Hisense Fridge Freezer Failed After 13 Months

20k

Hi, we paid £949 for an American fridge freezer Hisense brand that was delivered in February 2022. In May 2022 we had an engineer out as the internal light was intermittent, and we had an issue with the door closure affecting this - the engineer said it was due to a faulty sensor, ordered a a part, then we had to wait for the second engineer to come out and review/refit the sensor. The whole process took about 10-14 days to be resolved. I cannot remember the orginal fault code that appeared on the F/F.
We now have a further issue in that the fridge and freezer section are no longer cooling (resulting in us throwing out food). Error code F1.
I contacted Hisense as it has a 2 year guarantee and the same engineer to the first time came out, looked at it and stated that the sensor had failed. I asked whether this was the same sensor that we had an issue with last May (2022) and he said yes, and he would need to order a new sensor.
Needless to say I was quite annoyed as this is not a cheap item, to which he actually had the audacity to say "but it is a rubbish one"! Nethertheless....I said I was not happy that there was a major fault within 13 months of delivery, and I telephoned Argos whilst he was still in my kitchen, and they advised that I needed to post the details to them, including a copy of the engineers report. I asked the engineer to write a report, which he said he would do - needless to say this was shockingly appalling - lacking detail of the fault/his recommendation etc and stated "Customer refused the repair complaining bout the amount of times it keeps breaking down she will speak to Argos".
I have since written to Argos to ask for a replacement but yet to hear back.
I spoke to Hisense who have said because I refused the repair I have no recourse - to which I politely stated that a f/f should not fail in its cooling system after 13 months, especially since we've already had 1 call out on the item.

The advice I need is: even though it is within a 2 year guarantee; despite already having 1 call out to do with the sensor, should I be accepting yet another repair to a sensor? We have now been without a working f/f for 10 days. I feel that this is a major failure of an item, that falls under the "Unsatisfactory Quality" of an item, and so should be entitled to a replacement as it is only 13 months old and within its guarantee period?

Advice needed please, as I don't think such a major part of a f/f should fail so quickly? 
Should I obtain an independent report from an engineer?
Would you be happy with a £949 f/f failing after 13 months, resulting in the cooling/freezing system no longer working?
Would you accept a repair, or request a replacement item?
Please note I am not actually asking for a full refund, but when I wrote to Argos I have asked for an exchange to another product (even if we have to pay extra for a different brand).

Product purchased: Hisense RQ758N4SWF1
Shop: Argos
Guarantee: 2 years Hisense
Fault code: F1 - fridge and freezer no longer cooling - after 10 days as warm as the kitchen air. 


Thank you for reading

powerful_Rogue

Did you go via Argos for the original repair or straight to hisense under the warranty?

If you want to exercise your consumer rights with Argos, they may ask for a report stating that the fault is an inherent one. The remedy will be repair, replace or refund. They get to choose the most cost effective remedy, which is likely to be repair. If they offer a refund, they can reduce this to account for the 13 months use you have had.

You aren't entitled to an exchange for a different product.

screech_78

As above, did you contact Argos the first time it failed? If so, you can exercise your final right to reject. This would be for a refund with a deduction for usage.