Claim under the consumer rights act

inchyrablue

I’m looking for some advice in relation to a claim I’ve made under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in relation to a fridge freezer.

I bought a fridge freezer in January 2020, cost of £849.

A fault became apparent in 2023 and in March 2024 it had deteriorated to the extent it was not possible to use it as intended. Specifically, the draw runners, which are moulded to the inside of the freezer, broke away. This seems to be a common fault with the model.

I reported it to the online retailer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The retailer was prompt and polite in replying. They asked me for evidence that it was a manufacturing fault and a cost to repair. It was inspected by a local appliance repair company who wrote to say it was a clear manufacturing fault and could not be repaired. This letter was sent back to the retailer, who acknowledged that this was a manufacturing fault, that it could not be repaired, and offered a ‘depreciated refund’.

This is where I would like some advice.

The idea of a depreciated refund seems to be that the customer has had use of the item for a period of time and seeks to make an appropriate reduction from the original price. This is how they have calculated it (I quote here from their email):

[start of quote]

“You have 6 years to claim under the Consumer Rights Act, this does not mean that an appliance is supposed to last for that duration that is simply the amount of time you have to claim. The workings out for the depreciated refund based on the length of time you have had the appliance and the usage you will of had from this are below:

Value of the appliance divided by 72 (6 years)

Multiply the above answer by the number of months the customer has had the appliance.

Subtract this answer from the total of the appliance.

= Value of depreciated refund.

Taking that into account, please see below the workings out for your depreciated refund:

£849/72 = £11.791

£11.791 x 50 = £589.5

£849-£589.58 = £259.41

After 6 months of owning the appliance, to onus is on the customer to prove that the appliance is faulty and to provide us with proof of this which in this instance you have done. Once we have a report to show the appliance is faulty and a repair cannot be do, you're then entitled to request a partial refund or as we call it, a depreciated refund. After having a read through the way we work this out and you are happy with this, please get back to us and we can then either arrange to collect the faulty appliance and issue the refund back to yourself, or of course you can use this amount towards a new appliance. We can give you a full week to think on this with the current sum we have given you, we would then need to rework this out if it goes outside of this timeframe.”

[end of quote]

While I appreciate the general clarity and transparency, my feeling is that an expensive fridge freezer would be expected to last significantly more than six years, and that the method of calculation is therefore unsound. I don’t think the fact that you have six years is the right starting point.

Any advice?

DE_612183

6 years may not be the right starting point in your view for this appliance, but the act only works on generalisations.

You could ask the retailer that and perhaps work out another calculation for say 10 years and see if they'd go for it - they may not ( as they don't legally need to ) but if they are a brand that is a quality one perhaps they might.

Always worth while  to ask.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

I think you are correct to question this use of the period to make a claim being related to the product lifespan, a quick Google suggests that a fridge freezer should last between 10 and 20 years perhaps at around 12 or 13 so around the £500 mark seems more reasonable to me. 

I would do some Googling, put together some sources and counter their calculation whilst noting that the 6 years isn't in reference to how long it should last, just how long there typically is to make a claim.

If you paid an arm and a leg for a brand new car you would obviously expect it last longer than 6 years before being worthless and I don't think other goods are any different. 

These companies tend to offer the lowest they can and hope you accept, a bit of negotiation is always wise, ultimately if you can't come to an agreement it would be letter before action and small claims and the court would decide what is appropriate. 

If this is a big company you might find contacting the ceo email contact (have a look on the ceo email website) will get you past general CS and the script they are given or failing that an old fashioned letter to head office might help as well. 

zoob

What make off fridge freezer is it and is it a frost free model? 

DullGreyGuy

Is this JL? It's what they used with my claim for an irreparable freezer. 

The law states they can reduce the refund to reflect the use the customer has received prior to the fault but provides no guidance on how this should be calculated, if there is a universal method or it heavily depends on the item or not etc. 

Our fault caused the freezer to defrost on more than one occasion and so we added on the cost of lost contents (using a per L basis as Home Insurers normally do) and in the end got back more than we'd paid for the freezer. Technically still out of pocket as we did lose food but accept we did get a few years use before the problems. 

Ultimately it's a negotiation and you are free to push back on the 72 month denominator in the calculation and say it should be 120 months or whatever. Ultimately your final resolution is court if you can't come to an agreement.

inchyrablue

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Hello OP

I think you are correct to question this use of the period to make a claim being related to the product lifespan, a quick Google suggests that a fridge freezer should last between 10 and 20 years perhaps at around 12 or 13 so around the £500 mark seems more reasonable to me. 

I would do some Googling, put together some sources and counter their calculation whilst noting that the 6 years isn't in reference to how long it should last, just how long there typically is to make a claim.

If you paid an arm and a leg for a brand new car you would obviously expect it last longer than 6 years before being worthless and I don't think other goods are any different. 

These companies tend to offer the lowest they can and hope you accept, a bit of negotiation is always wise, ultimately if you can't come to an agreement it would be letter before action and small claims and the court would decide what is appropriate. 

If this is a big company you might find contacting the ceo email contact (have a look on the ceo email website) will get you past general CS and the script they are given or failing that an old fashioned letter to head office might help as well. 

Thanks for this input.

Interestingly, the retailer's website FAQs say this: "On average, fridge freezers are designed to last between 10 and 20 years." However on pointing this out (and suggesting that 15 years would be a more appropriate basis for a calculation) was told that their offer was final.

inchyrablue

DullGreyGuy said:

Is this JL? It's what they used with my claim for an irreparable freezer. 

The law states they can reduce the refund to reflect the use the customer has received prior to the fault but provides no guidance on how this should be calculated, if there is a universal method or it heavily depends on the item or not etc. 

Our fault caused the freezer to defrost on more than one occasion and so we added on the cost of lost contents (using a per L basis as Home Insurers normally do) and in the end got back more than we'd paid for the freezer. Technically still out of pocket as we did lose food but accept we did get a few years use before the problems. 

Ultimately it's a negotiation and you are free to push back on the 72 month denominator in the calculation and say it should be 120 months or whatever. Ultimately your final resolution is court if you can't come to an agreement.

No it isn't JL, but it's interesting to know that this is the same approach being taken by other large retailers. Sorry to hear about your own freezer woes!

inchyrablue

zoob said:

What make off fridge freezer is it and is it a frost free model? 

it's a Samsung, and yes

DullGreyGuy

inchyrablue said:

zoob said:

What make off fridge freezer is it and is it a frost free model? 

it's a Samsung, and yes

As was ours and in our case it was the frost free cycle that broke and would periodically get stuck "on" thus raising the temp from -15C to +22C