Built in kitchen - consumer rights

hb1

*Update*
Someone visited from the company on Friday. He looked at it and said "Hmm...who fitted this, can you remember which fitter it was?" He said they'd tried to maximise the cupboard space so had put a 450mm unit next to the fridge, which hadn't left room for a filler panel between the fridge and the wall. He's suggested removing the 450mm unit, fit a 400mm unit, move and refit the fridge, insert a filler panel allowing the door to fully open and repair/replace the damaged fridge door.  Can't say fairer than that.  Thanks to all who took the time to comment 😊

  I'd like to ask for some advice re: consumer rights regarding a kitchen my brother had fitted in his house in 2018.

The built-in fridge was fitted right up against a wall i.e. no plinth or filler panel at the side of it to allow room for the fridge door to fully swing open.  As a result, the door does catch a little on the wall, and over time it's made the whole fridge loose.  Open the door - the fridge slides forward, close the door and the fridge slides backwards.  The fridge has now also dropped down (2 screws above which screwed it to the worktop above have now come out - they're still in the worktop but as the fridge has dropped they have ripped through the top of the fridge).  With all the movement, the fridge door is also now rubbing against the cupboard door next to it.

I've phoned the company and asked them to come out and take a look which they've said they will, with the comment of '...but given the length of time not sure what we can do...'

My question is, what would be considered reasonable in terms of what I can expect them to do about it? Does the 6 year rule in consumer rights cover this?

I feel as if it's more of an issue regarding poor workmanship rather than normal wear and tear, but I appreciate he could and should have reported it far earlier.  The trouble was, he'd reported another couple of minor issues and they'd fobbed him off so felt it wasn't worth the effort.

Thoughts welcome please.

tightauldgit

What remedy are you looking for here? 

If it's a case of a reasonably easy fix to the install to get it working better then that might be possible, if you're looking for them to replace the fridge with a new one then probably not. 

Given that you've had 5 years use of the fridge I suspect you'll be reliant on whatever they're willing to offer you, as any refund amount would be discounted for 5 years use which is probably close to 100%

born_again

hb1 said:

I'd like to ask for some advice re: consumer rights regarding a kitchen my brother had fitted in his house in 2018.

The built-in fridge was fitted right up against a wall i.e. no plinth or filler panel at the side of it to allow room for the fridge door to fully swing open.  As a result, the door does catch a little on the wall, and over time it's made the whole fridge loose.  Open the door - the fridge slides forward, close the door and the fridge slides backwards.  The fridge has now also dropped down (2 screws above which screwed it to the worktop above have now come out - they're still in the worktop but as the fridge has dropped they have ripped through the top of the fridge).  With all the movement, the fridge door is also now rubbing against the cupboard door next to it.

I've phoned the company and asked them to come out and take a look which they've said they will, with the comment of '...but given the length of time not sure what we can do...'

My question is, what would be considered reasonable in terms of what I can expect them to do about it? Does the 6 year rule in consumer rights cover this?

I feel as if it's more of an issue regarding poor workmanship rather than normal wear and tear, but I appreciate he could and should have reported it far earlier.  The trouble was, he'd reported another couple of minor issues and they'd fobbed him off so felt it wasn't worth the effort.

Thoughts welcome please.

Why was this never highlighted at time of fitting?

You can just see what they will say "Well it's been OK for 5 years" & never mentioned when built.

DullGreyGuy

Do you have photos? Almost sounds like a slot in fridge but then you say it's connected to the worktop.

Was this an all in one job? It sounds more likely to be a design issue than a fitting one. If the services were bought separately then it's likely to get to finger pointing.

The Consumer Rights Act contains no timescales at all, it talks instead of reasonable durability etc instead. It's the Law of Limitations that says the defendant has a statutory defence of "statute barred" if you've exceeded the limit. For contracts the limit is 6 years but that doesn't mean everything should last 6 years just they have a statutory defence if its over 6 years at the point of issuing.

From what you say there is nothing fundamentally broken and whilst it wont last forever (nothing does) a simple fix should give you at least a few more years out of it by which point you are already at the end of a realistic lifespan for most appliances.

hb1

DullGreyGuy said:

Do you have photos? Almost sounds like a slot in fridge but then you say it's connected to the worktop.

Was this an all in one job? It sounds more likely to be a design issue than a fitting one. If the services were bought separately then it's likely to get to finger pointing.

The Consumer Rights Act contains no timescales at all, it talks instead of reasonable durability etc instead. It's the Law of Limitations that says the defendant has a statutory defence of "statute barred" if you've exceeded the limit. For contracts the limit is 6 years but that doesn't mean everything should last 6 years just they have a statutory defence if its over 6 years at the point of issuing.

From what you say there is nothing fundamentally broken and whilst it wont last forever (nothing does) a simple fix should give you at least a few more years out of it by which point you are already at the end of a realistic lifespan for most appliances.

It was an all in one job yes, I'll post some photos later. It does seem like the design was slightly off. I'm just hoping that they will say that they can have a go at securing the fridge so it's not moving around.

hb1

born_again said:

hb1 said:

I'd like to ask for some advice re: consumer rights regarding a kitchen my brother had fitted in his house in 2018.

The built-in fridge was fitted right up against a wall i.e. no plinth or filler panel at the side of it to allow room for the fridge door to fully swing open.  As a result, the door does catch a little on the wall, and over time it's made the whole fridge loose.  Open the door - the fridge slides forward, close the door and the fridge slides backwards.  The fridge has now also dropped down (2 screws above which screwed it to the worktop above have now come out - they're still in the worktop but as the fridge has dropped they have ripped through the top of the fridge).  With all the movement, the fridge door is also now rubbing against the cupboard door next to it.

I've phoned the company and asked them to come out and take a look which they've said they will, with the comment of '...but given the length of time not sure what we can do...'

My question is, what would be considered reasonable in terms of what I can expect them to do about it? Does the 6 year rule in consumer rights cover this?

I feel as if it's more of an issue regarding poor workmanship rather than normal wear and tear, but I appreciate he could and should have reported it far earlier.  The trouble was, he'd reported another couple of minor issues and they'd fobbed him off so felt it wasn't worth the effort.

Thoughts welcome please.

Why was this never highlighted at time of fitting?

You can just see what they will say "Well it's been OK for 5 years" & never mentioned when built.

A couple of reasons really - he'd already raised a couple of issues with them and got fobbed off so he just gave up, assuming they wouldn't want to know.  It wasnt much of an issue to begin with, the door caught slightly but if you didnt open the fridge door all the way then it didnt matter too much but now it's become a bigger issue as the whole thing has come loose and is moving around inside the space it's fitted in.  As you shut the fridge door now you have to kind of realign it in order for the door to even close.

hb1

tightauldgit said:

What remedy are you looking for here? 

If it's a case of a reasonably easy fix to the install to get it working better then that might be possible, if you're looking for them to replace the fridge with a new one then probably not. 

Given that you've had 5 years use of the fridge I suspect you'll be reliant on whatever they're willing to offer you, as any refund amount would be discounted for 5 years use which is probably close to 100%

We'd be happy with a fix, just a fridge that doesn't move around would be great. Not after a free fridge or anything like that. My question of 'what's reasonable to expect' - should we offer to pay for any remedial action? Or could we reasonably expect them to realign and secure the fridge?

hb1

DullGreyGuy said:

Do you have photos? Almost sounds like a slot in fridge but then you say it's connected to the worktop.

Was this an all in one job? It sounds more likely to be a design issue than a fitting one. If the services were bought separately then it's likely to get to finger pointing.

The Consumer Rights Act contains no timescales at all, it talks instead of reasonable durability etc instead. It's the Law of Limitations that says the defendant has a statutory defence of "statute barred" if you've exceeded the limit. For contracts the limit is 6 years but that doesn't mean everything should last 6 years just they have a statutory defence if its over 6 years at the point of issuing.

From what you say there is nothing fundamentally broken and whilst it wont last forever (nothing does) a simple fix should give you at least a few more years out of it by which point you are already at the end of a realistic lifespan for most appliances.

Hopefully you can see from the images that the whole fridge has dropped and moved forward. It does slot in, but you can just about make out that there's a plastic strip across the front which was screwed to the work surface 

Alderbank

There are two designs of under-worktop integrated fridges, fixed hinged and sliding hinged.

Fixed hinge means the decor door has no hinges of its own, it is screwed to the fridge door.
Sliding hinge means the decor door is separate from the fridge door and is hinged just like a kitchen cabinet door either to a carcase or to a piece of wood fixed to the wall. When you open the decor door it pulls the fridge door open via a sliding strip.
Which do you have please, I can't tell from your pictures.

Everything looks a tight fit.
Was the wall on the right tiled before the kitchen was measured up? It looks to me as though the kitchen was measured and the design planned before the wall was tiled. That 10mm of tile plus adhesive makes a huge difference.

hb1

Alderbank said:

There are two designs of under-worktop integrated fridges, fixed hinged and sliding hinged.

Fixed hinge means the decor door has no hinges of its own, it is screwed to the fridge door.
Sliding hinge means the decor door is separate from the fridge door and is hinged just like a kitchen cabinet door either to a carcase or to a piece of wood fixed to the wall. When you open the decor door it pulls the fridge door open via a sliding strip.
Which do you have please, I can't tell from your pictures.

Everything looks a tight fit.
Was the wall on the right tiled before the kitchen was measured up? It looks to me as though the kitchen was measured and the design planned before the wall was tiled. That 10mm of tile plus adhesive makes a huge difference.

The fridge door is screwed to the cupboard door, the cupboard door is then attached to the fridge by hinges.  The tiling was done after the kitchen was fitted but by the same company. The wall is out at the bottom, so whereas the tiles go behind the cupboard door most of the way down, at the bottom they couldn't get a tile in behind the door so the tile is cut around the bottom corner of the door, if that makes sense

hb1

hb1 said:

Alderbank said:

There are two designs of under-worktop integrated fridges, fixed hinged and sliding hinged.

Fixed hinge means the decor door has no hinges of its own, it is screwed to the fridge door.
Sliding hinge means the decor door is separate from the fridge door and is hinged just like a kitchen cabinet door either to a carcase or to a piece of wood fixed to the wall. When you open the decor door it pulls the fridge door open via a sliding strip.
Which do you have please, I can't tell from your pictures.

Everything looks a tight fit.
Was the wall on the right tiled before the kitchen was measured up? It looks to me as though the kitchen was measured and the design planned before the wall was tiled. That 10mm of tile plus adhesive makes a huge difference.

The fridge door is screwed to the cupboard door, the cupboard door is then attached to the fridge by hinges.  The tiling was done after the kitchen was fitted but by the same company. The wall is out at the bottom, so whereas the tiles go behind the cupboard door most of the way down, at the bottom they couldn't get a tile in behind the door so the tile is cut around the bottom corner of the door, if that makes sense

Alderbank said:

There are two designs of under-worktop integrated fridges, fixed hinged and sliding hinged.

Fixed hinge means the decor door has no hinges of its own, it is screwed to the fridge door.
Sliding hinge means the decor door is separate from the fridge door and is hinged just like a kitchen cabinet door either to a carcase or to a piece of wood fixed to the wall. When you open the decor door it pulls the fridge door open via a sliding strip.
Which do you have please, I can't tell from your pictures.

Everything looks a tight fit.
Was the wall on the right tiled before the kitchen was measured up? It looks to me as though the kitchen was measured and the design planned before the wall was tiled. That 10mm of tile plus adhesive makes a huge difference.

The fridge itself (not the door) is so close to the wall, I can barely get my fingertip between the fridge and the wall. I feel sure it should have had a filler panel or something there to create more of a gap for the door to swing. As I said it's my brother's kitchen, had it have been mine I'd have pounced on them the same day.