Russell Hobbs Warranty

ah5050

Has anyone had issues getting Russell Hobbs to honour a warranty claim on a kettle?
My kettle is in warranty and initially I was just asked to provide a photo of the base to show the model number. I hadn't heard back and was then asked to provide a video of the fault (not boiling) and a photo of the inside with details of how often I descaled it. Having supplied all of this I was then contacted and told my warranty was invalid due to excessive scale.

There is some scale inside the kettle as we live in a hard water area but have a water softer and descale the kettle every 2-3 weeks, it was however due for a descale so had some scale in it in the photo sent. As I have tried to inform them, it was due for a descale so had scale in it.

It now appears that they are trying to use this as an excuse not to replace their faulty product.

Any advise or anyone else had the same? 

You cannot speak to a manager and online chat and phone calls are only available with a customer advisor, after 5 days wait I did get an email from a manager confirming my claim as invalid. 

Aylesbury_Duck

ah5050 said:

Has anyone had issues getting Russell Hobbs to honour a warranty claim on a kettle?
My kettle is in warranty and initially I was just asked to provide a photo of the base to show the model number. I hadn't heard back and was then asked to provide a video of the fault (not boiling) and a photo of the inside with details of how often I descaled it. Having supplied all of this I was then contacted and told my warranty was invalid due to excessive scale.

There is some scale inside the kettle as we live in a hard water area but have a water softer and descale the kettle every 2-3 weeks, it was however due for a descale so had some scale in it in the photo sent. As I have tried to inform them, it was due for a descale so had scale in it.

It now appears that they are trying to use this as an excuse not to replace their faulty product.

Any advise or anyone else had the same? 

You cannot speak to a manager and online chat and phone calls are only available with a customer advisor, after 5 days wait I did get an email from a manager confirming my claim as invalid. 

Warranties are things provided in addition to your consumer rights, so as long as they're abiding by the warranty terms, they can refuse a warranty repair/replacement.  If those terms say the kettle can't be excessively scaled, and they see it is in the photo, then that's that.

You are free to exercise your consumer rights with the retailer.  When did you buy the kettle and how much did you pay for it?

TELLIT01

Interesting comment about the amount of scale in the kettle.  I have never descaled a kettle.  If I did, I wouldn't expect to do it every 2 or 3 weeks.

Ergates

TELLIT01 said:

Interesting comment about the amount of scale in the kettle.  I have never descaled a kettle.  If I did, I wouldn't expect to do it every 2 or 3 weeks.

Depends on the water where you live.  I grew up in Wiltshire where the water is practically runny chalk.  If you use them frequently, kettles would scale up in a couple of weeks.

Okell

TELLIT01 said:

Interesting comment about the amount of scale in the kettle.  I have never descaled a kettle.  If I did, I wouldn't expect to do it every 2 or 3 weeks.

I live in a hard water area (at least I consider it is compared to where I grew up on the Isle of Man) and I regularly descale our kettle, but only every 3 - 4 months.  Every 2 - 3 weeks sounds really excessive.  We don't have a water softener either.  I've never thought about it damaging a kettle. 

ah5050 said:

... There is some scale inside the kettle as we live in a hard water area but have a water softer and descale the kettle every 2-3 weeks, it was however due for a descale so had some scale in it in the photo sent. As I have tried to inform them, it was due for a descale so had scale in it.

It now appears that they are trying to use this as an excuse not to replace their faulty product...

You weren't tempted to descale it before taking a photo?  (You must have another source of boiling water...?)

Grumpy_G*t

25th October. I've had a similar experience . . kettle registered on-line for the extra year's warranty . . broke after 18 months . . . lodged a claim in my on-line account with three sets of images, scanned docs, etc . . (they like to make you jump through lots of hoops). Thereafter, I received and responded to a few of their helpful(?), but 'delaying tactic' emails from Andrei P and Eduard R . . but then I sent the email below, and they are sending me a new kettle. Hope this helps some of you . . . 

Hello Eduard,

Thank you for yet another email. The kettle has not been and will not be descaled because there is no limescale in the kettle. No parts have been damaged or bent or abused or mistreated in anyway. It has not been dropped, crushed, immersed in any liquid or operated in an environment which would cause it to function improperly. It does not work on an identical Russell Hobbs base. It is a product which has developed an intermittent fault, possibly at the internal switch parts.

As you are clearly intent on not honouring the "Russell Hobbs - a British Icon Since 1952" three year guarantee, in the first instance I am happy to relay my experience to your company directors Messrs T. Newbery and T. Wright. I find it hard to understand your actions thus far for a £24 faulty kettle, jeopardising my position as a continuing customer of Russell Hobbs. Over tens of years, I have had occasion to claim on warranties issued by John Lewis, Lidl, Currys to name but three. All were settled timeously and in a courteous manner without ridiculous questions about treatments for non-existent scaly deposits, bent pins, wobbly bases, photographs of the product or its internal parts, or tiny labels glued to the underside of a product. In addition, should I advise other potential customers of your inability to rectify this matter to my satisfaction via reviews at Amazon online website, Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert, Trustpilot, etc?

I await your response, whatever the outcome, with delight!