help please - hotpoint washer/dryer

Anthillmob

on 5 feb 2007 we brought a hotpoint WD440G.

today it has broken down. it isnt drying clothes. i dont even know if its washing them either but it certainly isnt drying them.

we only took the 1 year warranty from comet.

we called comet today and they have told us to contact hotpoint direct. ill do this tomorrow. is there anything i can throw at them given its only 15 months old?

i have 2 kids so i need a washing machine/dryer.

or could we claim on household insurance for repairs?

i dont see why we should pay for repairs on something thats only 15 months old. surely these things should be built to last. if it was 5 years or so old then i could understand this.

comet did say to my partner that if hotpoint give us the runaround theyll fight our corner but to me this is a matter of urgency. i cant take clothes down the laundrette, im disabled and cant carry bags of clothes on a bus.

thanks in advance.

Anthillmob

we had it repaired and are paying 15 quid a month for cover for repairs and now the !!!!ing things flooded my kitchen!!!

dmg24

Can't believe this wasn't answered when you posted before (I was on holiday!) ...

The problems you are having seem to be common with washer dryers (I was looking at your model, but got persuaded not to buy one). Hotpoint (and most retailers) are well aware of the problems.

Firstly, you really shouldn't be paying for cover at this time. Although you are outside of warranty, you are still well within the time that such an item should be fit for use.

Because the washer is no longer within a reasonable period of purchase, Hotpoint/ Comet can choose whether to refund (proportionately), replace or repair.

If this becomes a regular occurrence, I would be inclined to threaten Hotpoint/ Comet with the small claims court. You would need to prove that the item was inherently faulty, but a report from an independent engineer should be sufficient for this.

I should point out that your contract is actually with the retailer and not the manufacturer. However given a choice of Hotpoint or Comet, I would choose to deal with the former! x

Brooker_Dave

dmg24 wrote: »

Can't believe this wasn't answered when you posted before (I was on holiday!) ...

The problems you are having seem to be common with washer dryers (I was looking at your model, but got persuaded not to buy one). Hotpoint (and most retailers) are well aware of the problems.

Firstly, you really shouldn't be paying for cover at this time. Although you are outside of warranty, you are still well within the time that such an item should be fit for use.

Because the washer is no longer within a reasonable period of purchase, Hotpoint/ Comet can choose whether to refund (proportionately), replace or repair.

If this becomes a regular occurrence, I would be inclined to threaten Hotpoint/ Comet with the small claims court. You would need to prove that the item was inherently faulty, but a report from an independent engineer should be sufficient for this.

I should point out that your contract is actually with the retailer and not the manufacturer. However given a choice of Hotpoint or Comet, I would choose to deal with the former! x

It may well depend on how much the washing machine cost, if it's a cheepo one the court may well say that 15 months is about your lot before some running repairs are needed.

At least hotpoint come with the years of parts guarentee thing.

dmg24

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

It may well depend on how much the washing machine cost, if it's a cheepo one the court may well say that 15 months is about your lot before some running repairs are needed.

At least hotpoint come with the years of parts guarentee thing.

It wasn't a cheapy one (do you think I buy cheap? :eek: )!

Missed you!

CEvanz1988

Okay, First of all I would just like to say all electrical/appliances are covered by a 6 year major component parts gaurante that has to be supplied by the Retailer. But this only covers the cost of the parts not including labor to fit the parts or the initial inspection. Also if manufacturers discontinue parts within 10 years they have to replace the item under certain trading laws, cant remember exactly but I am sure wikipedia has the answer..

dmg24

CEvanz1988 wrote: »

Okay, First of all I would just like to say all electrical/appliances are covered by a 6 year major component parts gaurante that has to be supplied by the Retailer. But this only covers the cost of the parts not including labor to fit the parts or the initial inspection. Also if manufacturers discontinue parts within 10 years they have to replace the item under certain trading laws, cant remember exactly but I am sure wikipedia has the answer..

You really need to quote sources for the above information, because most of it does not appear to be correct. I am assuming that the provisions that you are referring to are nothing to do with SOGA?

grayme-m

Our fun was posted here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=468318&highlight=hotpoint

Basically, got them to replace it under the warranty for a new washer (only) which is very good.

Took a real fight though.

Also took out a new reduced cost warranty, yes there is the SOGA but what use is court action when you've not got a washing machine (and no 'convenient' laundry nearby)?

Anthillmob

good god.....

since my last post, we again had it repaired and it had a blockage in the pipe caused by them colour catcher sheets [which are fabulous but they dont warn that they may clog up your pipes so now i place one inside one of them washing powder tablet bags. however i dont recall ever losing any of these sheets as i have a strange habit of getting them out and inspecting them for colour caught!!]. and he left us with another fault, namely....what happened 2 days later. i hadnt used the machine since this repair as my mum had done all our washing for us. so 2 days before we were due to go on holiday i put my white wash on and it wouldnt work but the door had locked. i needed these clothes/sheets/babys vom cloths for holiday.

hotpoint wouldnt send anyone round in such a short space of time but could on the tuesday we were away!! however turning the machine off at the mains and leaving for ten mins unlocked the door so my neighbour did my washing.

had to call them back when we got back from holiday but they couldnt get anyone round until the following tuesday bt we were moving the saturday before and the refused to send anyone to our new address until we had moved and asked them to change our address which they wouldnt do until we had physically moved. a chat with mr mob resulted in them backing down and promising an engineer at our new address.

so i wait in all day for the engineer who never showed up. i was absolutely livid. hotpoint gave me his mobile number but it was switched off.

so the next day i had to wait in until an engineer turned up at about 4ish.

he replaced the 'module' and put a new one in wrapped in a carrier bag to keep moisture off. i made several phone calls to hotpoint asking if this was normal procedure.

then 2 weeks ago all the lights stayed on when the machine was turned off. great here we go again, but a power cut seems to have sorted this problem.

grayme-m

timada42 wrote: »

I have the same problem with my washer dryer. My husband tried to repair it himself. He looked for all sorts of appliance parts to replace, but it still doesn't work. The guarantee expired 5 months ago. DO you know a good place where I could have it repaired?

The one year guarantee expired just five months ago or the extended warranty (as in our case)?

Play them at their own game, renew the warranty (they kept sending us renewals), wait a couple of weeks and then call them. Then press them to replace the dog, they know it's one, for a pure washing machine (their Aqualtis is rather good ).

I wouldn't pay out to repair it, it will just keep going wrong.

grayme-m

Anthillmob wrote: »

good god.....

since my last post, we again had it repaired and it had a blockage in the pipe caused by them colour catcher sheets [which are fabulous but they dont warn that they may clog up your pipes so now i place one inside one of them washing powder tablet bags. however i dont recall ever losing any of these sheets as i have a strange habit of getting them out and inspecting them for colour caught!!]. and he left us with another fault, namely....what happened 2 days later. i hadnt used the machine since this repair as my mum had done all our washing for us. so 2 days before we were due to go on holiday i put my white wash on and it wouldnt work but the door had locked. i needed these clothes/sheets/babys vom cloths for holiday.

hotpoint wouldnt send anyone round in such a short space of time but could on the tuesday we were away!! however turning the machine off at the mains and leaving for ten mins unlocked the door so my neighbour did my washing.

had to call them back when we got back from holiday but they couldnt get anyone round until the following tuesday bt we were moving the saturday before and the refused to send anyone to our new address until we had moved and asked them to change our address which they wouldnt do until we had physically moved. a chat with mr mob resulted in them backing down and promising an engineer at our new address.

so i wait in all day for the engineer who never showed up. i was absolutely livid. hotpoint gave me his mobile number but it was switched off.

so the next day i had to wait in until an engineer turned up at about 4ish.

he replaced the 'module' and put a new one in wrapped in a carrier bag to keep moisture off. i made several phone calls to hotpoint asking if this was normal procedure.

then 2 weeks ago all the lights stayed on when the machine was turned off. great here we go again, but a power cut seems to have sorted this problem.

Further proof it's a dog. Press them, be forceful. They know it will keep going wrong, you know it too.

Do they want to keep treating each 'incident' as a single occurance and paying out more in parts and labour than a new machine costs them, they didn't in our case...