Faulty goods, s75 Lloyds and repair quotes

bumblebobble

Really hoping someone can help as I’m a bit lost.

Purchased a heat pump tumble dryer in October 2025, noticed by March/April it was smelling quite musty despite consistently leaving the door and water tank open and cleaning the filters religiously. Reported to the retailer who referred me back to the manufacturer. Arranged for a manufacturer warranty visit but coincidentally had a local appliance repair engineer at my house in the interim for another unrelated appliance. While he was at my house anyway I asked for his opinion on the dryer and he explained this can be an inherent issue with head pumps as they effectively collect warm damp air in an enclosed environment which you can’t fully access to clean or vent. He advised the condenser would need to be fully changed (big job) and it may happen again. The manufacturers engineer that visited shared the same opinion. The manufacturers engineer stated we would need a rebuild or replacement machine but on contacting his office you get passed around and don’t seem to be able to actually book anything in.

Sorry this is long.

Ended up going back to the retailer under the consumer rights act and they have refused to engage at all. Sent them a formal complaint about the issue now attaching a report from the independent engineer and still nothing.

I’ve then opened a section 75 claim with Lloyds. They have taken, so far, months, to review the claim and submit it to the retailer. They then gave the retailer 14 days to respond followed by another 14 days (no idea why 2 lots) which has now passed but I’ve still heard nothing. There is no direct way to contact the section 75 team and they can take weeks to reply to an email which they will sometimes call back to and if you miss that call they don’t leave a message or send an email you have to email them again and wait another 7+ days.

On the last call Lloyds have also said I would need to go and obtain at least 3 quotes for repair if the retailer doesn’t take responsibility for this.

I’m now nearly 6 months down the line and still have a mouldy and unusable dryer.

What do I do now? Can the bank require 3 quotes all at my inconvenience to arrange? Isn’t this in breach of s23(2)(a) of the consumer rights act for the fault to be repaired without unreasonable delay or inconvenience? I was weeks over the 6 months time mark in reporting the fault and have provided an independent report of the issue. Do I formally complain to Lloyds? Please help anyone, thank you!

dumpster_fire2025

I see no reason why Lloyds can't request that you obtain three quotes for a repair. Whist you may have the same rights against the card company as the retailer, they are ultimately not a retailer and so you can't expect to be treated in exactly the same was as the retailer may treat you. Although given the retailer has fobbed you off it's perhaps for the best that they're not treating you in the same way the retailer has.

It's not at all unreasonable for you to have to call three local companies to get a quote for repair.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Lloyds are jointly liable so either raise an official complaint or send a letter before action stating the goods do not conform, they have failed to provide a remedy of repair or replace with a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience and as such you are exercising the final right to reject and a refund is due within 14 days.

You appear to have sufficient evidence of the problem, after 6 months a deduction for use can be applied, I don’t think the time you have been unable to use the thing would count. That 6 months is the point of rejection, some people seem to think everything should last 5 minutes but satisfactory quality gives consideration to price so try to find a reasonable lifespan based on the price paid, deduct 6 months of use and ask for that amount.

Official complaint I think is 8 weeks until you can raise to the ombudsman if Lloyds doesn’t react.

Letter before action, 28 days is fair before starting the court process but is perhaps more of a headache to follow through with, although it’s unlikely Lloyds will defend and they might just pay you once they receive court papers.

No obligation for you to get one repair quote, let alone three, nor is the cost of repair relevant to the situation, if they bring it up again you may wish to ask them if they feel they are misleading you about your consumer rights and breaching the DMCC.

PHK

@the_lunatic_is_in_my_head Not sure what the relevance of the DMCC is here.

Also, In a S75 case there's nothing wrong with the credit provider asking for quotes. The law recognises they are not a retailer.

bumblebobble

is there any guidance anywhere on the timescales a bank should have to act under s75? Lloyds have basically said they can take as long as they like and tough which is part of the frustration

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82132660#Comment_82132660

There is no legal time limit specified, the only limit that exists is on you, you have 6 years to take it to court under the law of limitations.

The FCA/Customer Duty has general requirements of timeliness but its not as specific as saying X weeks and of cause as soon as they ask you for something the clock stops until you have provided what they request.

Asking for 3 quotes is very old fashioned but then you are talking about Lloyds Bank who have put a nice shiny wrapper on their creaking and old-fashioned back end (noting they are mid process of migrating to Thought Machine Vault). Again there is official guidance of what is normal/right but the courts see hundreds of litigated cases every day that do not require 3 quotes. In my world we ask for 1 quote and only if it feels toppy may we ask for a second or arrange our own.