The Consumer Rights Act 2015 allows us to attempt to claim compensation from repairers or retailers under certain conditions. This includes bad or negligent repairs as well as faulty or poor quality goods.
Before taking a trader or repairer to court
If a repairer is a member of any trade association you should try raising the issue with them first. Trade associations usually have certain standards and practices that the trader has promised to adhere to. If they haven’t, the trade association may be in a position to influence and advise them to put things right.
If they are not a member of a trade association, or you get nowhere with them and still believe you have a case, then you can make a claim in the small claims court as long as it’s for £10,000 or less (£5,000 or less for personal injury or housing disrepair).
Even so you need to have written to the company or trader first giving a specific time to correct any fault. There is also an option of using the Alternative Dispute Resolution service (which is binding but does not involve legal action).
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There is plenty of help available from consumer groups, and from the leaflets and brochures listed below. Remember, the small claims court was set up to make it pretty easy and relatively risk free for consumers to take on companies they have a dispute with. So it shouldn’t be too daunting. Read the information below for a better understanding –
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- Small claims court advice – Citizens Advice
- Sale of Goods Act gives us 6 years to claim for faulty appliances
- Money Claim Online No need to even go to court, you can take a business to the small claims court online now. This is a "simple, convenient and secure way of making a claim on the internet." (Government site)
Which? members can phone a consumer helpline
You can research Which? Consumer Rights for expert advice (What do I get when I take a trial?) immediately (not just about washing machines) and benefit from their highly respected opinions and experience of consumer issues. Also receive the Which? magazine as part of 1 trial and speak directly to a consumer expert about your issues.
Karen fawthrop says
Excellent information regarding sale of goods act. Retailers are aware of it, but still refute it’s existence applies to them
Deborah Mathie says
I bought a Bush cooker from argos just under 2 years ago 3 weeks after I got it argos fitted it the oven door lock feel out then 4 months later the heating element on the oven broke now its happened again but they are saying because I only had a 1 year warranty they won’t fix it for free again I need to pay £89 just for call out I am on benefits single mum with a 3 year old how can I get help
Andy Trigg (Whitegoodshelp) says
Hello Deborah. The only redress you have is with the retailer that you bought it from. As far as I know Bush don’t actually make cookers. They are a brown goods manufacturer that used to make record players and radios etc. For some time now it’s been possible for any company to get white goods appliances manufactured by white goods manufacturer who will put their name on it instead of the original manufacturers. A lot of manufacturers have started to do this so you can buy washing machines for example from people like Russell Hobbs and Swan who famously made kettles. These products are called “badged” appliances because the real manufacturer simply puts someone else’s badge (logo) on it. They are also more commonly known these days as own label brands.
Personally I totally dislike this practice although it is totally legal. It’s just that most people don’t have a clue that the manufacturer whose name is on the appliance does not make them, and does not know much about them, and is not usually too helpful when things go wrong. For an in-depth explanation of this practice read this article own label appliance brands -a full explanation
I would expect the Bush cooker to be a budget cooker and therefore expectations need to be reduced accordingly, but even so if the same element has broken twice in two years I would say that it is not of sufficient quality. Even a budget appliance should not be expected to have broken down three times in such a short period of time unless by any chance it is being used for a very large family or in shared accommodation.
Unfortunately you will find that Bush will most likely be totally uninterested in helping you now that it is out of its guarantee. They have no legal obligation. The only redress you have is with the retailer and you’ll have to argue that three breakdowns in two years with one of them being identical breakdown is just not acceptable so you are entitled to a free repair. You should definitely try this but in my experience virtually all retailers will just refuse to help. They only get in touch with the manufacturer or the company doing the repairs, and when they tell them that they won’t do it for free (because they don’t have to) they decide that they don’t want to pay out for the repair. However, in this case my understanding is that Argos may actually own Bush or at least have an exclusive relationship with them.
Although we do have a lot of great consumer rights in theory, in practice very few of us actually get them because unless you are extremely persistent and cause a lot of trouble, or get assistance from a consumer group to argue your case for you – or take them to the Small Claims Court they have all learnt that 99% of customers just give up. That saves them a lot of money. They don’t seem to care that it loses them a lot of customers though.
You should find that this article has more information how to get a faulty washing machine exchanged . It is written about washing machines but of course as applicable to any white goods.