Warranty Question

Seth Brundle

Bought a Karcher pressure washer from Halfords Liffey Valley in Jan 2017.
It died on me recently.

When I bought it I was told in the shop there was a three year warranty with it and when I opened the box, it told me to register my warranty online with Karcher, which I did.
The Karcher warranty registration page doesn't have T&Cs (don't have the paperwork from the box at hand)

Contacted Halfords in-store who told me that as they only provide a 1 year warranty, the remainder of the warranty is via Karcher.

Also contacted Halfords online who told me by reply email that there was a three year Karcher warranty.

Anyhow, Karcher are telling me that they only provide two years from the date of purchase (so effectively in parallel to Halfords 1 year warranty) so i would have to pay for a repair myself.

I contacted Halfords online again today and mentioned that Karcher are not providing a three year warranty and received the following:

I can confirm that as you purchased the pressure washer in January 2017 and Karcher give a 3 year warranty period, that this would still be within that time period.

I know that Karcher aren't obliged to follow anything that Halfords say but do I have any recourse with Halfords?

RossieMan

Seth Brundle wrote:

I know that Karcher aren't obliged to follow anything that Halfords say but do I have any recourse with Halfords?

No. Your only hope is with Karcher.

Slippin Jimmy

You should only need to deal with the retailer directly. A pressure washer would be expected to last longer than 2 and a half years. I would advise emailing Halfords and explain that you want a repair, refund, replacement and if not that you will be going to the small claims court.

I had a similar experience with Dell. They refused to repair my machine or even take a look at it. The small claims court ruled in my favor.

Vic_08

The main purpose of warranties in Ireland seems to be as a distraction technique to stop customers from demanding their issues be sorted out by reference to consumer law.

theteal

RossieMan wrote: »

No. Your only hope is with Karcher.

Please ignore this, it's the retailer who has to honour your consumer rights

dudara

Seth Brundle wrote:

I know that Karcher aren't obliged to follow anything that Halfords say but do I have any recourse with Halfords?

Yes, in fact Halfords are the legally defined point of recourse.

You can exercise your consumer rights with the retailer. They cannot wash their hands of it by fobbing you off to the manufacturer. Some manufacturers are really good and easier to deal with than retailers, but that does not change the fact that you have consumer rights and the retailer is obligated to engage with you.

TerrorFirmer

If Halfords say there's a 3 year warranty, and Karcher state it's a 2 year warranty, it should be easy enough to get Halfords to deliver on what they were, and possibly still are, advertising....

As regards the lifespan of a Karcher washer, they make consumer models that go from €100 to ten times that, so it very much depends on the model. There would be little point going to the SCC over a 2.5 year old pressure washer that only cost €120 to begin with for example.

Seth Brundle

Thanks All.
I'll head back to Halfords again

corks finest

Had to bring back a faulty product ( tent) e130/60 at Halfords mahon point Cork,2 years ago no problems ref exchange/ money back,nice as pie to deal with

Seth Brundle

corks finest wrote: »

Had to bring back a faulty product ( tent) e130/60 at Halfords mahon point Cork,2 years ago no problems ref exchange/ money back,nice as pie to deal with

I've already had the manager in Liffey Valley refer me on to Karcher so I'm expecting no different when I go back. I've the above advice to help though.
Thanks all.

corks finest

Sure you'll get sorted, Halfords etc don't like negative reviews online about their products - be honest and post one, might shake them up a bit,as I for one prior to any purchase always read reviews

Seth Brundle

Emailed Halfords UK (as the order was booked online) and informed them of their consumer obligations using a template taken from CPCC.ie.
My view is that a product that is sold with a three year warranty shouldn't fail before then and the customer be left with nothing.
They are refusing to budge and I received this just now...

As this is out of it's 12 month warranty with Halfords, we are unable to assist with the fault.

With regards to consumer law, the fault has to have occurred within the first 6 months of purchase in which we would then be able to assist.

Sadly, on this occasion, we are unable to assist any further and you would need to speak directly with Karcher. Please feel free to seek independent legal advice on this matter if you wish.

Is she referring to UK law here when she mentions six months?
Is this (6 months) the case with Irish law?

L1011

A fault within the first 6 months is automatically assumed to be a manufacturing fault, it doesn't discount later faults from being so

theteal

Your claim would be that it's not reasonable for such a device to last such a short amount of time, this warranty means next to fcuk all in Ireland. Their response does seem to very UK based, is there a way to contact an Irish head office?

BeardySi

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Emailed Halfords UK (as the order was booked online) and informed them of their consumer obligations using a template taken from CPCC.ie.
My view is that a product that is sold with a three year warranty shouldn't fail before then and the customer be left with nothing.
They are refusing to budge and I received this just now...


Is she referring to UK law here when she mentions six months?
Is this (6 months) the case with Irish law?

AFAIK under UK consumer law if a product develops a fault in the first 6 months you're automatically entitled to one of the 3 R's. After that the onus is on the purchaser to prove that it was a fault and not misuse etc.

Much like in Ireland, there's no defined time frame which a product must last for, only a requirement that it be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.

You can make an SCC claim up to 6 years after purchase.

Darc19

Have you diagnosed what the fault is and whether it's a fault of manufacture?

Is it as simple as a fuse gone (yrp, some people forget to check basics)

Or is it motor burnout - in such case they could claim mis-use.

If it was bought online and just picked up in store, I'd be dealing with their online arm.

But you need to know what the fault is.

Seth Brundle

Despite Halfords online (who are in the UK) refusing to budge (and tbh I presume they were following UK law rather than, as I informed them in each email, Irish law).
Anyhow, managed to get time yesterday (holidays etc get in the way of things) and said to them how it was not working, the warranty as described didn't exist and I wanted an exchange or refund under my statuatory rights.
They replaced it without argument.
Thanks all.

Slippin Jimmy

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Despite Halfords online (who are in the UK) refusing to budge (and tbh I presume they were following UK law rather than, as I informed them in each email, Irish law).
Anyhow, managed to get time yesterday (holidays etc get in the way of things) and said to them how it was not working, the warranty as described didn't exist and I wanted an exchange or refund under my statuatory rights.
They replaced it without argument.
Thanks all.

It amazes me the amount of hops you have to jump through to get something so basic sorted out. Well done for sticking it out and getting the result you needed.