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I recon and sell domestic appliances and have done for 10 years from a shop.I sell local and will only sell to other areas if customer collects from shop and returns to shop if needed for repair,which it states on guarantee.Some people do collect and up till now never a problem.Yesterday i was rang by someone who bought a washer local which i delivered and installed.No problem with washer but now they moved 20 miles away and they say clothes are hot at the end of wash.leaking suds out of drawer and insist i go out to repair because under guarantee,they say hot and cold connected ok.I tell them to check again and on a later phone call they tell me they already had someone out who fitted a pump and charged them 58 pounds.
Where do we stand selling recons and someone moves etcRe: how to cover this
Yes, Ken`s right, although if you have some clause where it states that if someone else has been into the appliance then the guarantee is void you could use that one.
For the sake of 20 miles, I`d just go and repair it for good customer relations.
Re: how to cover this
I’d ask them to treble check that hot/cold fill hoses are not reversed. Then I’d tell them that if it is an installation problem they will be charged accordingly for a 20 mile each way trip.
There you go , that should get rid of them 😉
Bryan
Re: how to cover this
Bryan wrote:Then I’d tell them that if it is an installation problem they will be charged accordingly for a 20 mile each way trip.
Indeed! That’s petrol and time 👿
Re: how to cover this
i know it’s a bit of an obvious question but did the replacement pump fix the problem?? :rolls:
richardRe: how to cover this
Did you ask how they transported it, was it upright and if not did they use transit bolts or secured the drum in place before moving, anything could of got dislodge for eg. coins or objects that jammed the pump ❗
Re: how to cover this
It doesn’t matter about the cost to you of having any item repaired or replaced. As the seller you have to honour the warranty and, if that’s at your expense, tough luck really as that’s the legal position as I understand it.
If the customer moved outside the UK you’d probably get away with it but, even then, IIRC there’s some legislation from our good friends in Brussels that makes you liable for repair costs across any EU state now.
However I don’t want to get into the murky world of manufacturer warranties here as it doesn’t apply.
In short, if you offer the warranty without any stipulations, then you’re liable to either have the appliance repaired/replaced by you or at your cost. Even if you place stipulations in the “contract” which is the warranty they will have to be considered (if it ever went to a court) to be “reasonable”. What I’d have to say is, is it unreasonable to expect you to travel 20 miles to effect a repair? IMO most judges would consider that a perfectly reasonable distance to travel so you’d probably get stung for the costs anyway. 😕
If however you attended and found it was a packing/shipping/handling/installation fault then it’s a case of, sorry poor customer but we’re charging you as it’s not a mechanical failure or a fault with the goods.
Fun innit?
K.
Re: how to cover this
They rang back again and said double checked pipes and still the same and still foaming out of soap drawer.
I replied if they cant get it sorted i will call monday
They say they use tablets in drawer and is still hot on rinse.
Why would they pay someone to fit a pump without ringing me first,and now ring me for this.
I am qualified and how can it be right that someone works on a machine that is under my guarantee and expect me to then put it right.
What bothers me is not actually the time or the repair because i know all about good customer relations,and i normally do calls for free if a customer has bought from me.It is the bigger picture like how far is far for a repair .where is the cut off point for someone having moved.I have some landlords from London collect from me but they agree on the guarantee that if a repair is needed they bring backIt has never hapened but London is 100 miles away.What if someone moves from local to 100 miles.
Next is someone else working on a machine under my guarantee.This surely should void a guarantee.
I know of people repairing machines in this area fitting second hand parts.Well i recon wm and wma machines and as an example i fit new interlocks on every one.Why would i have to replace timer if someone had fitted a second hand interlock and blown timer.
Sorry for the rant butRe: how to cover this
waters wrote:Next is someone else working on a machine under my guarantee.This surely should void a guarantee.
I would have thought so? Correct me if I’m wrong, but Manufacturers would use that to invalidate a warranty wouldn’t they?
Re: how to cover this
Hi Waters,
Listen mate, I feel your concern and all this talk about legislation, Brussels and your legal obligations aren’t much consolation towards your ‘on the ground problem’ is it? 😕
First of all, can you tell us the model number of this Hotpoint, just so as we have the full picture? Secondly, have you asked your customer to set the machine on a ‘Conditioner Rinse & Spin only cycle’ to confirm whether or not they have got the hoses switched around? Thirdly, you can ignore the fact they have called in a third party who fitted a pump, as that was their choice and beyond your control or responsibility! 😉
Fourthly?….well answer the first 3 and we’ll see where to go from here…OK? 8)
Re: how to cover this
waters wrote:Why would they pay someone to fit a pump without ringing me first,and now ring me for this.
And there’s your get-out-of-jail card. 😉
If this was done without your knowledge or authority then you can refuse to pay it, even more so if you get there and find it’s an installation problem.
Here’s what I’d do if it is an install problem, as if sounds to be the fill hoses reversed.
I’d be telling the customer that it’s not really a fault with the machine and that under normal circumstances as it’s not a fault with the machine that the call is chargeable. However, as a gesture of goodwill you’ll do it FOC anyway.
At which point she’ll probably start on about this pump thing and I’d just be telling her that you don’t know if it even needed a pump as you didn’t see it and that you didn’t authorise the cost. I’d take the same stance even if there was a fault personally.
Either way, you win really as you won’t have to pay the bill for the repair as you didn’t authorise it or agree to accept that cost.
I know what you’re saying about the legal angle thing but normally is Joe Bloggs buys a machine it will have a manufacturer warranty. Mr Manufacturer’s problem to sort out how it gets repaired and not yours but, with recons it’s different as you’re responsible for the warranty.
Mr. Manufacturer generally doesn’t care where the customer is as they have agents up and down the country whereas repairers selling recons haven’t that luxury. But it is sadly an inescapable fact that, as the retailer, you have the responsibility in law to ensure that the goods meet the original terms of sale and conditions under the Sale Of Goods Act.
What if someone moves from local to 100 miles.
State clearly in the agreement (receipt or warranty document) that repairs will only be carried out on an FOC basis on-site within XX miles of your premises and, beyond that, the warranty is an RTB (Return To Base) one.
That clears you.
This is used extensively in the IT industry and to get an “on-site” warranty costs more money.
It is just an accepted “conventional wisdom” that all appliances over the size of a small coffee machine have an on-site warranty and not an RTB one.
HTH
K.
Re: how to cover this
It doesn’t sound like reversed fill hoses. I’ve known several people who’ve used machines with hoses reversed for years until I pointed it out. The only symptoms are badly creased (and warm) clothes, the machine should still work ok. Hot clothes could be caused by a machine aborting before rinses or no cold water getting in.
Someone else “fixing” a machine under warranty shouldn’t void a guarantee at all – it’s just a cheap get out clause used by big companies who try to con us into thinking a warranty is void just because someone takes a lid off. Obviously a warranty is an addition to statutory rights so in theory people can make up their own rules but consumer rights superced them anyway.
Someone in theory could write anything they like into one – even something daft like if you don’t address me as “sir” the guarantee is void. The point is that even if a company says their guarantee is now void they still have to fix the product under consumer law.
The customer has no right to get someone else in and expect recompense though unless you refused, or made it clear you were reluctant to call out.
Just my thoughts.
See, this is why I didn’t want to get into this. 😉
I agree Andy and you are correct in a lot of ways but, any warranty that exceeds consumer rights is a discretionary thing really, not an obligation beyond the terms of that agreement. If the manufacturer states that term, that’s it whether we like it or not.
All the terms have remain “reasonable” or it becomes an unreasonable contract.
Clearly stating that in-home service is not guaranteed is not unreasonable so long as there is a provision to make remedy by another means.
Totally correct on the last line though and that’s the way I’d go on it.
K.
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