Indesit Tumble Dryer and John Lewis repairs - consumer rights?

[Spaghettio]

We bought an Indesit tumble dryer in March 2016 to replace our previous one. The previous one was one that needed to be fixed so it didn't catch fire, but we replaced it before the repair as it was making a horrible noise (possibly the bearings going) and I didn't want a fire hazard in the house for 12 months - which was what the waiting time was for a repair.

So the new one (identical to the old one, but apparently the fault that caused fires has been fixed in all new ones) has now started to make the same horrible noise as the last one. I contact John Lewis to ask for a repair or refund.

They initially stated that as its out of its 2 year warranty, we'd have to pay for a repair. I quoted the Consumer Rights Act and said I didn't think we should have to pay for a repair, as an appliance like that should last more than 2 1/2 years.

John Lewis have now come back to me and said "as this is the first repair with the appliance, you will need to provide us with a report from a VAT engineer then send this into quoting what you have mentioned and we can look into this".

I don't really have the time to be getting engineers out to give reports, then hoping that John Lewis will pay for a repair. Presumably I'd have to pay the engineer as well, and quite frankly, I don't want to. (Plus the added hassle of washing building up).

Can anyone advise if this is right? Or are John Lewis just fobbing us off? I thought they'd have repair people that they use and they'd be liable to send one out at their cost, or they'd refund (or part-refund) the price of the tumble dryer.

BTW, won't be replacing with and Indesit!

They've now clarified what "look into this" means :

"what we mean by looking into this is that we will assess the report and make a contribution to the repair for yourself".

So basically I have to do all the running around organising an engineer, pay for a report and they'll make an (unspecified) "contribution" to the cost of the repair - which presumably I'll have to organise myself?

Is this JL's definition of customer service?

JL did this to me with a laptop. Yes it is their current definition of customer service, which is why I dont shop there any more. And wont until things improve.

If its outside of the guarantee period, you haven't taken out an extended guarantee and you haven't even had an engineer assess the problem, they really don't need to offer you anything at all. Within the guarantee repairs are free, if you have an issue outside of this repairs are at your cost. This is the same all over, not just with JL. If the engineer deems the fault to be an inherent fault that has been there since day 1 but only just shown itself, they will cover it. If its just general wear and tear/mis use (because lets face it, who uses their appliances to the letter stated in the manual - over loading for the cycle selected/lack of maintenance being the usual issues) then its down to you to pay for it. A lot of warranty companies offer a repair at a set price if you then take out a years cover. Ours was £69 for a repair then £8 a month for a year. Worked out cheaper than a new machine and what our local repair agent quoted for the job.

@BarryTheKestrel I was under the impression that large electrical appliances are expected to last longer than 2 years. The consumer rights act says you can claim an item is faulty up to 6 years after purchase. 🤷🏻‍♀️

That's why I'm chasing JL. I'm happy to pay for a repair if the item is old or has been misused, but after 2 1/2 years I'd expect the retailer to still be liable for repairs.

I'll see what else they suggest.....

I asked if they recommend any engineers to do the report and they said the manufacturer.

I contacted them and they said they don't do call outs for diagnoses - just repairs. Flat rate of £100.99 for all labour, call out and parts regardless of the fault. (More than half the cost of the tumble dryer btw.)

JL won't tell me how much they'll contribute if I use this repairer, for all I know they could contribute £5!

So we are at a stalemate - they won't pay for a repair until they have a report, but their recommended engineers don't do reports.

They are expected to last longer, but lasting longer doesn't mean not needing any repair. It means they are expected to not be written off for up to 6 years. However, items can be written off due to a lack of available parts without any come back because there is no law to state how long a manufacturer needs to stock parts, just ' a reasonable time frame'.

Most items only come with a manufacturer guarantee. I know JL do offer free extensions on some items but if my memory serves the whole 2 year guarantee is ran by indesit. As such its Indesit you need to be chasing, not the middle man. The retailer is bound by what the manufacturer will offer unless within the first 6 months of purchase.

You could contact a local repair agent for a report however its unlikely they'll cover both fees of a report from a 3rd party and then a repair from indesit.

They are within their rights to not offer any contribution at all (as shit as that is for you). However with a flat fee of £100.99 from my own dealings with JL (used to work for them - in the large electrical department- and have since had appliances go wrong too) I'd expect a £40-50 contribution.

Alternatively you are outside of your guarantee so you can't invalidate it by having a non indesit engineer do the work. It may be worth asking for recommendations of local repairers on facebook or similar and giving them a call.

Since I've had issues, i will always take out an extended guarantee for the few £ a month it costs to know i wont have to find £££ when an appliance goes wrong to repair or replace it as i know without one I'm relying on the goodwill of a company to bail me out which invariably the only one I've found willing to do so is JL.