...to think that a new washing machine should last more than 3 years?

[Triathlete]

I'm flipping livid! We bought a new washing machine - Tricity Bendix AW1201W - in March 2008. It's done its bearings already, 2 years and 10 months later. 3, perhaps 4 washes a week, and the fricking thing has had it.

It was recommended to us as a sort of cut-down Zanussi made by Electrolux to Zanussi standards but with fewer features. We bought it from John Lewis. We didn't take out any extended warranties as we thought "It's a washing machine, it'll last 5 years".

John Lewis have more or less said "Tough - nothing we can do about it". Tricity Bendix ditto. I now need to decide whether to spend next weekend replacing the bearings, or whether to buy a new one.

I'm so fizzing angry! The retailer doesn't give a stuff, the manufacturer doesn't give a stuff, and we've built an economy based on things breaking down and needing to be replaced. And we can't afford it - I was going to get my bad tooth done with that money.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I sympathise entirely but agree you'll get no joy from the companies involved. Can you get a local repairman to do a job for less than a proper maunfacturer's call out? If you do decide to buy a new one, check out local ads etc. I once paid £50 for a fantastic hardly used hotpoint and was gutted when I had to leave it in a flat when I moved as there was no space for it in the mew place. If they are going to rbeak within a few years anyway, seem little point in buying new.

The UK Sale of Goods Act already offers us protection against faulty goods even when the manufacturer?s guarantee has run out and says that goods must last a ?reasonable time? ? which can be claimed anything up to 6 years from the date of purchase.

That was pasted from elsewhere, sorry for stilted use of language. But its worth looking into the sales of goods act 6 year thing. And quoting it at manufacturer.

6 years is a reasonable time apparently

Trufax, 3 years is an achievement with some I've had

I average about 1 WM every 2 to 3 years but then I have at least 2 washes a day. I tend to buy as cheap as I can because I have never found anything that is worth spaending the extra money on.

YANBU they definitely should last longer. I have a Hotpoint that failed after it was just days out of its one year warranty. Hotpoint didn't want to know unless I forked out £90 for an engineer. I persisted in complianing but they wouldn't budge. I'll never buy a Hotpoint again. I only just learned about the 6 year thing, shame as I've since bought a new one. That also failed after 4 months but had it fixed under waranty. I could use one of those industrial ones as I'm literally constantly washing in my house.Only one I';ve had that lasted over 5 years was a Bosch.

I thought John Lewis did a five year guarantee on stuff as standard?

Keep on at them and quote the sales of goods act - things should be fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time.( You'll have to google it to quote it correctly, but 3 years is NOT a reasonable length of time in anyone's book. Extended warantees are a rip of and just another way of getting money from the customer.

I've had my Meile for over 10 years and I think all their goods come with 5 or 10 year guarantee as standard now.

Thanks for replies. I've just dismantled it and found that the whole inner and outer drum assembly is a sealed unit so there is no way the bearings can be replaced. I tried running it one last time to see whether Heisinger's Uncertainty Principle might come to my aid - whether by taking it apart and putting it back together again I might have unknowingly dislodged or fixed it - but no joy, it's now seized completely.

I hadn't thought of the Sale of Goods Act - I shall sling that at them and see what they say. (Puppy - JL did a free 2 year guarantee, not 5).

Watch this space.

Not sure of the make but my friend bought a washer from John Lewis and it conked out after 3 years and they gave her £100 vouchers after she nagged them for a while. Good luck!

It's deliberate, it's built in obselesense (sp?). They want you to buy another one.

Someone told me that printers have a little chip in them and after x amount of pages it will just stop operating. You can access some code from a dodgy Russian site to override it.

Which doesn't help much with your predicament. Sorry

I'd be very surprised if that was true about printers, since they make all their money on the cartridges - if you have to buy a new one then there's a chance you'll switch brands and they'll lose their income stream.
Bosch is the answer (though their dishwashers have a dreadful design flaw, it is one which can be fixed with a strategic poke with a coat hanger). Mind you, my fridge is very sick ATM.

You could be right Dilys. I don't know if my source was entirely reliable

dilys, I've just bought a bosch dishwasher becuase i have been impressed with my bosch washing machine, please tell me what the design flaw is?

I have found that when it comes to washing machines it is worth it to buy either a Miele or Bosch (fork out the cash) as they seem to be the only ones made to last.

Zanussi or any derivitive thereof is SHITE!

I agree - quote Sale of Goods Act 1979. Our council has a Consumer Advice Unit who are fantastic - they gave great advice and even a sample letter to write to the vendor. Try your council to see if they have a similar unit.

Your contract is with John Lewis, so you need to write to them. Don't let them palm you off by saying it is an issue with the manufacturer, it's not.

I've had 2 washing machines in my life. The first lasted 15 years, and was still going when I sold it with my house (and probably still is), the second is 10 years old and is still going (although has been repaired once). 3 years is crap.

Ah, just checked JL do a 5 year guarantee on tellys only. We got ours from there precisely cos of that.

Got our dyson washing machine from there too come to think of it. Still going strong 11 years later.

Oh, and say in your letter that if you do not get satisfaction regarding this issue, you will bring court proceedings.

Small claims court is easy peasy. Believe me, it is more hassle to them than you.

I will see if I can dig out my sample letter I got from our Consumer advice people.

i would keep on at John Lewis. I buy all my appliances from there, never buy an extended warranty but will complain long and loud if i dont think i've had my moneys worth out of an item. TBH 3 years would be ok for a cheap machine for me as the bloody thing is on all the time.

DRAFT LETTER FOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT

YOUR ADDRESS

DATE

THEIR ADDRESS

Dear Sir or Madam

Re Complaint with Faulty Goods

Paragraph one
Put in here FULL details of the purchase
? What you bought - full details
? Where you bought it; Traders full name and address
? How much it cost
? How you paid for it
? Other relevant details, delivery date etc

I.e. On DATE I went to your shop FULL NAME AND ADDERSS and I bought a FULL DETAIL OF THE GOODS. It cost HOW MUCH and I paid for it HOW.

Paragraph Two
Put in here FULL detail of what went wrong
? What the fault is
? What you did to try to put the matter right
? What the trader did to try to put the matter right

Paragraph Three
I understand that under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 as amended by The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumer Regulations 2002 (**check this isn't specific to NI legislation)that my contract is with you the trader. I further understand that the statute of limitations on faulty goods is 6 years.

Please can you write to me within 10 working days advising me when you will be carrying out the repair?

Yours faithfully

YOUR NAME

Sorry, I just cut and pasted. Obviously you know to put names & addresses at the start and end of a letter.

YANBU I hate the way things seem to be designed to break so quickly now. When I bought a dishwasher recently I had several follow up calls trying to sell an extended warranty, when I said I wasn't interested the salesman told me how lucky I'd be if it lasted 2 years!
That letter is brilliant and if I do have a breakdown within 2 years I will be using it.