer know about this either?' 

If you could prove that it DID have a safety cutout for overheating, and that it wasn't mentioned anywhere in the instructions, or on the helpline calls/emails, or with the engineer - you might have a case to challenge the charge. 

No harm to ask the question and see what they reply with. 

(To be fair - even if it was in the manual - then you'd still expect someone on the helpline to know about it and put it to you as a potential cause to the problem)