Responsibilities of manufacturer, retailer and credit card company.

aroominyork

I have a problem with HiSense appliance bought in November 2022 with a two year manufacturer's warranty. HiSense are being unreasonable in their response, trying to evade responsibility for a faulty appliance. Without going into the technical details (unless you need me to) can someone please explain when and how I can seek redress from the retailer I bought it from (ao.com) and from the credit card company (Visa)?

eskbanker

Your consumer rights are with the retailer, so you had the right to approach them immediately.

You also have the right to make a section 75 claim with your credit card company at any time too, although would probably need to seek an independent expert report to demonstrate breach of contract.

TELLIT01

Knowledge of the fault details may help to determine whether others think the manufacturer is being unreasonable/evading responsibility, or if your expectations don't align with the legal requirements.

aroominyork

TELLIT01 said:

Knowledge of the fault details may help to determine whether others think the manufacturer is being unreasonable/evading responsibility, or if your expectations don't align with the legal requirements.

Happy to oblige! 18 months ago we bought a fridge freezer (this model) with a two year warranty. We have already had two call outs to replace a faulty/sticking door. It has now begun an intermittent, but increasingly frequent, whirring sound which stops when you open the door. Hisense's advice is to "manually defrost the appliance for 24h; make sure that appliance is plugged out of the electricity, leave the doors open and place shallow dish bellow so that your floor is protected. We highly recommend as a manufacturer for our customers to perform the 24h defrosting of the appliance at least once or twice a year, so we would prevent things like these from happening."

Moden freezers do not need defrosting and the appliance is marketed as “Total no frost: no frost, anywhere – ever! It provides a suitable condition which keeps food fresh and nutritious longer as no frost can be found in refrigerator, which means you don’t need to waste your cherish time to defrost.”

My concern about running a defrost is that if it works they will say "your problem is solved". But my view is that if it works, it could build up frost again and again - a successful defrost would almost prove that it is faulty. I am sure they are trying to give me the runaround until the warranty expires in November. I have written to escalate this as a complaint but not received a reply. So going to ao.com from who we bought it seems a good option.

eskbanker

aroominyork said:

TELLIT01 said:

Knowledge of the fault details may help to determine whether others think the manufacturer is being unreasonable/evading responsibility, or if your expectations don't align with the legal requirements.

Happy to oblige! 18 months ago we bought a fridge freezer (this model) with a two year warranty. We have already had two call outs to replace a faulty/sticking door. It has now begun an intermittent, but increasingly frequent, whirring sound which stops when you open the door. Hisense's advice is to "manually defrost the appliance for 24h; make sure that appliance is plugged out of the electricity, leave the doors open and place shallow dish bellow so that your floor is protected. We highly recommend as a manufacturer for our customers to perform the 24h defrosting of the appliance at least once or twice a year, so we would prevent things like these from happening."

Moden freezers do not need defrosting and the appliance is marketed as “Total no frost: no frost, anywhere – ever! It provides a suitable condition which keeps food fresh and nutritious longer as no frost can be found in refrigerator, which means you don’t need to waste your cherish time to defrost.”

My concern about running a defrost is that if it works they will say "your problem is solved". But my view is that if it works, it could build up frost again and again - a successful defrost would almost prove that it is faulty. I am sure they are trying to give me the runaround until the warranty expires in November. I have written to escalate this as a complaint but not received a reply. So going to ao.com from who we bought it seems a good option.

But is there any frost at the moment, or just a noise?  In other words, is their 'defrosting' recommendation really just an extended power down to address something they believe may be power-related or is it to rid the appliance of some frost that's actually formed (as the term generally implies)?

zoob

Ok i get what your saying but

Frost free freezers do a timed defrost normally once a day to melt any ice that forms on the fan and in normal circumstances it works very well indeed, but say it the freezer door was left inadvertently open even slightly for a while the ice build up would be to much to defrost itself properly
When this happens sometimes the cooling fan starts rubbing the ice hence causing the noise 
If this is the case its not normally a fault with the appliance its a customer fault more than lightly, that why there asking you to try defrosting it first.

There is a chance there is a fault but with over 40 years experiance buying and selling these appliances more often than not the fridge freezer is not faulty

Its normal for the fan to stop when you open the door 

aroominyork

How can I tell if there is any frost built up? Looking into the fridge and freezer there is no sign of any, but would it be elsewhere (hidden behind the storage areas where the fan is?) and how could I tell this? I have nowhere to store the contents I ran a defrost so I want to avoid ruining a stack of food if at all possible.

Also, what should I read into their ridiculous advice to defrost the appliance at least once or twice a year?

Aylesbury_Duck

aroominyork said:

How can I tell if there is any frost built up? Looking into the fridge and freezer there is no sign of any, but would it be elsewhere (hidden behind the storage areas where the fan is?) and how could I tell this? I have nowhere to store the contents I ran a defrost so I want to avoid ruining a stack of food if at all possible.

Also, what should I read into their ridiculous advice to defrost the appliance at least once or twice a year?

It's up to you of course, but at least trying it sounds a lot simpler than finding and paying someone to commission a report and then doing all the legwork with AO to get a resolution.

Assuming the fridge freezer still generally works and there's no urgent need, run down the contents over the next few days/weeks so you don't have a load of food to worry about and then run the defrost.  Pack the remaining contents into a cool box, or even just pack them together in some clothes in a cardboard box or something.

Their advice isn't ridiculous, for the reasons given.  I defrost my freezer once or twice a year and always have done.  It may be a "frost free" model, but as explained above, there are limits to what it can cope with.  I've got "self-cleaning glass' on my conservatory roof, but it still needs a proper clean every year.

zoob

The whiring sound from the fan blade is a pretty good indication theres an issue and most lightly its caused by an over accumulation of ice that needs sorted
Obviously if you insist on an engineer visit and this is the issus and theres no fault in the appliance theyed be totally be reasonable in charging you a call out charge for wasting there time, if your 100% happy its actully faulty then just contact them and insist they call and tell them your willing to pay for visit if your proved wrong

aroominyork

But if there is an accumulation of ice in a freezer advertised as frost-free, how would anyone establish whether the ice is caused by a faulty appliance or, for example, by me leaving the door open?

Aylesbury_Duck

aroominyork said:

But if there is an accumulation of ice in a freezer advertised as frost-free, how would anyone establish whether the ice is caused by a faulty appliance or, for example, by me leaving the door open?

For that, you'll need to get it inspected, at your cost.  Seems sensible to try the advice first.