Faulty Toaster Repair, Exchange or Refund - price increase

RL11

I've just bought a matching Rangemaster Toaster & Kettle. They were in a recent sale at several places online, whereby you could get both for £120 (£70 kettle plus £50 toaster) instead of £260 RRP. They were obviously extremely popular and as stock availability dropped rapidly, to get both, I ended up buying the toaster from Amazon and the kettle from Hughes.

They both arrived in over the top boxing, with cloth bags, on top of another bag, to protect them - obviously to impress that these are very prestige products. They do look great but unfortunately the toaster doesn't brown both sides the same - i.e. one side too light and one side too dark. It looks like a manufacturing fault and/or a testing failure, as I can clearly see that some wires are not heating up.

All I want to do is to swap my faulty toaster for another of the exact same toaster. I don't even mind sending it off for repair.

Rangemaster said I should go back to Amazon for a refund or exchange. Amazon will give me a refund (£50) but I can only exchange for another, by paying the difference in what I paid to what it costs now. It now costs £105 - so they want me to pay an extra £55 to get a working toaster!

It is now back in stock at Currys but also at an increased price - £70 - so I could get the Amazon refund and pay £20 more.

But, I don't see why I should pay any more to get a working toaster.

Rangemaster have basically washed their hands of it and are saying Amazon need to sort any problems for the 1st 12 Months and then they take over for years 2 & 3 - it was a 3 year warranty. So in a years time, presumably they will have to repair or replace at no cost to me? - but I have to wait a year!

What are my actual consumer rights?
Do Amazon have to give me a working toaster for the same price?
Are Rangemaster obligated to fix, given it is clearly a manufacturing fault and not something Amazon have caused?

DeathByFluffy

No, Amazon don't have to do anything - they're allowed to just refund I'm afraid. 
You didn't buy the toaster from Rangemaster, so you have no consumer rights against them. 

It's a pain, but unfortunately there's not much you can do in these circumstances. 

RL11

DeathByFluffy said:

No, Amazon don't have to do anything - they're allowed to just refund I'm afraid. 
You didn't buy the toaster from Rangemaster, so you have no consumer rights against them. 

It's a pain, but unfortunately there's not much you can do in these circumstances. 

I figure refund from Amazon is my only redress but...
Rangemaster manufactured a faulty toaster and didn't pick up the fault during any testing process - assuming they have one. They boxed it up and sold it to Amazon, for Amazon to sell on. Amazon had no idea they had been sent a faulty toaster and neither did I. Surely Rangemaster should take some responsibility? Regardless of whether they have any legal responsibility, as a premium brand, I did expect them to do something e.g. offer a replacement or a repair. And, as mentioned, they provide the warranty for years 2 & 3, so would have to fix or replace at that point?

Ayr_Rage

Your consumer rights are with Amazon.

Rangemaster are correct and they have no obligation to repair or replace the item at this stage.

Vitor

OPs best bet is to accept iffy toast for 12 months at which point the manufacturer’s warranty kicks-in and they would be obliged to repair.

swingaloo

Not ideal but you could do what I have to do with my toaster and turn the slice round mid way. Mine is a Russell Hobbs and has always done as you describe.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Technically if the goods do not conform to the contract you are entitled to be in the position you would have had been in had the breach not occurred.

If Amazon are denying you your right to a repair or replacement and insisting upon a refund you could seek the difference as damages.

Enforcing this for £20 isn't going to be easy as Amazon CS is all overseas and script based so you'd need to send a letter before action then file through small claims.

I doubt Amazon would go to court over this but it would require some leg work. 

This policy they seem to have of denying the right to a repair or replace is (yet another) reason not to shop with them. 

RL11

swingaloo said:

Not ideal but you could do what I have to do with my toaster and turn the slice round mid way. Mine is a Russell Hobbs and has always done as you describe.

Yes, I'm doing that. It has 6 settings, 3 is too high and burns the toast, so I have it set to 2 and swap toast around. So it really is a duff product. Is it possible they are sending out rejects? - hence the £50 sale.

Must have had dozens of toasters over the years and never had this problem. Certainly don't expect this kind of issue from a toaster with a £140 RRP!

born_again

RL11 said:

swingaloo said:

Not ideal but you could do what I have to do with my toaster and turn the slice round mid way. Mine is a Russell Hobbs and has always done as you describe.

Yes, I'm doing that. It has 6 settings, 3 is too high and burns the toast, so I have it set to 2 and swap toast around. So it really is a duff product. Is it possible they are sending out rejects? - hence the £50 sale.

Must have had dozens of toasters over the years and never had this problem. Certainly don't expect this kind of issue from a toaster with a £140 RRP!

Very much doubt it, given how it would damage their reputation.
I take it looking at prices at the moment that the RRP is a typical over priced hype to make people think they are getting good deals.

TBH, it's more unusual to find a toaster that cooks the same on both sides, than one that has a variation, on each side.

Just how long have you had them?
Amazon are very much a refund & nothing else. As it is simply not cost effective for them to offer repairs.

MyRealNameToo

RL11 said:

swingaloo said:

Not ideal but you could do what I have to do with my toaster and turn the slice round mid way. Mine is a Russell Hobbs and has always done as you describe.

Yes, I'm doing that. It has 6 settings, 3 is too high and burns the toast, so I have it set to 2 and swap toast around. So it really is a duff product. Is it possible they are sending out rejects? - hence the £50 sale.

Must have had dozens of toasters over the years and never had this problem. Certainly don't expect this kind of issue from a toaster with a £140 RRP!

Are you sure it doesnt have a bagel function or similar? The fancy toaster the Mrs bought has a function where it toasts one side and only warms the other meant for doing things like bagels or burger buns where you only want the inside toasted. 

RL11

It does have a bagel function (was one of the things I wanted, as I had it on a Dualit) but No, that's not on. In any case that leaves the outside elements off and the inside ones on. The inside ones are not as bright as the outside ones. Given it burns on level 3, it probably needs the output on the outside elements, turning down, to achieve an even colour both sides.