Whirlpool Washing m/c warranty?

eightyfish

Hi.

I moved into a new apartment 1yr and 15 days ago. It came with new appliances which we sent off the warranty cards for, but it's only a one year warranty. So yesterday, the washer broke down. I think I read somewhere recently that appliances need to be covered for 2 years by the manufacturer, is this true? Or is it just the standard 1-year?

jor el

You are entitled to a reasonable warranty, by law, but reasonable is not defined. It could be as much as 6 years, but would depend on the product in question. A washing machine should reasonable last several years, so you should be covered for a free repair. You may need to press the manufacturer, or supplier, though, and they may not concede without a fight.

Step 1, contact the supplier or manufacturer, and see what they say.

eightyfish

Thanks. Will call tomorrow and follow up.

daisy boo boo

eightyfish wrote: »

Hi.

I moved into a new apartment 1yr and 15 days ago. It came with new appliances which we sent off the warranty cards for, but it's only a one year warranty. So yesterday, the washer broke down. I think I read somewhere recently that appliances need to be covered for 2 years by the manufacturer, is this true? Or is it just the standard 1-year?

a lot of shops sell appliances with one year manufacturing warranty.in order to get two to sometimes five year warranty depending on manufacturer you have to send in the guarantee in the box that comes with product filled in.:)

astrofool

There's an EU wide law that goods should have a 2 year warranty, which would entitle you to a repair, I've seen some people on these forums use it, and get the manufacturer/shop to fix the item.

eightyfish

Update:

Called Whirlpool on Mon morn, they said they'd send someone out Tuesday and I'd receive a fall from the repair guy Mon eve or Tue morn. No call, no show. Called them back on Tue at 4pm, and the girl said she'd call the technician and call me back. This being Ireland, she didn't bother. Called again at 12:30 on Wed and there's no answer.

Still sitting at home waiting for these useless twats.

jor el

I waited 6 months to get a dial replaced on my washing machine. Whirlpool after sales service is dire.

RangeR

eightyfish wrote: »

Update:

Called Whirlpool on Mon morn, they said they'd send someone out Tuesday and I'd receive a fall from the repair guy Mon eve or Tue morn. No call, no show. Called them back on Tue at 4pm, and the girl said she'd call the technician and call me back. This being Ireland, she didn't bother. Called again at 12:30 on Wed and there's no answer.

Still sitting at home waiting for these useless twats.

1. Try them once or twice more.
2. If no luck, send them a formal letter of complaint [NOT via email] detailing all the times you contacted them and all the no shows. Detail that you want a reply to the letter within 10 business days and the fault repaired within 20 working days OTHERWISE you will be taking the issue up with the Small Claims Court.

eightyfish

Well, I emailed them earlier on, I ran out of credit holding. I don't see them replying, but if they don't reply I'll call again tomorrow, after that resort to registered mail. The only thing is that I think my warranty is only 1 year, and it's a few days (less than a week) out of warranty, so if I go the letters route they might decide to charge for the repair.

RangeR

eightyfish wrote: »

The only thing is that I think my warranty is only 1 year, and it's a few days (less than a week) out of warranty, so if I go the letters route they might decide to charge for the repair.

That is irrelevant. Irish Law allows for up to 6 years warranty, depending on product. With a decent washing machine, I would assume 2 to 3 years at least. However, only an Irish Court of Law could tell for sure.

Saruman

astrofool wrote: »

There's an EU wide law that goods should have a 2 year warranty, which would entitle you to a repair, I've seen some people on these forums use it, and get the manufacturer/shop to fix the item.

I do not think we are signed up to that for the simple reason that our own statutory rights offer stronger consumer protection.

Either way there is no way he should have to pay.

RangeR

Saruman wrote: »

I do not think we are signed up to that

Correct, we are not

Saruman wrote: »

for the simple reason that our own statutory rights offer stronger consumer protection.

Yup. Up to 6 years.

miju

RangeR wrote: »

That is irrelevant. Irish Law allows for up to 6 years warranty, depending on product. With a decent washing machine, I would assume 2 to 3 years at least. However, only an Irish Court of Law could tell for sure.

from experience working with for a white goods manaufacturers they get around this quite easily and still are legally able to charge money for call outs.

After a year they will gaurentee machine but parts only. So you have to pay for labour but not parts now for some things this seems excessive. However, when the likes of a drum in a washing machine has to be replaced then without parts gaurentee etc it would cost ya about €150 just for the drum.

Not defending it btw but thats how they've been justifying their gaurentees for years and pretty much all the white goods manufacturers do the same.

Saruman

Miju, they only get around it if the customer is willing to let themselves be conned by that. I doubt the law allows them to charge for labour to repair a manufacturing fault that is none of the customers doing.

BonoVox

I have a problem with Zanussi dryer and thermostat has gone on it for a 2nd time in 3 years.
Their policy is to replace for free in the first year, but in the 2nd and 3rd years they will pay for just the parts so I forked out €70 for labour both times.
However, when I found out the problem was with the thermostat I contacted them again to get the 2nd €70 back as the law says you have a "reasonable expectation" for the life of a product and the manufacturer must "repair, replace or refund" in the event of the product not living up to this reasonable expectation.
It is tedious and a ridiculously grey area but you should only pay out a call out charge and if there is anything majorly wrong demand one of the three outcomes above without any further financial outlay from you.
Good luck and you need plenty of patience because they will ignore you hoping you'll give up!

BonoVox

eightyfish wrote: »

Update:

Called Whirlpool on Mon morn, they said they'd send someone out Tuesday and I'd receive a fall from the repair guy Mon eve or Tue morn. No call, no show. Called them back on Tue at 4pm, and the girl said she'd call the technician and call me back. This being Ireland, she didn't bother. Called again at 12:30 on Wed and there's no answer.

Still sitting at home waiting for these useless twats.

Just realised the wait....the Zanussi engineer took four days to ring me back the first time. They are basically self-employed guys who work for all the manufacturers.

Elessar

In our experience at home of many different types of machine manufacturers (zanussi, hotpoint, whirlpool) they were all absolutely DIRE in the customer service department. We switched to BOSCH for all our major appliances (washing machine, dish washer, fridge) and have found them to be excellent regarding not just reliability but customer service.

But as said, I'd chase them up if they refuse to co-operate. Some companies will only listen to court letters!

miju

Saruman wrote: »

Miju, they only get around it if the customer is willing to let themselves be conned by that. I doubt the law allows them to charge for labour to repair a manufacturing fault that is none of the customers doing.

Well I can tell you that having represented one of the white goods manufacturers in the small claims court over this very issue on quite a few occasions that the law does allow them to do it.

lipi

Hilarious - I'm just after faxing my letter of complaint to Whirlpool customer service manager.

Have spent 6 weeks trying to get our dishwasher fixed. It broke a couple of uses but we never bothered getting it fixed as it's a small one and it's now about 5 years old.

The "engineer" called out, told us it was one of two things that he had to check online and that he'd be back the next day. No sign of him again and after numerous attempts to speak to a superviser in the customer service team, he called out one night and handed back our money saying it wasn't fixable. :mad: Think someone was just punishing us for complaining.

No joy since then. Superviser never called back so I'm taking them on. Has anyone ever rang Joe Duffy about them? That might get them dealing with their customers.

eightyfish

lipi wrote: »

Superviser never called back so I'm taking them on.

So far I have called them 4 times, and been promised a call back 3 times and each time they didn't bother. I sent an email and the reply simply said "has an engineer not called you yet?"

They're worse then NTL.
Well, almost.
Will NEVER buy Whirlpool again.

lipi wrote: »

Has anyone ever rang Joe Duffy about them? That might get them dealing with their customers.

I worked in retail in the past, and I hated it when customers, usually in the wrong, would threaten to call Joe Duffy. In this case, however, I'm with you.

miju

lipi wrote: »

That might get them dealing with their customers.

probably not , I know it was a running joke in our office about our wall chart recording customers threatening to ring Gerry Ryan / Joe Duffy etc

RangeR

lipi wrote: »

Have spent 6 weeks trying to get our dishwasher fixed. It broke a couple of uses but we never bothered getting it fixed as it's a small one and it's now about 5 years old.

For most 5 year old kitchen appliance, I'd purchase a new one if a fault occurs. It often can cost close to the price of a new unit. Much more peace of mind purchasing a new unit rather than fork out 50% to 70% of the cost of new unit, just to repair an old one.

lipi

I wouldn't ring Joe Duffy myself, don't have the balls to go nationwide but something has to be done. Am never buying whirlpool again, that's for sure.

RangeR - it's 5 years old but the "engineer" said it's practically new which it is for the amount of use it got. I'd say no more than 20 times and that's being generous. The cost of replacing is at least €400 as its slimline integrated one.

Any suggestions for others who could fix it without using whirlpools contractors?

RangeR

lipi wrote: »

I wouldn't ring Joe Duffy myself, don't have the balls to go nationwide but something has to be done. Am never buying whirlpool again, that's for sure.

RangeR - it's 5 years old but the "engineer" said it's practically new which it is for the amount of use it got. I'd say no more than 20 times and that's being generous. The cost of replacing is at least €400 as its slimline integrated one.

Any suggestions for others who could fix it without using whirlpools contractors?

Going waaay off topic on this one, but I'll indulge a bit.

Balder hoo haa. You will be paying approx €95 call out and approx the same per hour for labour. You don't know what's wrong with it so parts may be extra. The cots of repairing it could easily hit the €200 mark. But it's a chance you have to take. It may only cost you the call our charge [still the guts of €100 with no guarentees]

Gixerboy

Whirlpool have an 8 year parts guarantee - one of the reasons that influenced my decision to purchase all whirlpool appliances

Only the first 12 months of the warranty includes travel, labour and materials,.. after that it's just parts

My washing machine doesn't get too much use as I live alone,.. but after just 1 year and 9 months, I had to phone to book a service because it leaked, became unusually noisy and some part fell off.

I emailed with the details on my guarantee card, and was pleased to get a prompt reply stating that an engineer would call in just two days,.. I emailed back asking for a time, but wasn't given one

I had to take the day off work to be there for this guy,.. made 4 phone calls that morning,.. left on hold every time,.. and eventually in the afternoon I learned that he couldn't make it ! If only I had got a phone call earlier,.. this got me a little angry

My father agreed to meet with him at my house. He offered no apologies,.. and was only concerned about who would be there to give him his cheque. He 'checked and advised' in just 15 minutes and collected his €65 cheque,.. joking that I wouldn't be so quick to call again as nothing was wrong !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkGmzg6X5hI

I emailed a complaint this morning,.. no reply
I phoned,.. they said they didn't get my email
'Somebody' will phone me back,.. I'm still waiting !

I'm still angry !!!!!!!!!

eightyfish

i was promised a call six times, nobody called. Got the thing fixed a week late, but at least there was no charge. Will be sending in a letter of compliant so they can ignore that too.

Gixerboy

I think there must be something like a button or a coin stuck in some pipe where the water needs to drain out.

When the wash gets to the stage of 'Intensive Rinse' the machine leaks just like a tap is turned on underneath it

I've emailed service on Thursday,.. they said they didn't get my email,. but it hasn't bounced back to me either,.. strange

I phoned Thursday and the supervisor Debbie was to call me back,.. but she didn't

Phoned again on Friday,. (six minutes this time waiting to speak to someone) the girl on the phone apologised and said she would ask Debbie again to ring me,.. she didn't

I'm expecting the engineer out on Tuesday morning,.. I don't know what time,.. so I'll ring Monday to try and ask

The most frustrating thing is the lack of communication,.. if somebody phoned back even to say they couldn't come,.. that would be better than nothing

Gixerboy

Some home insurance policies cover accidental damage (unfortunately, mine doesn't), and you may be entitled to claim for costs incurred

I'm not sure about this,.. but it may be worth your while looking into it

Gixerboy

It's easy to complain when things go wrong,.. and they did,.. but it's not too often we compliment someone when they do a good job

After all my frustration, Whirlpool have come good. I got a call back from the girl in the office, the supervisor and the engineer, who came out today and fixed the washing machine (turned out to be a combination of an airlock/problem with overflow switch).

The girls on the phone were helpful and the engineer was a nice guy. There was no charge,. I'm happy now and I guess my mother will be happy also not to see me coming with another lot of washing !

Gixerboy

I thought it was sorted,.. but after 3 washes,.. it's leaking all over the place again,.. my kitchen presses are ruined

I'll ring them again,.. actually I've got the engineer's number, so I won't have to put up with the inefficiency of the Whirlpool office again

If I get no satisfaction this time,.. I'll pull it out and bring it to a washing machine repair place,.. there's a couple I know of

Maybe I should by a new one,.. a good one,.. aaaaaaaaarrrghhh !!:mad:

eightyfish

That's not good. It may have been the case that they fixed the thing initially, but there's no excuse for the service you (and I) received. Hearing that you've got leaks again, I'm even more sure I'll never touch Whirlpool again.