Samsung Ecobubble Warranty discussion

Claresblog

Hi,
I have an Ecobubble, the seal broke the first time washing bedding. This is because a button from the duvet became lodged along with the duvet in the seal and caused it the seal to rip then leak onto my floor. 

It's not covered under their 5 year warranty. And I can't take out a different cover that does (althoygh it exists). And I'm not allowed to replace my seal myself as it would invalidate the warranty.

I was quoted 3 clauses to support their excluded from warranty claims (see below). I asked for a refund and was denied.

For cosmetic this should not apply as cosmetic refers to look. Not fit form or function.

For damage, surely designing a machine to wash bedding is a primary function? 

For abuse/misuse. How is washing bedding misusing the machine?

Am I missing something here? None of these clauses seem to apply. Of course they have you over a barrel. As you can't do anything else. But there's no guidance and no way to prevent further mishaps. Surely a machine just over 30 days old should function without issues and perform primary function of washing?  Please advise.

"b) cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches and dents; (d) malfunction or damage caused by any cause not attributable to the manufacturing and design of the product (including but not limited to fire, water, neglect, viruses, improper use, etc); (f) abuse or misuse, including but not solely limited to the failure to use this product for its normal purposes or in accordance with Samsung’s instructions for usage and maintenance"

Alderbank

Claresblog said:

It's not covered under their 5 year warranty. And I can't take out a different cover that does (althoygh it exists). And I'm not allowed to replace my seal myself as it would invalidate the warranty.

Of course you are allowed to replace your seal yourself. It's your washing machine.

So what if it invalidates their warranty? You just said it's not covered under their 5 year warranty anyway. And the warranty doesn't seem to be worth much judging by the mass of exclusions. 

Nothing in their arbitrary warranty rules makes any difference to your statutory consumer rights.

sheramber

I would class that as accidental damage.

Normally you are advised to turn items with buttons, buckles etc outside in , so these items are inside the garment so wil not damage the machine.

Claresblog

I closed all the buttons. I'm thinking I've been unlucky. But there's no recommendations in the booklet. One customer service person said I should net a duvet but a second one said I shouldn't. Thanks for the reply. It's much appreciated.

Claresblog

Alderbank said:

Claresblog said:

It's not covered under their 5 year warranty. And I can't take out a different cover that does (althoygh it exists). And I'm not allowed to replace my seal myself as it would invalidate the warranty.

Of course you are allowed to replace your seal yourself. It's your washing machine.

So what if it invalidates their warranty? You just said it's not covered under their 5 year warranty anyway. And the warranty doesn't seem to be worth much judging by the mass of exclusions. 

Nothing in their arbitrary warranty rules makes any difference to your statutory consumer rights.

At one stage I got put through to the warranty company. He basically said because you've done it, if anything happens with things that are normally covered like the motor (yeah they actually do cover something lol). They'll class it as customer caused because you replaced the seal, even if you buy it from Samsung. Good to know my consumer rights are unaffected although I'm still not sure what that actually gets me. 

100% agree, you want to read the rest of the warranty. I had to get them to send it to me as I was never given a copy... bottom line don't tell them if the seal or ring gets damaged, fix it yourself, they'll never know. 

Or better still never buy a Samsung. Other brands seems to cope much better and cover more.

DullGreyGuy

I dont know how often you wash your bedding but would assume this happened in the first 30 days of ownership in which case it would have been a case of rejecting the goods under your statutory short term right of rejection rather than claiming on the warranty. 

Have had 5 washing machines in my life, from memory; all but the latest has ultimately died but none through a button ripping the seal. Either you were exceptionally unlucky or were careless and trapped the button between the door and the seal. Certainly have occasionally done this with a sock but the weight and torque of a sock is vastly less than a king size duvet when the rest of it is in the drum. 

As long as you buy a genuine replacement rather than a third party/generic option it's highly unlikely they'll ever identify that you've replaced it. Almost all outsource repairs to third party engineers who have no motivation to say its your fault, we've had the same guy out for a Samsung Freezer, Smeg washer and Bosch oven (each time with the appropriately branded fleece). Id highly suspect at least 2 call outs were user problems but he's always reported a covered fault and either repaired or replaced the appliance. 

Claresblog

DullGreyGuy said:

I dont know how often you wash your bedding but would assume this happened in the first 30 days of ownership in which case it would have been a case of rejecting the goods under your statutory short term right of rejection rather than claiming on the warranty. 

Have had 5 washing machines in my life, from memory; all but the latest has ultimately died but none through a button ripping the seal. Either you were exceptionally unlucky or were careless and trapped the button between the door and the seal. Certainly have occasionally done this with a sock but the weight and torque of a sock is vastly less than a king size duvet when the rest of it is in the drum. 

As long as you buy a genuine replacement rather than a third party/generic option it's highly unlikely they'll ever identify that you've replaced it. Almost all outsource repairs to third party engineers who have no motivation to say its your fault, we've had the same guy out for a Samsung Freezer, Smeg washer and Bosch oven (each time with the appropriately branded fleece). Id highly suspect at least 2 call outs were user problems but he's always reported a covered fault and either repaired or replaced the appliance. 

32 days after this happened. Initially I couldn't use the machine as the paid for installation wasn't actually installed - left in the packing screws. Because I'm out of time and unlucky, they would let me refund. 

Now they know I have a rip they have it on file so if I claimed would know I did something. I regret reporting it in the first place. Live and learn. Thanks for your thoughts.