Looking at consumer rights related to buying a second hand washing machine or any other appliance from either a private buyer or a local trader.
Buying a second hand washing machine privately (from a non trader) carries a risk. There is relatively little consumer protection. The washing machine must match their description of it though. So if they said it had a 1400 spin or a 6Kg drum but it turned out to have only a 1200 spin or a 5Kg drum they have misled you. You should then have the right to reject it or claim compensation (e.g. a reduction in price). It must also be in "good working order". It does not have to be in perfect condition because it’s second hand. It has to work as anyone would expect it to. Maybe if it’s a bit noisy you might have to accept that it’s a used appliance. If on the other hand they described it as nearly new, or you paid a lot for it, you should expect it to be in better condition.
Unless you can prove the seller must have known about a fault then it’s one of those things if it breaks down soon after buying. There’s no guarantee with a second hand appliance from a private sale. Watch out for traders posing as private sellers. This is now illegal. Tell tale tips on how to find them and a full description of buyers rights can be found in the “related links” below.
Second hand washing machine breaks down soon after buying
Don’t immediately assume you’ve been done if a washing machine fails to work properly. Start from the point of assuming it’s unlikely anyone would advertise a washing machine that just did not work. It’s possible for a fault to be introduced through transit, or through problems caused by the installation at your home. Before demanding your money back you need to carefully check all the points in this article Getting faulty washing machine exchanged: Is the washing machine actually faulty? Also check out this article – 5 things to check for after repairing or installing a washing machine.
Related links: Private sales – your rights – (pdf file) (Citizens Advice Bureau (pdf) downloadable booklet) | How to transport a washing machine properly
To summarise
If you buy an appliance from a genuine private seller and it breaks down they might only be responsible if you could show that the fault was obviously present when sold. Everything depends on what has gone wrong, how soon after you bought it, and what it cost. A private seller is not expected to be an expert. Nor are they expected to carry out repairs to make it in great condition before selling. They are really only obliged to point out any issues they are aware of and to describe it accurately.
If it worked perfectly okay for two weeks and then broke down it might be argued that they could not have known this was going to happen. So it’s bad luck unless it could be shown that the fault must have been displaying symptoms before they sold it.
If a fault could and should have been seen by reasonable inspection before purchasing, or straight after taking possession of it, you may not have any rights. For example, if you found it was extremely noisy on spin but still accepted the machine. Then two weeks later the bearings collapsed. In such a case you should have rejected the machine straight away. Another example may be if when you opened the door you could see that the door seal was all sticky and worn. It then subsequently started to leak. Again one might argue you should have realised it was worn and rejected it or negotiated a lower price.
I bought a second hand washing machine from a trader, what are my rights?
We have a lot of the same rights as when buying a new washing machine if we buy a second hand appliance from a trader. This is why some traders used to pretend to be private sellers. This practice is now illegal. Although you have the same rights you still have to take into account the fact it is not new. Expectations should be reduced accordingly. If the washing machine is faulty right away, or very soon after buying, the trader needs to put it right. If the price paid was very low, it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect it to last for years. For example, if you only paid £50 how long would you really expect it to last?
An appliance might be guaranteed for a short amount of time. But even it it fails outside that time (as with guarantees on brand new appliances) you may still have rights. These rights depend on how much you paid for it, how it’s been used, and how long it has lasted. For example if you paid £150 for a washing machine with a 3 month guarantee and a few weeks over 3 months it suffered a very expensive breakdown or was even not worth repairing you should seek consumer advice.
Related link: Citizens Advice (pdf) file Buying goods – your rights
If the appliance was sold as refurbished or reconditioned
If the appliance was refurbished or reconditioned this implies that it should be in better condition than one sold simply as “used” or “second hand”. Such an appliance should have been thoroughly checked. All worn or faulty parts should have been replaced and properly tested. It would be fair then to expect it to last longer than one that has just been sold as in working order. However, it is still not brand new. So expectations need to be reasonable. Again, how much it cost and how many times it’s been used need to be taken into account. It should last a “reasonable” time. Sadly, the term reasonable is open to argument. You may need to seek consumer advice if you have a dispute.
What if seller is a trader posing as a private seller?
If the seller is a trader but advertising as a private seller they are breaking the law. Anyone posing as a private seller can be prosecuted by trading standards under the Business Advertisements (Disclosure) Order 1977. If this is the case you should contact trading standards, who may very well already know about them. People blatantly flouting consumer law will often get reported many times. Trading Standards could be slowly building a case against them.
If the seller still refuses to repair or look at the machine after you’ve pointed out they may be breaking the law you may need to get an independent engineer to repair it. Then take the seller to the small claims court to recover costs. However, this is a little risky with people blatantly flouting the law. They may well be equally contemptuous of the small claims court. With relatively small amounts it may be difficult to get them to comply. It may make more sense to reject the machine and try to get your money back. You would be wise to seek professional advice from Trading Standards.
Research. Don't waste money with bad purchases. Which? have an excellent no-strings trial offer - 
We bought a second hand washing machine from gumtree. Paid £75 and it broke down after 2weeks. We have a guarentee of 6months but the seller refuses to fix and now wont answer txts. The seller is a trader but advertises as private on gumtree. What can I do now? He wont answer txts or calls. I know its second hand but I expect it to work for at least a few months and not weeks. I have txt asking for repair or refund but no reply. I go down to the warehouse and its always closed- probably open on appointment only
Hello Michelle. Your rights will depend on exactly what has gone wrong with the machine, which sadly may not be known until an engineer inspects it. For example if the problem is a blocked pump then even a brand-new washing machine wouldn’t be covered under a guarantee unless it was something blocking it that definitely did not belong to you and must have been inside the machine before you got it.
But if it is definitely faulty and they are not a private seller they are obliged to fix it. Re-read all my article carefully as I’ve just extensively modified it to help make the whole issue much clearer, plus I’ve added a section at the end asking, “What if seller is a trader posing as a private seller?”
i bought a dishwasher for £50 on gumtree. He said it was in good working order and he would deliver. I got it plumbed in shortly after it arrived. It will not drain the water out after a wash tho. I text him a few hours later telling him the problem. I’m a mum to a 1 year old and this is a lot of money to me will I be able to get I back do you think.
Hello Lucie. It’s highly unlikely that anyone would sell a dishwasher and deliver it in person if it did not drain the water out, especially if they are a genuine seller and not trader posing as a member of the public (which is illegal). It is more likely that either something has happened in transit, or there is an issue with the plumbing. The most logical step is to make sure it is not anything to do with the plumbing by pulling the dishwasher out and placing the drain hose into a bucket and see if it pumps out or not.
If it is definitely not pumping the water out it could be possible that some obstruction or small piece of broken glass could be jamming the pump. This can happen if something moves during transit. If it pumped out perfectly okay for the original owner but now it doesn’t it’s not necessarily anybody’s fault but if it has developed a fault during transit then they didn’t sell you are working dishwasher so they ought to be obliged to refund the money.
We bought second hand washer dryer from trader but it didn’t dry clothes and finally started leaking and ruined my kitchen flooring. Trader offered only to refund cost of washer we paid, but what about damage to my flooring as we recently had a kitchen decorated?
Anyone trading, especially selling something, should have product liability insurance that covers against such things. If they don’t, and you have a valid claim, then you’d probably need to take them to the small claims court to try to get compensation. You will be better off checking with a consumer protection group such as citizens advice who should be able to advise if you have a legitimate claim or not when you give them all the facts.
Hi Andy. Bought a used but refurbished washer dryer from a small white goods shop. Also bought a cooker and fridge freezer at same time. Picked them up a few days later and the washer had been wrapped in shrink wrap to protect it. It was £80 more than the washer of the same make. Plumbed it in yesterday and realised it is just a washing machine when I specifically bought a washer dryer and that is what it states on the receipt. I have 6 months guarantee on the product and it does work perfectly but I paid for a more expensive product. Can I ask for a partial refund for the difference?
Hello Pam, I would have thought they would want to ensure you get the right machine, the one you ordered and paid for. If by any chance you are happy to keep the cheaper washing machine I can’t imagine any reason why they wouldn’t refund you the difference in price.
I bought a refurbished washer from a shop for £99.99 in August 2015 befor Xmas it broke down and was smoking I thought it was going to set on fire ,do I have any rights to get it replaced
Hello Marlene. If it was refurbished it should last a fair bit longer than a few months. I don’t know how long it was guaranteed for but depending on what’s gone wrong you may be able to claim under the sale of goods act regardless of what guarantee they gave if it hasn’t lasted a reasonable time. Normally you would expect a free repair or replacement if they can’t repair it. Having said that, £99 is not a lot of money, but 3 or 4 months is not very good for a refurbished appliance.
Hi Andy
I am having my kitchen fitted and therefore decided to have integrated appliances, I advertised my two year old washer (perfect working order) and sold it for £45.00, a bargain to someone I thought.
A couple tuned up, (the wife never got out the car to look at the washer) and my husband helped him carry the washer to their car, the transportation bolts had been put in before removing from kitchen.
My husband explained twice to the man who did not speak very good english that they had to make sure they removed the four transportation bolts before using the machine.
fast forward two days and I receive a text demanding their £45 back as the washer is broken, it washes ok but as soon as it goes on to the rinse and spin it jumps around the kitchen! I have asked many times in texts if they removed the bolts first but due to poor english I am getting nowhere.
I would never sell a faulty machine,in fact I used the machine on the Friday before they collected it on the Saturday! I honestly believe they forgot to remove the bolts, where do I stand on this?
Yes it sounds like they haven’t removed the transit packaging. Leaving it in would cause the suspension to be frozen and the washer would jump and move around on spin. It sounds like you’ve had a lot of hassle for the relative small amount. I would try an online translator and try to text them in Polish in as few words as possible.
the comments were about the topic being discussed, faulty washing machines?
Not sure what you mean Linda? I read your problem as you’ve sold a washing machine, nothing wrong with it, you don’t think they have removed the transit packaging but can’t get through to them because they don’t speak good English? Your only option is to try to get through to them in Polish, refund the money or have them hassle further or hope they give up :) My article already explains their rights, which are that the washing machine should be as described, and functional, which you maintain it was.
Hi iam a trader selling refurbished white goods mainly washing machines I get a fair few problems when customers connect then themselves usually not checking the new waste spout hasn’t been cut off the end of the stopper inside is still in there …..its a common problem and customers need to be more aware …..I always go and dort it but feel that I have right to charge a fee for my time
Hello Chris. Yes, it’s very decent of you to not charge although as you say you are entitled to. I’m sure you make a judgement call that it’s best to keep the good customer relations going. I try to get people to read this article of examples of faults that users think are caused by a faulty washing machine but are in fact installation or user faults like the one you describe Is the washing machine actually faulty?. The issue you describe is linked to in the first point on the list.
I would consider warning people that you’d need to make a charge if it isn’t installed properly. However, unless you are supplying instruction manuals with installation instructions it’s hard to blame people totally if they get it wrong.
i purchased a washer from a seller on facebook which stated it was in working order, he delivered it to me for a 10 pound charge ,my son plugged in and connected pipes and set it to do a small wash load to test it but it failed to work at all i contacted the seller the same day and he is refusing to give me my money back is there anything i can do
Hello Sheila. If they are selling as a business they have to abide by consumer law as described in my article. if they are a genuine private seller you have few rights. I’ve just rewritten and rephrased all my article to make it clearer. Please re-read, it should be a lot better now. Remember it’s unlikely someone would sell and deliver a washing machine that did not work so i’s important to make sure the fault isn’t caused by any of the things in the second article I link to early in the article.
Hi, I purchased a second hand washing machine from somebody on social media. He had numerous machines for sale and gave me the option of 4/5 machines. He stated I had 3 months warranty with the washing machine. He delivered it himself. We didn’t plug it in straight away as we hadn’t actually moved in to the property. When we did, the cycle worked fine but the lock didn’t release. I messaged Cas who said I just has to give the door a nudge, so he must of been aware of the problem to already have a solution when I provided very little info. As a petite woman, I didn’t have the strength needed so had to wait 10 hours for my partner to finish his shift to ‘nudge’ the door. I haven’t used the machine since out of fear of damaging it more buy nudging it.
‘Cas’ said he would happily pick the machine up and give us our money back, however he didn’t turn up on the time we agreed and now he isn’t answering calls or texts. Is there anything I can do?
Contact him once more and say if he doesn’t respond you are going to Trading Standards. If he doesn’t, that’s all you can do – go to Trading Standards and see if they can help.
Should I expect a second hand dryer to last more than 2 months? I paid £60. From a trader posing as a private seller on gumtree. He’s basically told me, no garuntee offered so get on with it… Thanks
Hello Christina. As my article states, a trader posing as a private seller is breaking the law and can be reported to trading standards. If it is definitely a trader then he has to give you certain rights under the sale of goods act.
However, how long a large domestic appliance should last when sold for £60 is not so easy to define. I would think it fair to say that should last longer than 2 months. If bought from a trader you should expect that it has been checked over, and any obvious faults repaired. Trouble is there are always faults that can strike from nowhere and even if a competent engineer has given it a full inspection it is possible for a fault to suddenly appear from nowhere.
If the dryer had been bought from a private seller I would say that it is just bad luck. If the dryer had worked okay for 2 months, with seemingly no fault looming and then it suddenly broke down no one could have been expected to predict that. That is part of the gamble we take when buying anything second-hand. Although the same can be said when buying from a trader the sale of goods act enforces certain rights so that the trader, who is making a profit from the sale has to take some of the risk. They might argue that £60 is just not enough to pay for carrying out repairs to the dryer and delivering it and guaranteeing it. I would agree 100%. However I would say that £60 is a totally unviable price. Any trader selling appliances at such low prices needs to accept the risk of having to replace or repair them if they fail after a short time or re-evaluate the whole idea of selling them at such cheap prices.
Hi I bought a reconditioned washing machine on 3rd Feb for £130 from a white goods shop however it has broke and sounds like the pump or motherboard is broke. I have had it six weeks. They are coming out Friday but say I am being charged a call out fee. Should I be paying anything as I have only had it 6 weeks. Expected it to last longer than this.
Hello Gillian. If the fault turns out to be something blocked in the pump that shouldn’t be there, for example coins, then they would be within their rights to charge. But if it has developed a fault, bearing in mind it cost £130, then it should last much longer than six weeks so I would expect it to be covered under their guarantee. I presume you had a guarantee with the machine at that price?
If by any chance there is no guarantee with the washing machine, or it has already run out then that’s quite remarkable with them charging so much. However, there is no obligation in law to provide a guarantee. Most people do because most customers would be highly unlikely to buy a product that doesn’t have a guarantee (unless they are buying second-hand from a non-trader) only to comply with consumer law. My article explains the extent to which consumer law extends to second-hand appliances sold by traders.
Hey just wondering if u knew where I stood on this. I sold a washing machine for my dad nearly a month ago and today the girl messaged me saying its not working. She said she was moving in the weekend they brought it but apparently its been stored all this time and she only moved in tuesday and plumed it in on sunday and the water won’t drain and few other issues and messaged me on Monday demanding her money back as she has to dispose of it and get a new one. It was working before it left. I would never sell a faulty product. She refuses to state where it was stored or what the issues are. I sold it for £30 she didn’t even look at the washing machine just picked it up and left. I stated it was a few years old and in used working order and been cleaned. Can you help please.