washing machine faulty

daheff

Hi

Our washing machine went a bit crazy over the weekend. It seems to be stuck in a never ending wash cycle. I've tried turning it off...plugging it out and turning it back on again..but no luck..still stuck.

The machine itself is less than 2 years old...with a 5 year parts warranty. Who should i contact on this? the company who sold it to us or the manufacturer?

thanks

Biggins

Initially, you should contact the business where you bought it as they would have (or should!) the details of your purchase, its date and subsequent guarantee extending from that period of purchase.
They then contact the manufacturer/repair person or section to take your situation further.

Only if you have no luck with them, try the makers themselves. Be aware, one of the first questions to you will probably be "when did you buy it?".
By-passing the shop/business from the start might lose you the guarantee (if it still applies in your case) and prove more costly than it might otherwise.

Kensington

OP, I take it that it's either a Zanussi or Hotpoint machine from the fact you state it's a five year parts guarantee? In this case, they only come with a 1 year labour guarantee, so you'll be hit with a call out charge to cover the cost of sending someone out to work on the machine - any replacement parts they put into the machine, won't be chargeable to you though.

In this case, direct contact with a service agent is probably the quickest route. Generally they arrange payment over the phone before they send an engineer out to you. Give the shop a ring to see who their service agent for the machine is. If you insist dealing with shop directly though, if you go into the store, they will, if you insist, fax off a service call request with your details to their service agent, but all that happens is someone will just ring yourself once they've got the request - no appointment is made until payment is organised. Alternatively if you rang yourself, they'll book up a service request there and then over the phone for you, sort out times to suit etc.

Finally, you will need a valid receipt for the parts guarantee to be valid, and for faulty parts to be replaced free of charge. The service agent will check it before anything happens - if you contact the place where you bought it, they should be able to pull up a copy of it for you (be aware though the responsibility of keeping a proof of purchase ie. a receipt, is entirely on the behalf of the consumer).

Hth!

daheff

Kensington wrote: »

OP, I take it that it's either a Zanussi or Hotpoint machine from the fact you state it's a five year parts guarantee? In this case, they only come with a 1 year labour guarantee, so you'll be hit with a call out charge to cover the cost of sending someone out to work on the machine - any replacement parts they put into the machine, won't be chargeable to you though.

In this case, direct contact with a service agent is probably the quickest route. Generally they arrange payment over the phone before they send an engineer out to you. Give the shop a ring to see who their service agent for the machine is. If you insist dealing with shop directly though, if you go into the store, they will, if you insist, fax off a service call request with your details to their service agent, but all that happens is someone will just ring yourself once they've got the request - no appointment is made until payment is organised. Alternatively if you rang yourself, they'll book up a service request there and then over the phone for you, sort out times to suit etc.

Finally, you will need a valid receipt for the parts guarantee to be valid, and for faulty parts to be replaced free of charge. The service agent will check it before anything happens - if you contact the place where you bought it, they should be able to pull up a copy of it for you (be aware though the responsibility of keeping a proof of purchase ie. a receipt, is entirely on the behalf of the consumer).

Hth!

thanks folks....yes it is a Hotpoint.

I'm pretty sure we rang up to register our warranty...any idea how much the call out fee/labour would cost?

ejmaztec

daheff wrote: »

thanks folks....yes it is a Hotpoint.

I'm pretty sure we rang up to register our warranty...any idea how much the call out fee/labour would cost?

Paid for a call-out on our Electrolux a few months ago - €80. Don't know what the Hotpoint figure is.

I understood at the time, that if the engineer didn't have the parts with him, two call-out charges would apply. I don't know whether Hotpoint engineers have the same policy.

Fortunately, we had some idea that the motor was faulty, so told the engineer to make certain that he brought one with him. The motor would have cost around €200.

If it's one of those machines that gives error codes etc, you might find out what the problem is likely to be.

num one

Hotpoint charge €114.00 aghhhhhhh

ejmaztec

num one wrote: »

Hotpoint charge €114.00 aghhhhhhh

Probably means they've all gone up!

num one

Its a one off callout fee even if they need to comeback with parts the warantee on the repair is only 90 days tho

Kensington

If it's Hotpoint, Merloni (repair agents for Hotpoint) charge €115 for the labour call out charge as mentioned. Any parts are then replaced under the guarantee. Also as mentioned, this is a one off charge.

Sam Kade

For anyone that lives in north cork this link will help
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=66529&highlight=charge+callout

miju

daheff wrote: »

Our washing machine went a bit crazy over the weekend. It seems to be stuck in a never ending wash cycle. I've tried turning it off...plugging it out and turning it back on again..but no luck..still stuck.

The machine itself is less than 2 years old...with a 5 year parts warranty. Who should i contact on this? the company who sold it to us or the manufacturer?

I'll ask you two questions that could potentially save you €115 and annoy my previous employers in the process

1: does your water outlet pipe go into a standpipe
2: have you checked to make sure that said hose hasn't slipped down and caused it to syphon water out of the machine thus causing a never ending cycle.

Kensington wrote: »

If it's Hotpoint, Merloni (repair agents for Hotpoint)

FWIW Merloni is just a name kept by Hotpoint when they bought it over about 4 or 5 years ago all staff who answer the phone there are fully fledged employees of Hotpoint / Indesit

Anyways, OP is answer to your original question you need to contact the Hotpoint / Indesit service centre on 0818 313 413

daheff

Rang Hotpoint today...was astounded by what they said. Call out charge is 114€ (about a quarter of the price of the machine!)

They also said that in the event that it is "not economically viable to repair the unit that they will offer me a new model at a discounted price"

WTF!! I would have thought that in the case that they cannot fix the machine that they would replace it...not offer to flog me another one....in anycase if that was the result I wouldnt be buying another machine off them...i'd go get a different brand. When I asked about that...she said "oh its just a script we have to read people".

Not a happy bunny over that!!!:mad:

jimmycrackcorm

Same happened to me. Turned out to be socks stuck near the pump so it wouldn't pump out. Moral of the story is to stick socks in first at the back of the machine.

Also discovered that youtube is a great source of info on opening up the machine yourself to fix. Could have saved myself €80 had I known at the time.

Biggins

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

...Also discovered that youtube is a great source of info on opening up the machine yourself to fix. Could have saved myself €80 had I known at the time.

God bless the internet.

daheff

Well the hotpoint guy came out..on time aswell!

He couldnt find the cause of the problem so he reinstalled the software into the washing machine. Main thing is that it is now working again. Hoepfully wont have anymore problems in the next 10 years !!:cool:

daheff

its gone again!!

i turned on the machine this morning and all the lights started blinking. My other half is at home today and said that they are still blinking...cannot use any of the programs on it


Does anybody know if i can claim under sale of goods act? and if so is it against seller or manufacturer?

Machine was bought in oct 2006

vms7ply9t6dw4b

Any claims are against the seller. You shouldnt have delt with the manufacturer in the first place you have no contract with them.

Dont pay another call out fee, i wouldnt have paid for the first one if it was me. Bring the service report to wherever you bought it from and tell them its gone again and insist they organise a replacement or you will take them to small claims court. Any repairs to a product must be of a permanent nature.
Chances are you will win, esp when the judge hears they had the cheek to charge you 114 to come out at a fault they were responsible for

greeneyedspirit

daheff wrote: »

its gone again!!

i turned on the machine this morning and all the lights started blinking. My other half is at home today and said that they are still blinking...cannot use any of the programs on it

Ah, the flashing lights of death. We had the EXACT same problem with our washing machine, the repair guy came out this morning and said that it's a leak in a seal around the drum (I think?) and water got into the mainboard of the machine and screwed up the electrics (surprise surprise). Not sure what the story is with regards to repairing that, should be nicely expensive

Nody

daheff wrote: »

Does anybody know if i can claim under sale of goods act? and if so is it against seller or manufacturer?

14.1 to 14.5 is what you're after.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1980/en/act/pub/0016/sec0010.html wrote:

14.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and of any statute in that behalf, there is no implied condition or warranty as to the quality or fitness for any particular purpose of goods supplied under a contract of sale.

(2) Where the seller sells goods in the course of a business there is an implied condition that the goods supplied under the contract are of merchantable quality, except that there is no such condition—

( a ) as regards defects specifically drawn to the buyer's attention before the contract is made, or

( b ) if the buyer examines the goods before the contract is made, as regards defects which that examination ought to have revealed.

(3) Goods are of merchantable quality if they are as fit for the purpose or purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly bought and as durable as it is reasonable to expect having regard to any description applied to them, the price (if relevant) and all the other relevant circumstances, and any reference in this Act to unmerchantable goods shall be construed accordingly.

(4) where the seller sells goods in the course of a business and the buyer, expressly or by implication, makes known to the seller any particular purpose for which the goods are being bought, there is an implied condition that the goods supplied under the contract are reasonably fit for that purpose, whether or not that is a purpose for which such goods are commonly supplied, except where the circumstances show that the buyer does not rely, or that it is unreasonable for him to rely, on the seller's skill or judgement.

(5) An implied condition or warranty as to quality or fitness for a particular purpose may be annexed to a contract of sale by usage.

And it is always against the seller with the one exception being if the seller has gone out of business iirc.

daheff

sorry to drag up an old thread...

dishwasher has now gone over the weekend...hotpoint too. I rang them up...same schpiel...except call out is €139


also they tried to sell me a payment planned insurance for the machine....guy on the line also denied they offered 5 year parts warranty. :mad:

i tell ya next time i buy appliances...none of them will be hotpoint.

miju

daheff wrote: »

guy on the line also denied they offered 5 year parts warranty. :mad:

They don't offer a warranty on the parts for 5 years the offer a 5 year parts gaurentee .

Thats a big difference and simply means they will cover cost of parts as long as a Hotpoint guy repairs the machine.

slimjimmc

daheff wrote: »

sorry to drag up an old thread...

dishwasher has now gone over the weekend...hotpoint too. I rang them up...same schpiel...except call out is €139


also they tried to sell me a payment planned insurance for the machine....guy on the line also denied they offered 5 year parts warranty. :mad:

i tell ya next time i buy appliances...none of them will be hotpoint.

Did ya even read the terms of the guarantee before you rang so that you'd know what your were entitled to?

Hotpoint give you 1 year full cover (parts and labour) and another 4 years parts only cover. There's nothing unusual about that level of cover among most brands, if you want labour included you generally need to buy an extended guarantee (warranty).

Some premium brands such as Bosch give you full cover, for 1 year and a second year if you register with them. After that you're on your own, not even parts-only cover. If you want 5 years cover you pay for it in the form of an insurance policy.

Don't forget you have rights under consumer law. Guarantees and warranties are just enhancements on your statutory rights. Contact the retailer who sold you the product (you'll need proof of purchase, e.g. receipt, or credit card statement) and see what they will do. They best they can offer you is a repair (likely), replacement or refund if the breakdown is not due to misuse.