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As some of you maybe aware (check the horror stories post), im having a nightmare with a Hotpoint WD640.
Its now got to the point where Im awaiting engineer no 14 to arrive to yet again fix this machine but to be honest I’ve had enough.
Out of the 21 months of owning the machine its been out of service for 5 of those months, had 5 new modules, a new motor, new heater (dryer), and various other things replaced. I actually have enough parts now to build 2 complete machines if I had the carcase. 95{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the parts have been replaced with nothing wrong with them, but hey, if they can they will.
What I need is some advice on how to proceed with this as its beyond a joke now.
Im looking at legal action, using the SALES OF GOODS ACT 1979, stating that this machine is obvioulsy not fit for its intended usage (it first went wrong in December 2006, 10 months old). Ever since then its just been a complete farce.
This weeks problem is that the machine has convinced itself that it can do both a wash and dry at the same time, yikes.
Its also got to the point that we just cannot trust the machine at all, following several major incidents with burnt out modules, electricty arcs, huge bangs, let alone the flooding and damge to the kitchen its caused.
Does anyone have any pointers on how we can proceed with this, any contact details of people higher up in hotpoint (indesh!t). Anyone handy on the legal side of things who could point us in the right direction?
As we have been without the machine for so long im seriously considering hiring one of the new IS machines whilst this is sorted out, but is this really the right way to go? Although taking the clothes to be washed to various friends/family/laundrettes really makes me think this is a viable option, but I await any respones in the meantime.
Cheers
Disgruntled_Hotpoint
Re: Hotpoint, arrrgggghhhh!! What are my options??
Go at the retailer, not the manufacturer. 😉
Your contract is with the retailer, you didn’t pay the manufacturer a bean. They will try to pass you off to the manufacturer and say it’s their problem, don’t accept that.
They will also say that this is what extended warranties are for etc. etc. if you haven’t got one. They will also say that it worked perfectly satisfactorily for 10 months so it’s just wear and tear, it was fit for purpose which is legally correct TBH. There is no such thing as a guarantee of durability, it all comes down to what is considered to be “reasonable” and that depends on the value of the goods and the anticipated lifespan (but doesn’t guarantee or offer any guarantee on lifespan), it does not take account of breakdowns, there’s no warranty on not having any or an acceptable amount. In other words, if you choose to go into a court, it’s luck of the draw what the outcome is.
However, the chances of getting a replacement at the age of it are slim to none in all honesty, I’ve seen this so many times and usually the best that you would normally get is an FOC repair. 🙁
In any event, with especially the large national retailers and most manufacturers get ready for a long and protracted battle if you want to pursue it and, most times, it’s sadly not worth the hassle, time and cost of pursuing the claim. It’s sad, but that’s the reality of it as it’d cost more to pursue it if you use a solicitor than the goods are worth.
Have you got an extended warranty, if so, who with?
Who was the retailer?
K.
Thanks for your words kwatt.
Yes we have an extended warranty with D&G.
I have spoken to Comet tonight regarding this, and they have been helpful (although they could be sending me round the houses). They have said if Im willing to pay the £30 they will send one of there engineers round to do a report and if its deemed necessary they will pursue this with Hotpoint directly.
They mentioned about a 6 year thingy, which im just looking up online now which they will stand by.
To be honest I wasn’t expecting this, as you say I thought they were going to push me over to Hotpoint to persue things, but hey.
So where do I go from here? D&G aren’t exactly helpful, been there already.
DH
Re: Hotpoint, arrrgggghhhh!! What are my options??
No probs.
Comet will look into it and try to extort a credit out Hotpoint for it no doubt but, you’d usually lose the warranty as it’s tied to the machine. It can get real messy real fast and usually the outcome isn’t great.
DAG will only exchange if the value of the repair exceeds the cost of replacing it, by that I mean the whole cost, not just the purchase price as I understand it. But, since Indesit are footing the bill for any parts fitted (I’d imagine, if it’s not totally bought out as Comet buy out the manufacturer’s warranties and underwrite them themselves) that can’t happen, DAG are just paying labour charge after labour charge, if that as it’s no doubt logged as a recall so half the calls are likely FOC to DAG as well.
If you get a report on the machine the engineer can only report what he sees, no more and no less. As I’ve found myself saying to people in the past, you can’t fix what isn’t broke and we don’t have a crystal ball in the van so we can’t predict failures without evidence to point us that way and justify it in the report.
6 year thing, big myth. Of course they’ll honour it as there’s no cost attached… have a read at this
Basically it’s a guarantee that you haven’t been mis-sold the item, not a warranty of durability.
If the repairs are being done by Comet themselves then they can pull up the history with a few keystrokes, why they’d need a report over and above that I can’t understand. More, why they’d have to charge you for that seems a bit off that being the case.
All I can suggest is to persevere with Comet and see if they’ll change it but I’ve a feeling you’ll struggle. 😕
HTH
K.
hang on, ur on d&g, and ur havin that much trouble and u still got it?
have comet called out? speak to the engineer, if hes any good, he’ll know what to do !!
cant be specific, but anythings possible
Ok, just so we know where things stand.
From day 1 (Dec 22nd) I have dealt with Hotpoint and there engineers, never called comet as theres a big sticker on the front of the machine saying
‘problems with your machine, then call hotpoint’
I have then been passed from pillar to post, promised an exchange twice (both refused), had 5 new modules, new motor, new heater (dryer), 2 new facias, new door lock, 1 new tube (from the dispenser draw), had the door seal removed and re-fitted, had the drum seal re-seated as it had come away from the drum.
Its only tonight that I have actually spoken to comet, and the lady assured me that if I present there engineer with the list of faults he will consider those as well.
At present, he does have a faulty machine to look at, as mentioned, the machine has now convinced itself that it can do both a wash cyle and dryer at the same time, not to mention the awful knocking noise when its spinning (the last engineer removed the concrete block from the top of the machine, hmmm). Whilst drying its in a continue spin as well, whilst filling and emptying water.
I spoke to D & G back in Feb and was promised the earth, call backs etc etc yet nothing ever came of it. I have a feeling they were trying to get rid of me. Well thats after the squabble between hotpoint and D & G about whos responsibility it was. The original fault was reported within 12 months, but the fault kept appearing after the 12 months so D & G were saying it was hotpoint who was to fix it, and hotpoint being hotpoint said no, its now out of warranty so you will need to go through D & G, arrggghhh!
I bought the extended warranty knowing full well this is what was going to happen (how many engineers would tut tut at the machine!) and i’ll be glad when that runs out so we can finally get rid of the machine.
Im going to save up for one of those nice new ISE machines, but its only in white, of course all the other applainces are in graphite (hotpoint eh) so I hope we get to see the new dishwasher soon (will there be a fridge one asks?)
Helo_75
Do I understand that you agree on calling comet out, and they may actually be able to do something about this even though this will be the first time comet have got involved? Is it worth the £30?
DH
Disgruntled_Hotpoint wrote:theres a big sticker on the front of the machine saying
………problems with your machineMaybe that was a warning label 😆
Greg
💡 nice one gegsy 😀
Kwatt…
I have studied that link and something interesting came up:
Goods cannot always be expected to work fault-free. They can break down through normal use. Consumers cannot, therefore, expect to hold the seller responsible for fair wear and tear. There needs to be a fault that was present on the day of sale even though it only became apparent later on, or a mis-description of the goods, or a lack of durability that suggests the goods were not of satisfactory quality to start with.”
The last bit is the part im playing on ‘or a lack of durability that suggests the goods were not of satisfactory quality to start with’ but as you say, everything is stacked against us, but hey you don’t know till you try.
Just curious, but if I have an extended warranty, is there anything to stop me from having an independent look at it whilst still claiming on the warranty or does it have to be with Hotpoint?
At the end of the day, im not trying to make anything out of this we just want a washing machine which were confident in using. All we ask is that we can sit down in the front room and not have to worry that the machine will catch fire, flood the kitchen or decide its superman and does as it pleases. Believe me having blue sparks and several almighty cracking sounds is quite a frightining experience let along the fan unit filling with water as it attempts to wash and dry at the same time, or the huge bang and puff of smoke as it sends itself into oblivion yet again.
DH
ring D&G comet are agents or them, and they can arrange comet to repair/examine your machine
regardless of the facts, ur machines faulty, it either needs putting right, or writing off
come across this a lot, speak to the comet engineer, as long as hes got a d&g referral number, he can act on your behalf
we aint all bad ya know
helo_75
I know your not all bad, just the muppets Im dealing with.
Especially the hotpoint customer service/service centre people and the person I spoke to at D & G.
DH
gegsy wrote:
Disgruntled_Hotpoint wrote:
theres a big sticker on the front of the machine saying
………problems with your machineMaybe that was a warning label 😆
Greg
Hehehe, good one Greg, every Merloni product carries that, not susprising really, the things breakdown within a week 😆 . In answer to the OP what I would do, is demand a refund with a capital ‘D’ with comet or hotpoint and buy a decent machine not anything connected with Merloni company. Failing that chuck, you could always send an email to Watchdog. 😉
watchdog@bbc.co.uk
That’ll make a mockery of Hotpoint.adamhornsby wrote:
gegsy wrote:
theres a big sticker on the front of the machine saying
………problems with your machineMaybe that was a warning label 😆
Greg
Hehehe, good one Greg, every Merloni product carries that, not susprising really, the things breakdown within a week 😆 . In answer to the OP what I would do, is demand a refund with a capital ‘D’ with comet or hotpoint and buy a decent machine not anything connected with Merloni company. Failing that chuck, you could always send an email to Watchdog. 😉
watchdog@bbc.co.uk
That’ll make a mockery of Hotpoint.AdamYou’ve hit the nail on the head. I have already written to watchdog, and yes a full refund to enable me to purchase a new machine (ISE) is what im after.
But as I have said, what are my chances and whats the best way to go about this?
From what i have read here already, I don’t think I have too much of a chance of that happening but if I play my cards right I may end up with my wishes.
Can someone also explain to me why when you contact Hotpoint, Indesit, D & G you always end up speaking to Indesit?
Is there something fishy going on here or what?
Oh and D & G don’t wnat to know as they are only the underwriters for the extended warranty. They will only replace if told to do so buy Hotpoint (indesh!t). And the best bit, they will only honour the warranty if its a hotpoint engineer, they won’t pay if I call soemone else (comet etc etc)
All I want is someone to take responsibilty, is that too much to ask?
Some people would have given up by now, but the more they do this the more determined I am.
Isn’t the internet a wonderful place 😉 😉
adamhornsby wrote:Hehehe, good one Greg, every Merloni product carries that, not susprising really, the things breakdown within a week 😆 . In answer to the OP what I would do, is demand a refund with a capital ‘D’ with comet or hotpoint and buy a decent machine not anything connected with Merloni company. Failing that chuck, you could always send an email to Watchdog. 😉
watchdog@bbc.co.uk
That’ll make a mockery of Hotpoint.Adam
yet another unfounded, ridiculous, stupid sweeping statementadam, there really is no need to throw comets name into the hat for a refund,now is there?
for reference purpose, d&g might claim to be underwriters for hopoint, but theyre the people responsible for paying the authorised repair agents for the repairs, and indeed pay for the machine if it needs to be replaced
norwich union insure ford cars, if you write it off, do they make ford pay for a replacement?
no, they dont….. please, at least be realistic about the way you advise people.. the facts dont change, the machine is faulty, and d&g have a legal obligation to maintain or replace the appliance within a reasonable period of time
comet was only mentioned as another option to try and resolve the customers problem.. it wasnt mentioned so someone could advise they march into the comet store and demand a refund for a machine they might even not have supplied – in fact they probably didnt, because normally if they did, they would be used by d&g for the repairs!
and who takes into consideration depreciation of the appliance value? luckily, d&g will supply a replacement at no cost, IF the visiting engineer deems the machine B.E.R and recommends a replacement
of course there’ll always be grey areas, and arguments for and against replacement, but im sure if you ring d&g, and ask for a comet visit, u’ll get one , as comet are an authorised repair agent
and, you’ll find that the number on d&g policy is 08709 066 066
thats actually merloni customer services, so your not actually ringing domestic and general themselves
get the number out the yellow pages
adam, yes the merloni machines arent the best on the market, but the simple facts are that theyre a big seller, and people will continue, for the mean time, to purchase them and use them.. yes, we engineers arent their biggest fans, but they keep us in work
watchdog wont help, theyve got bigger fish to fry….
i know what id do, i do it everyday, i put the customer 1st, and sort out the problem
i wonder if that question was on your application form when u applied for your job at comet , adam? how DID you get on i wonder
Yikes, there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel.
Can I just say first though that im not trying to turn this into a slanging match, but im really just after advice.
Ok, after reading your post helo, you are quite correct in saying that the numbers printed on the Repair Protection Plan all point back to Indesh!t and so I did a search on Domestic and General and got there offical number.
The person I have spoken too suggested that as the number of repairs is beyond a certain point within the time allocated, they are willing to persue this for me through there complaints procedure. Not only that but they WILL authorise an independent engineer to do the report on the machine FOC and will then decide what action to take as they were horrified to find out that the hotpoint engineers have been out 14 times already in less than a year which obviously costs D & G each time, but hey whilst Hotpoint can get away with it they will (although im not too sure how much longer they will get away with it now)
I look forward to the phonecall with D & G on Monday and will let you know what happens.
DH
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