Retailers Responsibility For Safety of Electrical Goods After Warranty Period

roy1953 · 14 February at 7:26PM

Hi,

I purchased 2 identical double electric blankets from Aldi several years ago. (2018 or 2019). The original 3 year warranty is obviously expired and, had the first blanket just stopped working, I would have disposed of it and started using the second one.

However, when I removed it from the bed, I was surprised to discover this blanket has been badly overheating and was potentially very close to causing a fire. The blanket has a black burn mark on the top side, which has burnt a hole right through to the under side. It has also burnt a hole through the thick mattress protector below and left a scorch mark on the actual mattress.

Although the blanket is now a few years old, it has had minimal use and always within the manufacturers instructions.

The blanket does have 'overheat protection' and this did eventually operate and disconnect the supply to the blanket. However, it is obvious that this should have happened much quicker, not at the point where it is on the verge of setting on fire.

It seems electric blankets have a recommended life before replacement of 10 years, so my question is, does the retailer have any responsibility for the safety issue, even though it is well outside the warranty.

I contacted Aldi as I thought, even if they weren't interested in what could have happened to me, they would take the issue seriously. There could still be many of these blankets in use that might be dangerous. I just received a standard reply, advising me the product has a 36 month warranty and to contact the company who provided the warranty.

When it comes to the second unused blanket, there's no way I could ever even think about using it, in case they all have the same fault.

Thanks for reading this and any advice much appreciated.

PHK · 14 February at 7:35PM

Your consumer rights are that (as more than six months have passed since purchase ) you’d need to prove that the blanket was inherently faulty at the time of purchase and it should have lasted longer than it has.

If Aldi accept that proof then they can choose how to settle your claim. Probably by giving a pro rata refund to take account of the use that the blanket has had.

With regard to the safety issue, you should report it to Trading Standards - probably through Citizens Advice. They won’t give you feedback on what they’ve done.

DullGreyGuy · 14 February at 7:44PM

Typically this would be considered as a breach of contract so you have 6 years from when the breach occurred. For products, rather than than services, the breach is considered to have happened at point of purchase as you are saying there was something wrong with it from the get go.

There is the concept of latent defects, things that dont make themselves immediately obvious, but these are normally limited to claims around buildings.

Were it negligence rather than a breach of contract then there is a 3 year extension if the date of knowing is later but this is more likely breach of contract.

Any compensation would be due based on what did happen, not what could have happened. Whilst you postulate it could have caused a fire, it ultimately didnt so that would have no impact.

How much were the blankets? On the basis you've bought two and never even touched the newer one suggests you considered them a bargain so probably fairly cheap? How much effort do you want to spend trying to nail jelly to the wall?

TELLIT01 · 15 February at 12:58PM

One big problem will be proving that the problem has not been caused by misuse, for example in the way it has been stored when not in use.

roy1953 · 16 February at 2:13PM

Thanks for the replies. It would seem that there isn't very much I can do about this and should probably just let it go and forget about it. That's kind of what I thought in the first place, but good to have it confirmed by other's opinions.

I didn't expect much from Aldi, but I did honestly think they would have taken my reporting this seriously. As I said, it could well affect other blankets people are still using. At least I thought they might have checked to see whether there have been any more similar reported issues from customers who purchased this model.

Reporting to Trading Standards is a possibility, but when I contacted them many years ago, found them less than helpful.

DullGreyGuy said:

How much were the blankets? On the basis you've bought two and never even touched the newer one suggests you considered them a bargain so probably fairly cheap?

With all due respect, I fail to see the relevance of the cost of the blanket, or indeed, that I purchased a spare one. Whether they cost ten pounds or a hundred pounds, they should have safety protection that actually works!