Acorn Stairlift Extended Warranty?

Paul.

Hi. My mum and aunt recently purchased an Acorn stairlift, and they are considering getting the extended 4 year warranty for £700.

The thing is, in the brochure for the warranty it lists "attendance within 24 hours, in the event of a breakdown". Does anyone know what they qualify as a 'breakdown'? Would something like a broken armrest or faulty footrest count as 'breakdown'?

I ask because we have had them out to replace the footrest already (it wouldn't stay up), and on the phone they said 7-10 days for a callout. We then contacted them about something else and mentioned the callout and was told it was booked for 5th December, over a month away! We grumbled at this fact and they rescheduled it for late November, then ended up coming mid November and replacing it.

So I am concerned my mum is going to throw another £700 at this company, and then when something non-essential breaks again they'll say "oh, it's not classed as a breakdown, see you in 2 months. Thanks for the money!".

I was going to phone them and ask, or maybe make a Twitter account and see if I can get something in writing, but if anyone already has the answer it'll save me some trouble!

Thanks in advance

-Paul

Farway

Without definitive, in writing, I'd say “breakdown” means it does not work, it is not going up or down stairs.

I suppose a broken armrest may count if it was the arm rest with the micro switch interlock in it. 

But I can understand the footplate not staying up not counting because it should not be operated with foot rest up, even though it can be operated with foot rest up.

Is there a local to you independent mobility / stairlift repair company?

Asking because I use one for annual service

While checking Acorn G'tee, does the £700 cover annual service & replacement batteries?

Paul.

Farway said:

Without definitive, in writing, I'd say “breakdown” means it does not work, it is not going up or down stairs.

I suppose a broken armrest may count if it was the arm rest with the micro switch interlock in it. 

But I can understand the footplate not staying up not counting because it should not be operated with foot rest up, even though it can be operated with foot rest up.

Is there a local to you independent mobility / stairlift repair company?

Asking because I use one for annual service

While checking Acorn G'tee, does the £700 cover annual service & replacement batteries?

After I posted here, I found a contact form on Acorns site, sent them a message, and they phoned me back just now. They said the breakdown covers if the chair won't move and can't be fixed over the phone, and also covers if it is a health and safety concern. In the message I used a broken footrest as an example, and he said that would count as it's considered an obstruction. I would have preferred they replied via email so I had that in writing.

Honestly, I can't think of many things on the stairlift that wouldn't count as a health and safety concern if it malfunctioned.

And yes, the £700 covers a yearly service and batteries. According to their T&C:

The EW will cover all call-outs, parts, consumables (such as stairlift batteries) and labour.

It seems like a good idea to get it. A quick google search shows about £100 for a yearly service by an independent company, so that's around £400 of the £700 cost just for that.

teddysmum

If this is from new, the £700 is for probably (like with domestic appliances)just for 3 or even 2 years, as all lifts have 12 or 24 months' warranty included in the price.

Paul.

teddysmum said:

If this is from new, the £700 is for probably (like with domestic appliances)just for 3 or even 2 years, as all lifts have 12 or 24 months' warranty included in the price.

It's a reconditioned unit from Acorn, and it's a 4 year extended warranty that starts after the 1 year it comes with.

teddysmum

That's good.
I really need one, but hate the things, as they are so ugly. In the last few years several makes have begun to look like clones (so little choice), but two brands make nicely upholstered variations, which are only available with curved track. This is odd, as a few years ago, any seat could be had regardless of track.

Paul.

teddysmum said:

That's good.
I really need one, but hate the things, as they are so ugly. In the last few years several makes have begun to look like clones (so little choice), but two brands make nicely upholstered variations, which are only available with curved track. This is odd, as a few years ago, any seat could be had regardless of track.

Yeah I was a bit dismayed at the cost considering what it is, but the curved track ones are double the cost of the standard. We paid roughly £2600, which was a reconditioned chair (the tracks are apparently always new), and an extra step put in on the top so our landing was level (and so it had a better spot to get on and off the chair).

We tried going the second hand route, and my cousin picked up an old Stanna one for £100 but it was clearly not suitable - they broke their backs trying to set it up, and it could only charge at the top of the stairs which meant you literally couldn't get past up the stairs when it was in it's docked position. In hindsight it was obviously way too cheap for what it was - the seller said it had only been used once, but when my cousin picked it up they said the 'kids' had played on it more than it had been used. The track was clearly bent, because the footrest would catch on the stairs.

Incidentally, Acorn took it away for us for free when they installed the new one.

Honestly, considering you only sit on it for a few seconds each time, it's not really worth getting anything upholstered other than for style (I think Stanna ones have the option to pick what colour of upholstery you want) or if you have trouble sitting on anything hard. I dare say if you could even put a seat cushion on it if you wanted, but it might affect the height for getting on and off.

teddysmum

It's not a matter of comfort; just that they look more like a piece of furniture.

I know that curved rail setups are more expensive as there are lots of straight with curve possibilities, so they have to be custom made, but why restrict the nicer (more expensive seats )to these, as they just make the curve more expensive ?