To be 38 and unable to do my own washing

[Laundryhelp45678]

I don’t know if I’m being stupid but I’ve had a Bosch washing machine for a few years now and I literally can’t turn my washing machine on and I certainly can’t wash things well in it, so I’m washing clothes (really badly) in the sink! Laundry is a basic life skill and at my age this is really embarrassing!

I mean it turns on for me eventually but I’m literally there pressing the weird button thing for ages until eventually it works (I average about 7 attempts). I could be stood by the machine feeling like an idiot for ages!

Once I can get the machine to turn on, all my stuff comes out soapy and my towels come out hard as a rock. I mean I don’t need to buy sandpaper because the towels will do that job perfectly well!

My towels come out with holes and rips as well and this happened from the very moment we bought this new machine!

I’ve tried changing detergent and softener and using less but it hasn’t helped.

I can’t do laundry like a normal person, I dread using the machine and not being able to turn it on and worry about it ruining my clothes so I’ve literally been washing my clothes in the sink for the last couple of years (I still wash towels in it thought because I just can’t be bothered to wash them in the sink).

It never used to be like this, I had a Zanussi washing machine and it worked fine, you could load clothes in, press start and they would come out without holes, clean and not full of soap, which was great because we all have far bigger things to worry about than washing right?

I reported these problems to Bosch including showing pictures of the rips in towels in the first year of having the machine, an engineer came out to look, they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. For the last 2 years Bosch have just fobbed us off saying it’s user error (which may very well be the case LOL) and delayed doing anything about the issue despite numerous chases from ourselves. They eventually sent another engineer who said the drum was faulty and causing the holes in towels (didn’t explain why I was having the other issues with it though). But they had fobbed us off and delayed things for so long that the diagnosis from this second engineer was made after the machine went out of warranty (clever tactic from them I guess) so they are no longer obliged to do anything to help us. But even if I get the drum fixed, it’s not going to help if I can’t get the soap out of my clothes and turn the machine on first time.

Is the Bosch brand just more entry level and cheaper quality or something? Is that why the customer service is so bad? Or am I just useless at laundry? Do I just cut my losses and buy a more upmarket brand like AEG or Zanussi?

How's about contacting Martin Lewis through his Money Saving Expert website. I've found them to be brilliant at helping with stuff like this.

you have solid evidence that the machine was broken before the warranty ran out. This is what small claims court is for.

You should tell Bosch that you're going to hand all your evidence (emails, letters, visits from engineers etc.) over to BBC's Rip Off Britain (or any consumer show). You'll be surprised how quickly they'll sort your problem out after that. Assuming you can prove that you told them straight away that there was a problem with the machine and they still haven't fixed it three years later, it feels like they wouldnt have a leg to stand on. They should have replaced the entire machine for you. Not trying to pile on but washing your clothes in the sink like a luddite is crazy. I think you should try to force them to replace your machine. I'd have raised merry hell by now! Good luck op!

Buy a bog standard nice cheap Indesit that still has old fashioned knobs and buttons on it. My blind friend couldn't use her newfangled one either so she bought one like mine and now she can feel what she's doing. They're under £300 from AO.com, they will plumb in, take the old one away etc as add ons to the purchase. The instructions are clear and easy and the different programmes are on 1 x A4 sheet of paper. It's fool proof (and it needed to be for me). Good luck

Thanks I think this might be the way I go now.

Im tempted to push it further based on what people have said on here because I did think I’d get a new machine or some money off a new machine when they found the drum fault, but all I had was a discount on us paying towards a new drum. I thought I had already been quite pushy with them but maybe I haven’t?

Please listen to what you are being told. Consumer Rights Act is with the retailer, the company you paid for the machine. Follow up with them and make them sort it with Bosch so that you can get a refund.

(Mine that couldn't rinse was WAX32GH4GB, so it isn't only your model with issues.)

You haven’t been pushy enough. You deserve a full refund but you will have to do due diligence to get it. If you don’t want to that’s your prerogative.

Did it not rinse overtime or from the very start?

Did it not rinse at all or just not very well?

I'll share the details here as it might be of use to others. I'm in no way affiliated with them, so use at your own risk, etc, but they were pretty good for us.

They came out quickly to assess the issue and then it was a bit of a faff to arrange for them to come back once they'd got the parts, but it was definitely worth it for not having to fork out for a new fridge.

https://pacifica.co.uk/faqs

Under the FAQ's there's a "how can I pay?" option which says "we accept both credit and debit card payments. Where an appliance protection plan has been selected, we also accept direct debit payments." There's nothing specifically to say that they won't sign you up for a protection plan if there's already an issue with your appliance, so it's definitely worth a try.

Stop asking them nicely and tell them that since you notified them of the problem within the warranty period and their own engineer confirmed that there is a problem, they have a legal obligation to repair or replace your machine at their own cost, and this is the last time you will tell them before you commence legal action.

It's literally the second exclusion for a protection plan. As I say, great that they did it for uou but it isn't typical. That would be the world's shittest business model 😂

I always take insurance out on white goods and tvs domestic and general are good always either sort problem or replace

This OP. You need to threaten them with legal action.

Well things got wet! But from the beginning it didn't rinse out properly, so anything smelly and the whole wash took that smell. Because it was ditching fabric conditioner and some detergent early, it was hard to know where rinse faults happened, but then when I tried detergent in with the load it clearly didn't rinse out. One engineer tried swapping a part, and different engineers made me increase then decrease number of rinse cycles, run different wash programs, decrease load, increase load, more fabric conditioner, less fabric conditioner, try powder, use a different detergent, use another different wash program etc etc, time waste, time waste, and nothing worked.

New machine from a different brand worked.

You need to be bolshy with them .. you’re currently being a pushover. How did you pay for it .. you’ve not answered previously when I’ve asked. If it was credit card or finance of some kind then they’re also responsible and will get this sorted very quickly on your behalf.

Yeah I don't get this post your washing machine is obviously fucked. By a new one and read the instructions.

Thanks for the info. Did you get anything from a Bosch in the end?

This is what they’ve done with me, they’ve suggested it’s the way I’m using it, but I think it’s a bad design to start with.

It was a credit card but to the nice small independent retailer who is not at fault here. I never went to the store about the issues with the machine, I went to Bosch and I believed they should have sorted it under the warranty.

Why on earth didn't you go to the retailer? It wasn't their fault but it was their responsibility. How silly.

Well we felt it’s quite later to now go to the retailer, I’m sure they would initially say to contact the manufacturer anyway to claim through the warranty.

Obviously it's way too late now. But retailers do have their own obligations beyond that of the manufacturer. You should have gone to them 2.5 years ago.

It really doesn’t matter who you went to. Contact your credit card company .. you have so many rights here and an awful lot of help! I guarantee once they get in on it, you’ll get your new machine very quickly! Or at least a refund or repair. Step up and get this sorted. You seem to be excusing every single option available to you.

Thank you to everyone who has messaged me on this thread. It’s really appreciated. I have now gone to trust pilot to see if that will help, Il then go to other sources as well like trading standards/ credit card etc etc.

Thanks everyone!

It isn't too late, the retailer legal obligation to you is 6 years while manufacturer is only 2 years.

As mentioned earlier, John Lewis arranged debate with bosch, then arranged for me to have a full refund from Bosch. They collected the bosch and dropped off my lovely Samsung series 5, which has been perfect.

And me. Mine takes 57 minutes.