ohn Lewis 5-Year Warranty Experience: Failed AEG Dryer Repair, Abandoned Repair Process and Reduced

SamMo04

I thought I would share my recent experience and see whether others have encountered something similar.

In October 2022 I purchased an AEG T9DEC866R heat pump tumble dryer from John Lewis. One of the reasons I purchased through John Lewis was the included 5-year warranty.

In May 2026, less than four years after purchase and while still fully covered by the warranty, the dryer failed.

John Lewis arranged a repair through Pacifica.

21 May 2026
A Pacifica engineer attended and diagnosed a failed main control board.

1 June 2026
Pacifica returned and replaced the main board. The engineer advised that the appliance had been repaired and was operational.

Unfortunately, immediately after the engineer left, it became apparent that the dryer was still exhibiting exactly the same fault and remained unusable.

3 June 2026
Pacifica returned and confirmed that the previous repair had not resolved the problem. The engineer advised that additional electronic boards and wiring harness components would be required and indicated that this would be reported through the repair process.

When I subsequently contacted Pacifica to understand when the additional repairs would take place, I was informed that no further repair would proceed and that I should contact the manufacturer directly.

At that point I attempted to resolve matters with John Lewis.

I spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with customer service trying to get someone to take ownership of the issue. I repeatedly requested escalation but was unable to obtain a clear path forward. At one stage I was transferred to a department unrelated to appliance support. The overall experience was frustrating and, in my view, inconsistent with the level of after-sales support I had expected from John Lewis.

The key issue for me is that:

• John Lewis accepted the warranty claim.
• John Lewis appointed the repair contractor.
• The repair was attempted.
• The repair failed.
• A subsequent engineer confirmed that further parts were required.
• The repair process then appeared to stop without the appliance being repaired.

As we were left without a functioning tumble dryer, we ultimately purchased a replacement Miele dryer at our own expense.

Once the replacement appliance had been installed, the failed AEG dryer was removed and disposed of. At that stage I had no reason to believe that retaining a non-functioning appliance would later become relevant.

Following a formal complaint, John Lewis initially offered £770 as a proposed resolution. I accepted that offer.

I was subsequently advised that the offer would instead be reduced to £150 on the basis that the higher amount was said to be contingent upon collection of the appliance. I was unable to identify that condition in the written offer provided to me and ultimately accepted the £150 because I no longer wished to spend further time pursuing the matter.

To be clear, my biggest frustration is not that the appliance failed. Appliances fail.

My concern is that the warranty repair process was initiated, the repair was unsuccessful, additional faults were identified, and yet the matter never seemed to progress to a successful repair or replacement outcome.

Has anyone else experienced something similar with a John Lewis warranty claim or appliance repair arranged through Pacifica? I would be interested to know whether this was an isolated experience or whether others have encountered similar issues.

flaneurs_lobster

The £770 offer seems generous for an appliance that cost ~£800 and that you've had the use of for most of 4 years.

The problem is that if you've made a complaint concerning an appliance then it would be unwise to dispose of the item before the complaint was resolved.

Can well understand that most dwellings don't have the space to have a second dryer occupying real estate but still believe you needed to keep the thing somewhere.

** Moany Old Person Mode/ON ** John Lewis's customer care and aftersales service is not what it once was - believe much of it has been outsourced and it has suffered accordingly.

Okell

Did you really need to buy a new drier before you resolved this, and did you really need to dispose of the old one before doing so?

We don't have a tumble drier and we don't need one.

did you not think at all that if you were going to pursue a warranty/guarantee cliam against JL that you might need to retain the evidence supporting your claim?

Having said all that I'd agree that JL have handled this badly, but i think you were premature in buying a new one and disposing of the old one before JL had sorted this out for you.

NB - JL customer service online are very poor. As are M&S online customer services. If you bought the drier instore you should have complained instore. You'd probably have got a better result.

JL, Waitrose and M&S are nowhere near as good as they'd like you to think they are…

Grumpy_chap

John Lewis initially offered £770 as a proposed resolution. I accepted that offer.

I was subsequently advised that the offer would instead be reduced to £150 on the basis that the higher amount was said to be contingent upon collection of the appliance.

It seems entirely reasonable that JL wanted the old appliance returned to them.

Otherwise, you might have been pulling a fast one and had a suitably functioning drier and also had the full £770 back, which would have been unjust enrichment.

Also, with the drier back, JL have the option to return to manufacturer and recover some value, or recycle and recover some value.

It is also possible that JL or the manufacturer wanted the drier back to undertake investigations to understand why it failed again.

Why was a replacement drier such an urgent need that the issues with the current drier could not simply conclude?