Faulty Machine (Repair Needed After 2 Months)

[Manxginge]

Hi All

I was wondering if somebody might be able to offer me some advice. We bought a Whirlpool AWO/R 4205 from B & Q in August 2009 when we purchased our new kitchen. Within two months the washing machine developed a fault. I contacted Whirlpool and they sent out an engineer who completely replaced the whole drum.

18 months later the washing machine is still working, but it's making a noise like there is a problem with the drum or bearings. Unfortunately I can't locate the original receipt.

Do I have any rights with whirlpool? The machine was obviously faulty from the beginning and I feel reluctant to shell out to have it repaired when it's less than two years old and has already been repaired once. We don't nave an extended guarantee.

Does anybody have any thoughts on this? I'm guessing whirlpool will have a record of the original repair from the serial number?

What do you guys think?

Cheers

Andy

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Hello Andy: You have no rights with Whirlpool. They are obliged only to honour the guarantee and to carry out repairs to a competent standard. Your consumer rights regarding whether the washing machine is fit for its purpose, has lasted a reasonable time, or was sold with an inherent fault or not are all with the people you bought it from, in your case B&Q.

You need to get an engineer out to look at the washing machine to find out exactly what has gone wrong. Without that you don't have any solid ground to complain from because you don't know the full facts. It's possible for example for the noise to be caused by obstructions inside the drum such as coins, in which case the current fault would be blamed on the user. If the fault turns out to be the same as before, needing a new drum, which out of guarantee would cost so much you'd probably prefer to buy a new one then I would say you have a case that A: the washing machine hasn't lasted a reasonable time (depending on how its been used) and B: It may be that the machine was sold with an inherent design fault, which has now failed twice.

If the cause of the noise turns out to be something less serious and different from the original fault such as a loose tub weight or something not costing too much then the situation is a little different. In this case you bought a relatively cheap brand of washing machine and it needs repairing after 18 months. Depending on the amount of use it's had, and how it's been treated it's not necessarily an issue to complain about as all washing machines have the capacity to break down after a certain amount of use. It depends entirely on exact circumstances. There's no arbitrary set of circumstances that can be relied upon. If the washer has been used only once a week to wash for an old lady for example one might argue it shouldn't have broken down (especially if it's a serious fault) but if it's been washing twice a day for a large family 7 days a week one could argue it's no surprise it's broken down. But again, it depends also on what has broken down. In my opinion if the fault is serious enough to make a repair beyond economical repair then I find that hard to accept as a reasonable lifespan of a washing machine unless it's been very heavily used.

Regarding the receipt, I'm not sure if you mean for the purchase or for the repair under warranty. You don't need the original receipt, just proof of purchase such as a bank or credit card statement. Also, as you say, whirlpool will have a record of the original repair from the serial number. However, not having a receipt makes an already difficult complaint to pursue even more difficult.

I have more relevant and comprehensive consumer advice here - My washing machine is now out of guarantee, but I don't think I should have to pay for a repair