Door guarantee - retailer in administration 14 March at 1:03PM edited 14 March at 1:09PM in Consumer rights 10 replies 319 views

fisnik

Hi there. I bought a new door around 3 years ago. It was just over a grand so not a small purchase. Cracks started showing on it about 6 months ago.

Contacted the company that we bought it from around 4 months ago but it appears that they don't exist anymore. I found out that they're in administration. Managed to speak to one of the administrators on the phone who said to put everything in an email. There's been no responses to the various emails. Have sent an email every month so far. A couple of months ago I contacted the manufacturer who said they have a 5 year guarantee on all their doors. The lady on the phone said that she couldn't deal with me direct and that I'd have to go through the retailer as that's who the warranty is for. When I told them that the retailer is under administration she said that they coudln't do anything about it.

I suggested that I'll try to get the administrators to pass my claim through to the manufacturer which she said that hopefully that would be okay... but I'm getting no luck with the administrators and now it's been so long that I wonder if they're even dealing with that matter anymore. I've asked several times to forward my email for my warranty claim to the manufacturer but there's been no acknowledgement at all.

Do I have any other avenues that I can go throough? An omdusmen or anything? Shouldn't the manufacturer accept that the retailer doesn't exist and deal directly with me? All I have is an invoice for my purchase as everything was done online and through email. So I don't have a warranty/guarantee certificate as such although the manufacturer brochure online states 10 year gurantee on their doors.

Aylesbury_Duck

fisnik said:

Hi there. I bought a new door around 3 years ago. It was just over a grand so not a small purchase. Cracks started showing on it about 6 months ago.

Contacted the company that we bought it from around 4 months ago but it appears that they don't exist anymore. I found out that they're in administration. Managed to speak to one of the administrators on the phone who said to put everything in an email. There's been no responses to the various emails. Have sent an email every month so far. A couple of months ago I contacted the manufacturer who said they have a 5 year guarantee on all their doors. The lady on the phone said that she couldn't deal with me direct and that I'd have to go through the retailer as that's who the warranty is for. When I told them that the retailer is under administration she said that they coudln't do anything about it.

I suggested that I'll try to get the administrators to pass my claim through to the manufacturer which she said that hopefully that would be okay... but I'm getting no luck with the administrators and now it's been so long that I wonder if they're even dealing with that matter anymore. I've asked several times to forward my email for my warranty claim to the manufacturer but there's been no acknowledgement at all.

Do I have any other avenues that I can go throough? An omdusmen or anything? Shouldn't the manufacturer accept that the retailer doesn't exist and deal directly with me? All I have is an invoice for my purchase as everything was done online and through email. So I don't have a warranty/guarantee certificate as such although the manufacturer brochure online states 10 year gurantee on their doors.

That looks like the problem.  There's no automatic obligation on the manufacturer to assume responsibility if the retailer goes out of business unless that's the terms of the guarantee.

What the manufacturer brochure states online is almost certainly irrelevant.  It might apply to direct sales from manufacturer to customer, or be a new policy (it's 10 years whereas yours was a 5 year warranty).

As I see it, you're reliant upon goodwill from the manufacturer or hope that the administrators are able to help.

lincroft1710

I would doubt that a warranty claim would be high priority for an administrator.

born_again

Did you get any warranty paperwork?

As some are insurance based, & others are simply a retailer/manufacture backed schemes.

fisnik

No. I don't have any guarantee paperwork. Just the invoice sent to my email. I may try phoning the manufacturer again to see if they can do something.

macman

You have no contractual relationship with the manufacturer, so there is no way that the administrators are going to be able to assist you with this. As above, you are dependent on any warranty offered by the manufacturer and must deal with them direct. 

fisnik

Yep, I feared as much. I'll see what the manufacturer says but I'm not holding any hope. Seems consumer law is a bit lacking here as you end falling through the cracks through no fault of your own.

Aylesbury_Duck

fisnik said:

Yep, I feared as much. I'll see what the manufacturer says but I'm not holding any hope. Seems consumer law is a bit lacking here as you end falling through the cracks through no fault of your own.

I don't think it is.  This isn't a consumer law matter.  Warranties and guarantees aren't the same as consumer rights, so a manufacturer/supplier/retailer is free to deploy them as they wish (as long as they're fair, reasonable, etc).  They cannot detract from your consumer rights.  That your warranty route appears closed is not the fault of consumer laws.

You have consumer rights against the retailer, but they've gone out of business.  If you paid by credit card or finance product, you may have a route to resolution through consumer rights, but you'll have to have the door inspected and the fault diagnosed.  If it were shown that there's an inherent problem with it, the finance provider is jointly liable with the retailer.

diystarter7

Hi OP

Sorry about that but it happens. Therefore, a small heads up to those that read this thread, my post, get an insurance-backed guarantee that covers outfits going under.

OP, I hope it is sorted.

Good luck

DullGreyGuy

fisnik said:

Yep, I feared as much. I'll see what the manufacturer says but I'm not holding any hope. Seems consumer law is a bit lacking here as you end falling through the cracks through no fault of your own.

Its intentionally lacking as what would the alternatives be? A requirement that all shops hold insurance that covers their statutory obligations in the event of insolvency? A quasi-governmental fund to do the same like the FSCS for banks? Both would notably raise prices as its ultimately consumers that will be paying for it. 

Doing anything with the manufacturers is going to be exceptionally weak given what proportion of goods are manufactured in the UK and the difficulty of enforcing UK law on non-UK companies and collecting the debt even if you can enforce it. 

Robbo66

Was a double glazed /composite style door if so was the company FENSA registered?

With a FENSA fitter, you get the option of a 5-10 year insurance backed guarantee on every installation. if the installation company ceases to trade, the policy underwriters will consider claims under the terms of the original guarantee for the remaining period.