Surely they cant do this ???
Had my firdge freezer repaired by them three months ago and notice that their repairs are only guarantted for three months. Surely you'd expect a repair to last longer than that?
Luckily, its just under three months and the exact same fault has occured agaim (thus, questioning whether the original fault was actually diagnosed correctly).
Perhaps the "3 months" bit only really applies in circumstances where those 3 months expire later than the original (12 month?) guarantee. Otherwise just re-invoke the original guarantee.
What make of fridge freezer? I ask because I'm currently suing Comet over a similar issue.
Are they defending the claim?
Why? If your machine is already out of warranty then this is standard practice.
It doesn't invalidate your existing 12 month warranty. If your machine is already out of warranty then 3 months is perfectly normal as this is effectively a warranty extension.
Yes, they are.
Sounds like fun. Tell us more!
Oh, it's sub judice I'm afraid ;)
I shall however report any developments of interest, in due course.
Are small claims track proceedings subject to sub judice reporting restrictions??
Gaz
Samsung Fridge freezer. Packed up 1 month outside warranty...
In the end, I paid about 40% of the repair cost. However, same fault has re-occured...
I'm sorry but I'd expect a repair to last more than 3 months...
Surely, the sale of goods act would apply here. If they've fixed something, charged me and stated its working then surely I can expect 'at least' a year before the same fault would re-appear!!!!
My appliance was a Bosch which packed up rather quicker, and I wondered if the design was at fault.
If they fitted defective parts then you could demand that they carry out a further repair or reimburse you if you pay someone else to do a repair. But that isn't really the issue. If the machine has failed less than 2 years from date of purchase and a repair has proved to be only a short term remedy, the appliance was not of merchantable quality or fit for its purpose. I don't say you are entitled to reject it, but you are entitled to sue for the cost of a replacement machine. I'm assuming of course that you haven't misused it. It is rather difficult to imagine how it could be your fault that it failed so quickly.
Go for it. Send them a threatening letter, then use Money Claim Online.
You are mixing up warranty and any rights you may have under the Sale of Goods Act (SOGA). A warranty is a legally binding agreement which may be between the supplier and buyer or manufacturer (or distributor etc) and buyer. It usually makes it easier to get a repair because the organisation giving it is commonly saying "If it breaks in less than xx months we will fix it without arguing unless you've done something silly". There is however no requirement at all to provide any warranty or guarantee, much less one for a particular time.
The warranty has no effect upon any claim may have under the SOGA but such a claim would always be against the supplier, not the manufacturer. In a claims the burden of proof is upon the buyer to show the fault was caused by a condition existing at the time of sale.
How long you can expect it to last is to some extent dependent upon the age of the appliance. If it's a fridge and 13 months old at the time of repair 12 months isn't unreasonable. If it's a 10 year old TV it's quite unreasonable.
"Peter Parry" wrote
What happened to the "six-month" rule?
In my opinion a fridge freezer should give good service for rather longer than 2 years. I think the average district judge would agree, without expecting expert evidence from an engineer.
If Comet want to go to court and argue that the average consumer expects to replace or repair his fridge freezer after just one year or 18 months of use, let them try their luck. Somehow I think they'd pay up before it got to court. It would be gratifying to put them to the trouble and expense of coming to court even if one lost the case.
I wouldn't say it's unreasonable at all. You would expect the repair to last well, but what you might not expect is the rest of the old TV to last as long. It would be reasonable to expect a 10 year old TV to develop a *different* fault within a year, but not the same fault needing the same repair.
But isnt that a long way from proving that their was a defect from the point of sale?
Gaz
No, because the SOGA isn't to do with defects (the word isn't even mentioned) but "non conformity with the contract". In the case of an item such as a fridge which usually has a long life the non conformity claim would be based upon the fact that it lacked the durability appropriate to the item; an implied term in any consumer contract.
What's wrong with it ? Is it a side by side model and the fridge compartment has stopped working or gone noisy ? I may have some information regarding known faults.
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