Broken Velvetiser Less Than Year Old

[USaYwHatNow]

I received a Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser for Xmas last year (2023) which was purchased end Nov 23. Unfortunately it's not in warranty (my oversight), forgot to register it.

I've used it probably about 10 times (still have sachets left over from my Xmas present and there's 14 in a box!) and the whisk has stopped spinning, just whirs but doesn't move.

Tried the FAQ troubleshooting online and got in touch with customer services.

After numerous videos to them, they've apologised and said because it's not under warranty (not registered) that they'll offered 50% off a new Velvetiser, and offer not to be used in conjunction with other discounts or offers etc.

I appreciate it's not under warranty but surely something that's been used a handful of times and is less than a year old shouldn't already be so faulty that it's un-useable?

Would I therefore be unreasonable to ask for a higher discount? Or some free sachets?

Velvetiser VIP club offer the Velvetiser at approx 69.99 instead of £99.99 so was thinking of asking for 50% off the VIP price?

The word "received" implies it was gifted to you so you have no rights. No harm in asking though. Do you really want to spend another £60 on something that broke so easily that you didn't use much?

If you know the person that bought it then they can claim under the 2015 consumer rights act but would need to prove it was inherently faulty.

I'd certainly be leaving a poor review for the product saying how it broke after just a few uses.

I had this. I was washing it and leaving it to air dry. I looked online and apparently that causes a problem although I can't imagine how. I washed it again, dried it thoroughly with a tea towel and it worked. I was very sceptical but might be worth trying.

We had the same issue... it was the magnet at the bottom of the whisk, when we cleaned this and pushed it so it moved it worked again. It had just got stuck.
You may have explored this already as you said you've done the troubleshooting but thought I'd say just in case!

If you've used it fewer than 10 times in a year then you're clearly not all that fussed by it. I wouldn't bother replacing it. You can make hot chocolate with the spare sachets just by putting them in hot milk.

I can't for the life of me remember what it's called but manufacturers in the UK are responsible for products for 6 years and if you quote the regs they'll have to replace. The responsibility passes to a retailer if not bought direct. DD had some out of warranty AirPods not bought in the UK and was told about the regs by Apple. DSis successfully used the info with John Lewis to replace an item out of warranty. The process of having to register a product for the basic 12 months warranty is extremely outdated - often the case for longer but for 12 months that's very poor.

@BuzzieLittleBee um thanks for that assumption 🤣 but I am indeed very fussed by it which is why I want to replace it 🙄

So fussed about it that you've used it 10 times (so less than once a month).
They've given you a generous 50% discount. If you're that keen on it, then you'd be happy with that.
Or you could get the person who bought it (and therefore has proof of purchase) to contact them if you really want to pursue the 12 month thing.

Fair usage policy, or something like that? I once had a TV break after 2 years. I got 75% of the retail price back in vouchers to spend on a new TV as it's reasonable to expect a TV to last for 6 years.

With ours, the whisk got stuck. All we do is push it up gently to release it.

That's good of them really. They have no way of knowing how many times you've used it in a year and there was the offer of warranty

This is just not true at all. I'm not surprised Apple are still telling this lie though - they do it to get their customers to go away. I used to work in a phone shop and we had people with iPhones come in frequently and quote these made up rights that they were told from the Apple store elsewhere in the shopping centre. One of worst bits of working in retail was people quoting made up legal rights and demanding replacements for things.

@USaYwHatNow I think it's the Consumer rights act you need (unless it's been updated again) if you want to know your actual rights.