Being charged for engineer visit

diystarter7

Hi OP

I've had similar years ago but not to a hob/etc but a car.

Every so often this pre-owned sports car we bought, which was just over three years old, would not start, not make any noise whatsoever when turning the key - but it only happened here and there and when it was cold or hot. I told the garage that car would restart after a few and more attempts but it took 5 mins or so when it happened and it was soooooooooo disconcerting
and worrying. The car came with a years fully warranty and i was aware re diagnosis having to pay if not fault found so i recorded the events x 2 over three weeks. Took the car in and they wanted payment, I reminded them re the intermittent fault and they wanted to keep the car overnight - I told them to get real so they wanted to keep it for few days - i said ok and they gave me an almost brand new courtesey car .

They said they did not manage to replicate the fault and told me the cost, I said no and showed them the video, so they agreed no cost.

Then it happend again - they took the car in and another mechanic had a look, their "senior mechanic" -  he actually rang around a couple of their bigger dealers and noted it was some faulty switch/relay they changed it and it has never happened again.

OP, next time record the fault/s, tell them you won't pay if they can't replicate the fault and if they agree take the person name that agreed it and time and date of call. 

powerful_Rogue

CEON44 said:

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?

Consumer rights are with Currys, Warranty with Hotpoint.

Just for future reference.

CEON44

cymruchris said:

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)

Great advice. Thanks. Will do that

pinkshoes

CEON44 said:

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. 

When you say it switches itself off, had anything moist been spilt on it from a pan that was wiped? Or was the pan light? Some have pressure sensors that turn off if the pan feels empty and others turn off when being wiped! I have one and it sometimes turns itself off if I boil a pan over (easily done on the high setting!) then wipe the water up. It doesn't like it!

It's annoying as I have to wait about 30 seconds to be able to turn it on again!

Robbo66

it could be that the quality of the pan isnt one suitable for induction hobs so loses the magnetic connect and the hob then switches off. The best pans for Induction hobs are the ones with a high ferrous metal content. The cheap ones do work but will sometimes experience the issue you have

CEON44

Robbo66 said:

it could be that the quality of the pan isnt one suitable for induction hobs so loses the magnetic connect and the hob then switches off. The best pans for Induction hobs are the ones with a high ferrous metal content. The cheap ones do work but will sometimes experience the issue you have

Yes. Thats true but i did buy new pots and pans that are suitable and well recommended 

CEON44

Update:  i did contact Whirlpool about this. Explained my unhappiness about a charge i wasnt told about. I also explained that the fault although intermittent was still happening on occasions. To be fair first thing she mentioned was a safety cut out when heat is too high. I told her that this us 100% not mentioned in manual nor did engineer mention it as possibly the problem. Anyway she insisted that payment of £60 was due to be paid. The only way she would waiver this was if i took out an extended warranty. So then the penny dropped. “ we will waive your fee if you take out warranty”. So pay £60 now for nothing or pay £4.30 per month ( cancel at any time). So i jumped into the trap. At least Im better covered now and it will give me about 15 months to match the £60. 

Flight3287462

We have had an induction range for 11-12 years and every now and again one of the hobs will take a wee holiday so we use another and inevitably the next time we use it is fine again.

Have never quite got to the stage of thinking we need an engineer (apart from maybe the first time, happens 2-3 times a year so not a big issue)

ElefantEd

CEON44 said:

Update:  i did contact Whirlpool about this. Explained my unhappiness about a charge i wasnt told about. I also explained that the fault although intermittent was still happening on occasions. To be fair first thing she mentioned was a safety cut out when heat is too high. I told her that this us 100% not mentioned in manual nor did engineer mention it as possibly the problem. Anyway she insisted that payment of £60 was due to be paid. The only way she would waiver this was if i took out an extended warranty. So then the penny dropped. “ we will waive your fee if you take out warranty”. So pay £60 now for nothing or pay £4.30 per month ( cancel at any time). So i jumped into the trap. At least Im better covered now and it will give me about 15 months to match the £60. 

Why not just cancel now and then it's only cost you £4.30? Though I suppose you are assuming you'll need to call them out again.

diystarter7

ElefantEd said:

CEON44 said:

Update:  i did contact Whirlpool about this. Explained my unhappiness about a charge i wasnt told about. I also explained that the fault although intermittent was still happening on occasions. To be fair first thing she mentioned was a safety cut out when heat is too high. I told her that this us 100% not mentioned in manual nor did engineer mention it as possibly the problem. Anyway she insisted that payment of £60 was due to be paid. The only way she would waiver this was if i took out an extended warranty. So then the penny dropped. “ we will waive your fee if you take out warranty”. So pay £60 now for nothing or pay £4.30 per month ( cancel at any time). So i jumped into the trap. At least Im better covered now and it will give me about 15 months to match the £60. 

Why not just cancel now and then it's only cost you £4.30? Though I suppose you are assuming you'll need to call them out again.

Hi
Ditto. I was going to say the same as i read op's post,
thanks