Question about Nespresso’s pre-loved scheme

batman2000

Quick question… I hope! My 2 year old (but still under warranty) Nespresso Vertuo Plus coffee machine broke down, and Nespresso replaced it with a ‘pre-loved’ one. I had a choice of this, or repair.

I’ve had the replacement for a month and it arrived full of coffee grounds (needed repeated cleaning cycles) and has leaked from the bottom every day since it arrived. Nespresso have offered… you guessed it… pre-loved replacement or repair again.

My question is, can this just go on ad infinitum, or do I have any other recourse? The warranty isn’t extended so theoretically I could just keep receiving faulty machines until it runs out?

I’m considering going back to my aeropress coffee plunger for my morning brew - nothing to go wrong and makes very decent coffee! ☕️ 

molerat

If you are using the Nespresso warranty then you are bound by the terms of that warranty but it is bad form that they seem to have just sent you a used item, hopefully just a mix up and the next one will be a proper cleaned / tested item.

Your consumer rights are against whoever you purchased the unit from but as you dealt with the manufacturer and now have a different machine the waters may be somewhat muddied.

ArbitraryRandom

2 years is a tricky one... when it comes to your rights, it depends who you bought it from and how long the product could reasonably expected to function after purchase (plus any rights covered by the warranty, which should not replace or remove your statutory rights - you would need to check the wording to see what it says). 

Re your consumer rights, the argument is that the product is not of satisfactory quality (it should have lasted longer than 2 years) - which entitles you to a repair/replacement under the consumer rights act. 

CRA also says you have a right to a price reduction (basically a partial refund and you get to keep the faulty item but lose the right to any future repairs/replacements) or 'final right to reject' (for a refund reduced by the amount of time you have had use of a working item as a portion of how long the item would be expected to last) if "after one repair or one replacement, the goods do not conform to the contract"  

Theoretically that means, if the machine could reasonably be expected to last 5 years, then you might be entitled to a 60% refund. 

The relevant text is here, referencing section 19: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24/enacted

EDIT: As molerat says, the above is assuming you bought the product from Nespresso

batman2000

I bought the original machine direct from Nespresso so have always dealt directly with them, and the warranty is the one they issued. It just says they offer ‘repair or replace’ but I guess that depends on age, and it doesn’t specify what they replace it with. 

I believe they introduced the preloved scheme in March, and the website says “At Nespresso, sustainability is core to our business. With Nespresso PRELOVED, we are extending the life cycle of Nespresso Vertuo machines, while giving consumers the opportunity to use refurbished Nespresso machines, without compromising the coffee experience.”

It also says the machines go through “thorough cleaning and quality inspection” but Nespresso seem to be getting a lot of complaints, judging by online posts, so I don’t think I’m the only one with this issue 😬.

ArbitraryRandom

batman2000 said:

I bought the original machine direct from Nespresso 

In that case, yes - I would say it's fairly clear your consumer rights include the right of final rejection as the replacement provided has not performed against the contract.

This is the section relating to being of 'satisfactory quality': https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/9/enacted#section-19-3

The issue would then be establishing how long it would be reasonable to expect your original machine to have lasted with normal use and how long you actually had use of it for (any time between you notifying them of a problem and them providing a replacement doesn't count). 

batman2000

Thank you! The warranty runs for three years and I owned the machine for two. So it sounds like requesting a partial refund would be reasonable.

( @ArbitraryRandom I just noticed your first post - it didn’t show up when I first replied - this is really useful, thanks again 👍)

batman2000

Quick update - the preloved machine broke completely after only a month. Contacted Nespresso again this morning by phone (video link)… they confirmed it was broken and again offered repair or replace with a preloved machine. I refused, they offered a £20 voucher as a goodwill gesture. I refused and asked them to take the machine away for recycling, but that proved to be such a palava that I’ve offered to take it to the tip for them! Considering their ‘preloved’ scheme is supposed to help the environment, they don’t put much effort into recycling!

Anyway, I’ve given up with Nespresso at this point. I’m ok with that, I was honestly losing the will to live 😂. I’ll buy a different make and hope it gives me better service 🤞. Thanks again for the advice though!

born_again

if you are liking coffee that much, then forget the pod machines & get a bean to cup machine. Much cheaper per cup 👍

jon81uk

batman2000 said:

 Considering their ‘preloved’ scheme is supposed to help the environment, they don’t put much effort into recycling!

Has nothing to do with recycling or the environment, all you are getting is someone elses machine that has been repaired. Its exactly the same as sending your machine off for repair, except you don't wait for it to come back, they send you an already repaired one.

HillStreetBlues

jon81uk said:

batman2000 said:

 Considering their ‘preloved’ scheme is supposed to help the environment, they don’t put much effort into recycling!

Has nothing to do with recycling or the environment, all you are getting is someone elses machine that has been repaired. Its exactly the same as sending your machine off for repair, except you don't wait for it to come back, they send you an already repaired one.

Looks like in this case they didn't.

born_again

Preloved machine. marketing speak for reconditioned machine.