Faulty cooker delivered

Thaddeus_Wagstaff

Morning all,
Recently splashed out on a posh new induction hob electric range cooker. Delivered and installed (installation and removal of old appliance included by retailer as part of the package) on March 7. When the cooker was installed, the fitters left the ovens on and told us to leave them on for an hour or so until the "newness" smell (presumably internal lacquer protective coatings or whatever) had burned off. We did this and discovered that the oven fan remained running at high volume for about 2.5 hours after the main oven was switched off. I'm aware that oven fans are supposed to remain on for a while to cool things down for safety reasons, but over 2 hours, when the oven is obviously stone cold is clearly excessive.

So, anyway, call was made to manufacturer customer service reporting this fault, which was apparent from the very first time the cooker was used. A repair was arranged, and 3 weeks later I'm still waiting for it to be fixed.

I'd like to ask if anyone can tell me what my consumer rights are here. It seems to me that I should be entitled to full replacement of an item that was clearly delivered in a defective state. The retailer tells me that I'm not entitled to this because the appliance has been installed. My response to this is that how could it possibly become apparent that the cooker was faulty until it was installed? Also, the installation was arranged as part of the purchase with the retailer. So surely they have some responsibility here?

I'm aware that this might sound like a trivial problem, but our kitchen is also used as a living area, and it's really obtrusive to have a very loud fan blasting away for up to 2 1/2 hours after your evening meal...

ButterCheese

I would go back to the retailer first and say it does not matter at all if the appliance has been installed.  Your contract is with them and they are trying to wriggle out of it

Ergates

You're entitled to resolution of this, but not specifically to a replacement.  The retailer is allowed an attempt to repair the item.

TELLIT01

If it's simply a faulty fan it should be a simple job to replace it, and to test that it has fixed the fault.  If the problem persists after a new fan has been fitted, that will be the time to escalate the issue.

DullGreyGuy

Ergates said:

You're entitled to resolution of this, but not specifically to a replacement.  The retailer is allowed an attempt to repair the item.

If the item is under 30 days the OP has the right to reject the goods for a full refund and can obviously order a replacement and fairly likely at the same price therefore the retailer may as well deal with it as a replacement if they want to keep the customer etc. 

Thaddeus_Wagstaff

DullGreyGuy said:

Ergates said:

You're entitled to resolution of this, but not specifically to a replacement.  The retailer is allowed an attempt to repair the item.

If the item is under 30 days the OP has the right to reject the goods for a full refund and can obviously order a replacement and fairly likely at the same price therefore the retailer may as well deal with it as a replacement if they want to keep the customer etc. 

Thanks to all who have replied. Regarding the above, does the 30 day window expire 30 days after delivery of the item, even if the fault was discovered and reported on the day of delivery? I'm concerned that they are trying to wind the clock down here with their delayed response to the repair...

DullGreyGuy

Thaddeus_Wagstaff said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Ergates said:

You're entitled to resolution of this, but not specifically to a replacement.  The retailer is allowed an attempt to repair the item.

If the item is under 30 days the OP has the right to reject the goods for a full refund and can obviously order a replacement and fairly likely at the same price therefore the retailer may as well deal with it as a replacement if they want to keep the customer etc. 

Thanks to all who have replied. Regarding the above, does the 30 day window expire 30 days after delivery of the item, even if the fault was discovered and reported on the day of delivery? I'm concerned that they are trying to wind the clock down here with their delayed response to the repair...

If you reported it to the merchant then no, the clock is stopped. If you didnt report it or you spoke to the manufacturer rather than the merchant then the count is from the day after it was delivered to the day you first tell the seller. 

Alderbank

Thaddeus_Wagstaff said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Ergates said:

You're entitled to resolution of this, but not specifically to a replacement.  The retailer is allowed an attempt to repair the item.

If the item is under 30 days the OP has the right to reject the goods for a full refund and can obviously order a replacement and fairly likely at the same price therefore the retailer may as well deal with it as a replacement if they want to keep the customer etc. 

Thanks to all who have replied. Regarding the above, does the 30 day window expire 30 days after delivery of the item, even if the fault was discovered and reported on the day of delivery? I'm concerned that they are trying to wind the clock down here with their delayed response to the repair...

For something you can plug in and go, like a kettle, it is 30 days after delivery.
Where installation is part of the package, as in your case, it is 30 days from when the installation has been completed and the installer says,'OK, it's ready for use now'.

The time limit is only for you to say you are exercising your right to reject, not for the seller to carry out their obligation.

The legal grounds for this is your short term right to reject, s22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Ergates

DullGreyGuy said:

Ergates said:

You're entitled to resolution of this, but not specifically to a replacement.  The retailer is allowed an attempt to repair the item.

If the item is under 30 days the OP has the right to reject the goods for a full refund and can obviously order a replacement and fairly likely at the same price therefore the retailer may as well deal with it as a replacement if they want to keep the customer etc. 

It's worth suggesting that to the retailer, but it's not an entitlement as such (the replacement I mean, the rejection/refund obviously is).

DullGreyGuy

Ergates said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Ergates said:

You're entitled to resolution of this, but not specifically to a replacement.  The retailer is allowed an attempt to repair the item.

If the item is under 30 days the OP has the right to reject the goods for a full refund and can obviously order a replacement and fairly likely at the same price therefore the retailer may as well deal with it as a replacement if they want to keep the customer etc. 

It's worth suggesting that to the retailer, but it's not an entitlement as such (the replacement I mean, the rejection/refund obviously is).

Absolutely, the law states what you can demand, parties are free to agree any other resolution that they both agree to. Makes perfect sense for a retailer to do a replacement rather than refund/repurchase but its worth remembering the replacement would be a continuation of the original contract and so wouldn't trigger a new 30 days short term right to reject whereas a refund/repurchase would. Obviously if you bought it in a sale or with a new customer discount or such there may be reasons why a replacement may be favourable despite the loss of a new short term right.