This article looks at our consumer rights related to washing machines and white goods appliances that break down. Especially soon after purchase. Both the customer and retailer’s points of view are explored. Trying to get an appliance exchanged can be stressful and difficult. So before we jump in and angrily demand a replacement it’s best to try and look at the subject objectively.
I don’t want my washing machine repaired – I want it exchanged
Many customers want an exchange if a washing machine breaks down when they haven’t had it very long. Especially if it’s very soon after purchase. Unless a retailer had a 28 day exchange policy this used to be difficult. But the new Consumer Rights Act 2015 now makes this very simple. It says that if a new appliance goes faulty within 30 days we are entitled to a full refund if that’s what we want.
Is the washing machine really faulty?
However, before jumping in, try to make sure there is definitely a fault on the appliance. Make sure that the fault is not caused by faulty installation or a user fault. Failing to read the instruction manual causes a lot of avoidable problems. As an engineer I know that a substantial percentage (if not the majority) of all calls to a new appliance within the first week are likely to be user faults or installation faults.
If it’s a washing machine check this list that I have compiled separately is the washing machine actually faulty? It shows 9 examples of “faults” that are not washing machine faults at all. They are all caused by installation or user errors. Remember, you can be charged if it turns out to be one of these faults so it makes sense to check it.
They won’t exchange any appliance without sending an engineer to check it first
It’s easy to see why it’s highly unlikely anyone will exchange an appliance simply because it’s reported faulty once you’ve read the list mentioned above. It’s almost certain an engineer will need to inspect and confirm it is genuinely faulty.
Can I insist on an exchange if the washing machine IS faulty?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives us the right for a full refund if an appliance is faulty within the first 30 days. If the appliance is genuinely faulty you can request your money back. You should stop using it and reject it. Some major retailers have exchange policies where they will exchange an appliance within the first 28 days without much hassle. This has nothing to do with any consumer rights though. It’s a commercial good-will policy decision.
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The sooner a fault occurs the more likely a retailer will exchange it. They tend to get very reluctant after roughly a month. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says that faults within the first 6 months are inherent. This means the fault must have been present when sold even if it didn’t show before. The retailer must prove otherwise. So if a substantial fault occurs within the first 6 months you have a better chance of getting it exchanged. After 6 months it is extremely difficult to get an appliance exchanged, even if consumer law says you are entitled to it.
Should you complain the manufacturer?
Under UK consumer law the manufacturer is not responsible. Only the retailer has any obligation regarding faulty goods. A manufacturer has an obligation to honour their guarantee. But they have no obligation to exchange faulty appliances. Neither can they give your money back because you gave it to the retailer. Some manufacturers will get involved. They will sometimes offer to exchange an appliance. If they offer something acceptable that’s fine. But if they don’t, remember the retailer is bound by the Sale of Goods act. It’s them you should be negotiating with. (Related: Why can’t I complain to the manufacturer? They made it so aren’t they ultimately responsible?)
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Retailers can sometimes insist on repairing – not replacing an appliance
Automatically rejecting a washing machine over any fault is not necessarily a good idea. It’s common to instinctively want to reject something that breaks down the first time you use it, or within a short time of buying. As customers, we often appear to undergo a psychological rejection of goods, which is not based on any logic. It’s almost as if the washing machine is cursed, and doomed to constant failure so it must be got rid of.
Try not to lose sight of the fact that any product can develop a fault. It doesn’t mean there is something seriously wrong with it. It doesn’t mean that it will never stop breaking down. Bear in mind that a minor repair may be considerably more convenient for all concerned including yourself. What’s the point for example of going through all the hassle of getting a washing machine exchanged if it can be fixed in 5 minutes with hardly any effort?
Also bear in mind that a retailer can insist on a repair if they can show that replacing the appliance is disproportionately more expensive than a repair. You might be entitled to reject it if the product is faulty from the start but it makes sense to just see what the fault is first. Some faults can be pretty minor and hardly warrant a total rejection.
There is sometimes a stalemate caused by conflicting statements in the Sale of Goods Act. It gives us the right to reject a faulty product, but also gives retailers a right to repair it if it only has a minor fault.
Bigger Guarantees
Minimum 2 Year Guarantee on Appliances at John Lewis
Faults within the first 6 months are deemed to have been present when sold
As previously mentioned, a new amendment to consumer law has shifted the burden of proof of a fault from the consumer to the seller. This is only applicable within the first 6 months. This means a fault within 6 months is automatically assumed to be an "inherent fault" unless the seller can prove otherwise. It’s as good as saying if a new part can't last a mere 6 months, it must have been faulty (or of sub-standard quality) when it was fitted to the washing machine. So it was therefore sold with an inherent fault.
Why are retailers so reluctant to exchange a faulty appliance?
This could be why – Is the sale of goods act too hard on retailers?
Faults on appliances out of guarantee
Once the appliance is out of the manufacturer’s guarantee you will always be told that you have to pay for a repair – even if The Consumer Rights Act 2015 shows you are entitled to a free repair or compensation. You can be entitled to a free repair or partial refund long after the first year. It will depend on all of the circumstances, but you can still be covered by UK consumer law as this article describes Out of guarantee even by a long time doesn’t always mean you should pay
The Consumer Rights Act 2015
Some people think that because the Consumer Rights Act (formally Sale of Goods Act) gives us up to 6 years (5 in Scotland) to claim compensation it means we have a claim any time it breaks down within the 6 years. This is definitely not the case. Read this article here – Consumer Rights Act (formally Sale of Goods Act) gives us 6 years to claim for faulty appliances
Which? Consumer Advice special offer
I’m not a consumer expert. My consumer advice is my personal understanding based on a long study and research on the subject coupled with my 40 years experience in the trade, and years of writing and advising on my web sites.
Which? are a great source of independent consumer advice and product reviews and you can benefit from their highly respected opinions and experience online – Get a full 1 month trial offer for just £1 – (Why take out a Which? 1 month trial?)
Distance selling regulations
You have additional rights if you buy your appliance over the internet or through a mail-order catalogue. Read this article for more information on Distance selling regulations on returning appliances
Andy Trigg (Whitegoodshelp) says
Sorry Jarrod, I didn’t work out the age properly. Yes, under 6 months old it’s considered to have been faulty when sold which breaches the sale of goods act. Read my article here – Sale of Goods Act especially the section headed, “Faulty under 6 months old?”
Jarrod says
Yes I did think so ! But wanted to be a sure all my info is correct before I speak to them again . I appriciated ur help in clearing this up for me as Iv been checking my rights out but can be somewhat confusing info .
Thanks
Jarrod shaw says
hello Andy , thank you for your help & advice
iv had success in getting an exchange for my faulty washer . exchanging it for an alternative make and model .
It sure was’nt easy though ! argos customer service , constantly quoting their polices & hiding behind the manufactures warranty & 30 day back guarantee & me reciting my consumer rights to them ( very frustrating ) after countless phone calls & numerous emails to them, including to the CEO , COO and customer relations manager ! they called me back & said they can in this instance offer me an exchange … surprisingly being able to send the new washer next working day & at the same time taking the faulty 1 away ! the replacement will actually be here 4 days earlier than they could “fix” the faulty 1 , but all in all sorted in 4 days , so not bad ! 4 hard days but totally worth it .
Andy Trigg (Whitegoodshelp) says
Many thanks for the update Jarrod. It shows how my warnings about it being a long hard trail are still accurate. I wrote this article Is the sale of goods act too hard on retailers? to explain (not justify) why I think it’s so hard. Retailers constantly rely on the manufacturer to replace appliances and when (as they often do) they refuse because they have no legal obligation to do so the retailers erroneously use this as a reason why they can’t replace it.
Laura says
Hi ANDY wonder if you can give us any advice – we have a haeir machine which has set on fire this weekend – thankfully it was in the daytime and we were at home when it happened and able to stop it spreading – it appears on a quick google that the machine has actually been on a product recall last year but we were never aware of this – does anybody have any liability to provide us with a new machine ? Thankfully it is only a machine we are missing and not a whole house or anybody’s lives !
Many thanks
Andy Trigg (Whitegoodshelp) says
Hello Laura. That’s another reminder never to leave washing machine’s dishwashers or tumble dryers running at night or when no one is in the house. It’s also a reminder of why we should always register new products when we buy them. The first thing a manufacturer would do when they discover a serious safety issue is contact all of the people who have bought one and registered it with them. If we haven’t registered the appliance then we cannot find out about it unless we stumble across it in the media.
In cases where an appliance has been subject to a safety notice the manufacturer usually takes over. However, under the sale of goods act the retailer is ultimately responsible. Therefore if the manufacturer doesn’t deal with it as you would like then you can try to hold the retailer who sold it to you responsible under the sale of goods act. You would have to claim that they breached the sale of goods act by selling you an appliance that had an inherent fault.
J. Haggth says
Just purchased a whirlpool washer, after 6 days the drum paddle has broken off. After contacting the retailer they can’t send an engineer out for over a week. Am I entitled to a replacement ? Rather than it been fixed.
Andy Trigg (Whitegoodshelp) says
Hello, as my article describes, it’s very rare for a retailer to agree to swap an appliance without an engineer confirming it is faulty, that the fault hasn’t been caused by misuse or during installation – and that the fault is quite serious. It’s unusual for a drum paddle to break off so soon so they may well suspect something heavy like trainers could have been washed and caused it to break (although how they could prove that I don’t know).
If the drum paddle is one of the types that can be easily replaced by clipping in then I would expect you’d have quite a battle on your hand to get them to replace it when it can be fixed within minutes. If on the other hand they said it needed stripping down to replace it or even needed a new drum it should be much easier to argue that you want to reject the machine and get a refund or replacement with it happening so soon.
Sonia Joy says
Bought fridge, freezer and dishwasher (Indesit) from AOL only 6 months ago. The fridge has stopped working. Contacted Indesit who will send an engineer out in 2 weeks to inspect, How they expect me to cope for 2 weeks, in this day and age is shocking – had to resort to long life milk and supermarket shopping every night for fresh produce. Once engineer visits and a fault is found, he will write a report, that will be sent to head office for them to decide whether I should be given a refund or replacement. This process can take 4 weeks. Am I being unrealistic not being able to cope without a fridge for over a month? In the meantime, I have ordered another fridge due to be delivered on Saturday – so I have bought 2 new fridges in 6 months (better off buying from second hand shop) – am I entitled to demand a full refund for the fridge that that I no longer want or need because it is faulty.
Andy Trigg (Whitegoodshelp) says
Hello Sonia. It’s sad that it should take so long. Unfortunately though they do have to send an engineer out to ensure that the fault is definitely caused by a fault on the appliance, and not its environment or the way it’s being used. For example if kept in a cold environment like a garage they can stop working (How are fridges and freezers affected by the room temperature?)
If the fridge proves to be faulty, then it depends on what’s gone wrong as to what is the best thing to do. If it was me, and the fault seemed minor I would get it fixed asap. If it seems serious, and or it is going to take weeks to get repaired I would ring their customer services dept quoting the sale of goods act and say you want it replaced asap. It must be repaired in a reasonable time and I wouldn’t think any reasonable person (including a small claims court judge) would say that being without a fridge bought only 6 months ago for a month is reasonable or acceptable.
From what I can see, AOL are pretty strong on customer service. It’s one of the reasons they’ve become so successful, but chances are their success means they are extremely busy and could be why it takes so long for an engineer to come out.
The thing to bear in mind is that the repair engineer (probably Indesit) is different to the seller (AOL). The engineer and the company that send him is only interested in repairing it and their only obligation is to repair it. If they decide to offer to replace it that’s entirely up to them, and they don’t do it lightly because it costs them more money. On the other hand, the people you bought it from are bound by the sale of goods act, and even if the manufacturer refuses to replace it the seller has separate obligations and cannot say they can’t replace it simply because the manufacturer won’t. This is explained fully in my other article here – Is manufacturer or retailer responsible for faulty appliances?
Whether you have a solid case for getting it exchanged under the sale of goods act (by the seller – not the manufacturer) varies from case to case and only the faults that are very expensive and faults that occur within the first month tend to get exchanged with little or no fuss.