American fridgefeezer / Fridgemaster MS91515DFF/ -compressor stopped working after 18 months AO.com

taffer87

Purchased the above fridge freezer 18 months ago (Dec 2021) and recently the cooling stopped completely. The original cost was £549.

I purchased a Zest plan who sent an engineer (cost £140 in total for a year) and they say that the compressor has stopped due to a gas leak causing it to overwork and they have ordered the below parts (cost must be £250 or below as that's the cap for initial repair for parts).

Unfortunately, apparently, the compressor will take c.2 more weeks (it's already been one week since their visit) and there is no guarantee that it will come then too but that's their best estimate. 

Zest said that I could cancel the plan for free if I want to get it repaired elsewhere.

I contacted AO.com and they said either they can get the manufacturer to come and repair which would cost me or they can sell a care plan to me (Total cost around £200 vs. £140 for Zest) or I can get an independent engineer report and quote for repair.

Unfortunately, the last option seems to cost £50 or so minimum to get a report and I am not sure what would be the benefit. I assume once they get the report they may agree to do the repair but what I am really after is a refund (with a deduction for 18 months of use) as I can get the same new fridge delivered the next day. 

Who will pay for the engineer report? If the report shows a defect that was not normal wear and tear then will AO.com have to pay for that too or I will bear and lose that cost? I understand the compressor should normally be expected to last 7-10 years.

If i stick with my current Zest plan and wait for them to repair - will I somehow be able to claim the cost from AO.com of the plan (£140) as that will be definitely less than the cost of a repair (as per my understanding)?

Any advice?  

Parts ordered: 

Compressor te x1

8x6 mm Lokring x1

6x4 lokring x1

5x2 lokring x1

dryer filter x1

valve and tube x1

Unknown

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Alderbank

If you claim under your consumer rights, as it is more than 6 months old you have to show that the failure is due to an inherent fault rather than your misuse. Hence the report.
You pay for the report.
You hope that AO will refund you the cost. If the report says the fault was inherent (it sounds like it will) and AO don't pay you could in theory sue them for the cost.
Consumer law says that AO must repair or replace, or if they can't they must make a partial refund, but they are also permitted to agree a deal with you. It sounds like paying for the Zest plan would make good business sense for them but they don't have to do that.

tightauldgit

Yep think Alderbank has pretty much summed it up there. 

1. You would need to pay for the report up front and then hope/try to claim it back if you want to claim under consumer rights but if its not in your favour you'd have to foot the bill
2. If the report is in your favour then AO will either repair/replace or refund you (less some usage deduction)
3. In theory I guess they could simply refund you the cost of the Zest plan to settle the claim but you'd have to be slightly careful as I think that would mean you couldn't make any further claims on that item if it went faulty again plus presumably the item might be worth more than that anyway.
4. If you don't get the engineer's report then I think AO would be within their rights not to give you anything if they don't want to
5. I doubt any of your options would get you the repair any quicker than sticking with your Zest repair as Plan A 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

taffer87 said:

I purchased a Zest plan who sent an engineer (cost £140 in total for a year) and they say that the compressor has stopped due to a gas leak causing it to overwork and they have ordered the below parts (cost must be £250 or below as that's the cap for initial repair for parts).

Can’t Zest put this in writing for you?

taffer87

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

taffer87 said:

I purchased a Zest plan who sent an engineer (cost £140 in total for a year) and they say that the compressor has stopped due to a gas leak causing it to overwork and they have ordered the below parts (cost must be £250 or below as that's the cap for initial repair for parts).

Can’t Zest put this in writing for you?

They just sent me the ist of parts that need replacing in an email when I asked for it. I spoke to the engineer today who came a week ago and he said he has given a report to Whirlpool (who are engaged by Zest) and must have passed the report to Zest too but possibly not. Don't think I can contact Whirlpool as I am not dealing with them direct but they are the manufacturer too (or part of the same group of companies) so I think any other method will lead to the same delay for the compressor to come.

taffer87

Any thoughts on S75 since I paid via a credit card company - if I am going to pay for an engineer report then is it better to just raise a claim with the credit card company? Not sure if they organise repairs to or is it more of a financial transaction with them

tightauldgit said:

Yep think Alderbank has pretty much summed it up there. 

1. You would need to pay for the report up front and then hope/try to claim it back if you want to claim under consumer rights but if its not in your favour you'd have to foot the bill
2. If the report is in your favour then AO will either repair/replace or refund you (less some usage deduction)
3. In theory I guess they could simply refund you the cost of the Zest plan to settle the claim but you'd have to be slightly careful as I think that would mean you couldn't make any further claims on that item if it went faulty again plus presumably the item might be worth more than that anyway.
4. If you don't get the engineer's report then I think AO would be within their rights not to give you anything if they don't want to
5. I doubt any of your options would get you the repair any quicker than sticking with your Zest repair as Plan A 

tightauldgit

taffer87 said:

Any thoughts on S75 since I paid via a credit card company - if I am going to pay for an engineer report then is it better to just raise a claim with the credit card company? Not sure if they organise repairs to or is it more of a financial transaction with them

tightauldgit said:

Yep think Alderbank has pretty much summed it up there. 

1. You would need to pay for the report up front and then hope/try to claim it back if you want to claim under consumer rights but if its not in your favour you'd have to foot the bill
2. If the report is in your favour then AO will either repair/replace or refund you (less some usage deduction)
3. In theory I guess they could simply refund you the cost of the Zest plan to settle the claim but you'd have to be slightly careful as I think that would mean you couldn't make any further claims on that item if it went faulty again plus presumably the item might be worth more than that anyway.
4. If you don't get the engineer's report then I think AO would be within their rights not to give you anything if they don't want to
5. I doubt any of your options would get you the repair any quicker than sticking with your Zest repair as Plan A 

I'm not an expert on S75 but you would still need to show that the fault was inherent I believe so you'd still need the engineer's report. You need evidence of the breach of contract and since the item is more than 6 months old then its your burden of proof to show that it's an inherent fault. 

You could ask the engineer that looked at it to give you something or hire someone else independent if you don't want to use the one from AO.

taffer87

tightauldgit said:

taffer87 said:

Any thoughts on S75 since I paid via a credit card company - if I am going to pay for an engineer report then is it better to just raise a claim with the credit card company? Not sure if they organise repairs to or is it more of a financial transaction with them

tightauldgit said:

Yep think Alderbank has pretty much summed it up there. 

1. You would need to pay for the report up front and then hope/try to claim it back if you want to claim under consumer rights but if its not in your favour you'd have to foot the bill
2. If the report is in your favour then AO will either repair/replace or refund you (less some usage deduction)
3. In theory I guess they could simply refund you the cost of the Zest plan to settle the claim but you'd have to be slightly careful as I think that would mean you couldn't make any further claims on that item if it went faulty again plus presumably the item might be worth more than that anyway.
4. If you don't get the engineer's report then I think AO would be within their rights not to give you anything if they don't want to
5. I doubt any of your options would get you the repair any quicker than sticking with your Zest repair as Plan A 

I'm not an expert on S75 but you would still need to show that the fault was inherent I believe so you'd still need the engineer's report. You need evidence of the breach of contract and since the item is more than 6 months old then its your burden of proof to show that it's an inherent fault. 

You could ask the engineer that looked at it to give you something or hire someone else independent if you don't want to use the one from AO.

Thanks yes I will hire an engineer to come and give a report.

The one from Zest refused to give me anything direct as he is contracted by Whirlpool.

AO are not suggesting they pay for an engineer but said I either get them to sort a manufacturer to repair at my cost, buy a £200 care plan at my cost or get an independent engineer report at my cost and quote and submit to them

think i will go for option 3 so get an engineer report as this will allow me recourse under s75 too

under s75 - do i really have to go to the retailer or can I just go via the card company (Halifax)? I am guessing the card company will not organise a repair and it will be more of a financial transaction then but may take more time?

born_again

taffer87 said:

Any thoughts on S75 since I paid via a credit card company - if I am going to pay for an engineer report then is it better to just raise a claim with the credit card company? Not sure if they organise repairs to or is it more of a financial transaction with them

You would have to get a report & if it was found in your favour you would get the cost back.
No bank will not arrange repairs that is not the remit of S75. All S75 covers in effect is funds.

As I see it here, if one company can't get the parts & you have to take it that they are coming from the manufacture. Do you think anyone else will get it any sooner?
So ring manufacture & see if they can give a timeframe for the part. Other than that you can/will not get it repaired any quicker.

Certainly S75 is going to take months.

taffer87

Yes basically zest are using the manufacturer and the delay is from their side so any repair will take time. I was thinking if there is a high chance of a refund from a s75 claim against the credit card company I can just buy a new fridge and wait for the partial refund for old fridge freezer given it’s tough to be without a fridge for many weeks with young children

so can I put a s75 claim without dealing with retailer 

born_again said:

taffer87 said:

Any thoughts on S75 since I paid via a credit card company - if I am going to pay for an engineer report then is it better to just raise a claim with the credit card company? Not sure if they organise repairs to or is it more of a financial transaction with them

You would have to get a report & if it was found in your favour you would get the cost back.
No bank will not arrange repairs that is not the remit of S75. All S75 covers in effect is funds.

As I see it here, if one company can't get the parts & you have to take it that they are coming from the manufacture. Do you think anyone else will get it any sooner?
So ring manufacture & see if they can give a timeframe for the part. Other than that you can/will not get it repaired any quicker.

Certainly S75 is going to take months.