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Does anyone know about warranties on new ebay appliances? For instance, if i were to buy a dishwasher, oven etc from ebay that is stated as new and with a full manufacturers warranty would I be able to have full warranty cover?
Will Neff/Bosch/Siemens group allow you to register the warranty online and give the extra 12 months warranty? Do they require a receipt from an approved retailer?I’ve seen a number of items with minor dents or scratches that are being sold by members of the public who claim that they are new and with warranty
Just wondering if i were to buy an appliance and something went wrong with it, would i be covered? Need to know where i stand on these things before considering a purchase.
any help would be greatly appreciated
Re: warranty on new ebay appliances
It will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but, normally, the warranty is not transferable.
I’d be wary and check before you buy for the manufacturer’s policy on it specifically. If they don’t answer the question then you pretty much have your answer I expect.
HTH
K.
Re: warranty on new ebay appliances
decided to ask neff and this is what they came back with
A guarantee must be validated by a receipt from a bona fide Neff retailer and is valid for 12 months from date of purchase. If an appliance is registered within 30 days of the date of the original receipt it can be extended to 24 months from date of purchase. Anything bought from EBay is effectively second hand and would not be eligible for guarantee unless the seller had registered it with our insurers. They would then need to write to our insurers to transfer the warranty to the new owner.
So, if I understand them correctly, what they are saying is that unless there is a receipt from a recognised Neff retailer, they won’t honour any warranty. I don’t think there are many bona fide Neff retailers on ebay. Anyone ever bought an appliance from a non bona fide Neff retailer and had the need to use the warranty? Seeing as how many there are listed on ebay (many claiming to be new and with warranty, though probably not a valid receipt) it may be something potential buyers should be aware of. Any opinions?
Re: warranty on new ebay appliances
A lot of manufacturers are going down this road, not just in appliances either in an effort to stop both “grey imports” as well as non-recognised traders selling things.
There’s two ways to look at it, at least.
The first is that people want the lowest possible price for anything they buy, there’s nothing wrong with that in the grand scheme of things but, where you sacrifice any retailer responsibility it’s not so good, which is the second. The problem you face if you’re name is on the front of the box, the warranty isn’t registered or it’s been sold into the UK without authorisation is that all too often the retailer will deny all responsibility which they have in law and the manufacturer catches the flack from the buyer.
Essentially if the seller vanishes or denies all responsibility the next obvious stop is the manufacturer.
If it’s not really the manufacturer’s problem then why should they pick up the tab for something they had nothing to do with in the first place?
To understand that you have to realise that many of the large corporations act as individual business units. That is to say that the, as an example, Bosch UK has almost nothing to do with Bosch Spain or Bosch USA or whatever.
A classic example is the likes of Sony. Sony UK know nothing about a German model of TV and yet, it turns up for sale on Ebay in the UK as it will work in the UK as we use the same broadcast systems and the set will operate on UK voltage but, it’s £100 cheaper than the UK specified set.
Sony UK don’t know about it, they don’t sell it and they have no budget to cover for any service issues on these products. So, they tell people that have an issue that it’s not their problem. Customer kicks off with consumer rights etc. and subsequently learns that they have to claim the retailer.
Retailer has either vanished or simply says it’s not their problem, get onto Sony.
Customer is left with no set, out of pocket, no warranty and nowhere to go as Ebay don’t want to know and neither does Trading Standards or anyone else.
Customer, automatically, blames Sony as it’s their name on the front of the item. Sony get slagged off here, there and everywhere for not honouring their own warranty.
It’s a mess basically. And, while it all gets sorted out it’s the customer that loses out by not having what they’ve paid for.
You may well find that, if you don’t have an issue, that you saved a tidy sum due to exchange rates and differing sales volumes or discounts as stock transfers from one market to another. But, if you do have an issue, you can be totally and utterly scuppered.
But please don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good and reputable traders on Ebay and the rest of the internet but, equally, there’s probably just as many if not more, that are a bit on the wrong side of reputable.
If I put on my “manufacturer hat” the issue that I have is that I want to make sure that people that buy my machines get the best possible care and attention and, whilst I cannot absolutely guarantee that that will happen on every occasion, I can certainly make the best effort I can to ensure that any issues are minimised. If I have approved dealers, as we have for ISE, then I can at least find out what has happened and take whatever action is required to resolve any issues.
If I let anyone sell my machines on Ebay or wherever else, I have absolutely no control over it as it’s like the Wild West and my ability to resolve any problems is greatly reduced.
So I can understand completely people trying to find a bargain, we all do, myself included.
But I can also see that, from the manufacturer or, brand owner’s perspective that unauthorised sellers can be more trouble than they are worth.
HTH
K.
Re: warranty on new ebay appliances
you’re abolutely right. well explained.
What it comes down to is – If you can get a real bargain from ebay then it’s worth a go, but you need to weigh up the saving against the reassurance you get with a warranty. (I noramlly have pretty rotten luck with appliances, so prefer to buy new when possible, unless it’s a ridiculous bargain!)
It’s worth asking a few questions and seeing if the seller is an approved retailer. Some are, but all too often it’s members of the public who assume any invoice they sign will do (not worth the paper it’s written on.) Definitely avoid sellers who don’t have a receipt. You’d think the risk would be reflected in the final auction price, but all to often the price gets inflated because people continue bidding thinking the item has a warranty. Hopefully the word will eventually get around about needing an approved retailer receipt and the final bidding prices will come down – offsetting the financial risk if the item stops working.
Re: warranty on new ebay appliances
but where do consumers stand with “european warranties” and im pretty sure sony are one of the companys that offer continental guarantees. i.e bought is us its covered in the us, regardless of state or country, likewise, bought in germany used in the uk, still covered by their eurpean guarantee.
other companys might be different but pretty sure sony uk have to acknowledge at least other european sourced sony apps, just like other european based sony centers would have to acknowledge uk sourced apps.
otherwise why is my home stereo, and car radio both covered by a “european guarantee”
Re: warranty on new ebay appliances
I haven’t studied that in any great detail TBH gandh.
But here’s the way I suspect it will work… in practice…
Customer buys a “cheap” whatever in France, moves to the UK and has an issue.
Product requires parts but, lo and behold, the model isn’t recognised as a UK model by the manufacturer and (I can tell you from experience this does happen) that there are no UK stock of spares or technical support for that model.
They’ll fix it, maybe, but it will take weeks as parts for that product are sourced from another market.
As for spare part support after the product is out of warranty, forget it.
A classic example is Thermador. There’s a number of them that have been imported through various means and sold in the UK but, none are UK products, they all originated in the USA.
Bosch bought Thermador but will provide absolutely no support for them in the UK whatsoever.
There are no UK supply of spare parts, period.
So, customer bought a £2000 range cooker but is left high and dry on parts or, they have to try to source them from the US on their own. BSH UK will have nothing to do with it.
The same applies to the likes of Ardo (Merloni) branded product and so on within the EU.
K.
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