What are our consumer rights related to washing machines and white goods appliances that break down? Especially soon after purchase. 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 to look at the subject objectively.
Both the customer and retailer’s points of view are explored in this article. Note that I am talking only about UK consumer rights.
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.
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?)
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.
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 – you can usually get a special offer trial offer – (Why subscribe to Which? )
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
Spares
Spares4Appliances is a spares company run by repair engineers who understand all about spare parts for appliances.
Hello Emma. From your description of the problems you’ve had it looks like you have a strong case to reject the washing and insist on a replacement. Under the consumer rights act they have to repair your appliance in a reasonable time. As it has been an extremely unreasonable amount of time you could argue that they have breached the consumer rights act. You may very well need to take advice from an acknowledged consumer group. If you are a Which? member this would be very easy (why subscribe to Which?). Alternatively you might try the citizens advice bureau or equivalent.
What you are trying to claim for is called consequential loss. If you had to use the launderette it is reasonable to suspect that you had little choice. If there was an easier way of getting all your washing done you would have clearly used it. You cannot have expected that anyone would pay for the launderette. I get the impression you have only considered trying to claim it back after it has developed into a bit of a farce, and your patience has been stretched to breaking point.
As I said, use the phrase “consequential loss” to show that you are aware of this legal term. The repairs manager sounds very unhelpful if that’s what he said. However, you have to bear in mind that your rights in this matter are really against the retailer who sold it. The repair company are just the agents for the manufacturer. You do not have a direct relationship with them. You did not contract 0800 repair to carry out any work. You bought the washing machine from the retailer, it came with a guarantee, and it is the pursuance of the guarantee that has resulted in them becoming part of the problem.
If your washing machine was out of guarantee, and you had called out a repair company then you have a direct contract with that company. If things go wrong you have consumer protection to pursue with them. But in a case where your contract is with someone else, and they employ a third party, if something goes wrong then your claim is with the original company. As I said, you will probably be better off getting some official consumer advice and help. My guess is that your claim is against the retailer under the consumer rights act. You may well have to threaten to take them to the Small Claims Court.
Hello,
I purchased a fridge freezer from curry’s in November 2018 which was delivered in December 2018. It has been used for 6 weeks and then broke. The engineer came out and said the compressor was broken which has to be ordered and will take another week. I asked for a new fridge freezer as its so new and a serious fault has occurred but they just kept repeating it is out of the 30 days and has to be repaired, not replaced. Just checking if this is correct?
Thanks for your help
Hello John. As the appliance has broken down within six months it is assumed that the appliance had a fault when it was sold to you. Unless they can prove that the fault has been caused by you, or how it is being installed, then this is the case under the consumer rights act.
This is a relatively recent amendment, which started when the consumer rights act replaced the old sale of goods act. However, I honestly cannot see what the point of this “new right” is. This is because the retailer has to either replace the appliance or repair it. But the retailer still gets to choose which is the most convenient.
So after 30 days we can’t easily insist on a replacement. Now as every product sold in the UK always has at least a minimum of 12 months guarantee – we have always had the right for an appliance to be repaired free of charge in the first 12 months.
So if it is more convenient for a retailer to have the manufacturer repair it, which of course it always is, then the retailer will always insist on having it repaired. There may be cases where a repair is so expensive, or so big, that it is easier to replace it. But for most faults they are likely to insist on a repair.
The only option I can see is if you object strongly to having a new compressor fitted you would have to threaten to take them to the Small Claims Court. And potentially have to carry that threat out. At a Small Claims Court you would claim that the appliance has suffered a major defect in a very short time. And that the consumer rights act says that this breaches your consumer rights because it was clearly faulty when sold. Therefore you reject the appliance and want it replacing, or a full refund. It may be that if you word it correctly they will concede to this threat.
If they keep stalling, you will have to decide whether to go ahead or not. Taking a retailer to the Small Claims Court is not difficult. The whole process is deliberately made to be relatively easy. You should be able to do it all online. Whether you would win or not though is not guaranteed. I suspect that you would. I would argue what is the point of the consumer rights act declaring that any product failing within six months is deemed to have an inherent fault and sold as faulty right from the start if all the retailer has to do is to ensure it is repaired, which it always has been and always will be because it has a 12 month guarantee.
Of course the retailer knows that all this will take time. And you have no fridge freezer. So unfortunately they hold most of the cards. Please let us know if you have any success.
Hi I bought a hotpoint washing machine in October. Now find out its dangerous. What can I do.??
Hello June. Yes this is another avoidable and chaotic disaster. I say avoidable because Hotpoint washing machine door lock wiring used to overheat and burn out 20 years ago, and here we are again. Back then there was less risk of an actual fire though because more of the parts were made of metal. This washing machine was clearly sold to you with an inherent and dangerous fault. The retailer should be obliged to replace it or give you your money back.
However, I can almost guarantee that they won’t, at least not without a fight. They will simply try to pass you on to the manufacturer. They will say the manufacturer has organised a system to deal with it all. But you can’t even get through to them on the telephone, and you cannot get through to their website. As your washing machine is only a few months old and well under the six months that the consumer rights act 2015 stipulates as the period in which any fault is deemed to be an inherent fault unless they can prove otherwise.
Sadly the retailers have a well practised and very successful way of dealing with our claims on faulty appliances and products. They simply refuse to do anything and hope we give up. I would guess 99% of people do give up. So this policy is highly successful for them. I have heard in the media that Hotpoint are arranging to replace these faulty washing machines. However under UK consumer law they are not obliged to do so at all. That obligation falls only onto the retailer which seems a little unfair. However that is how it is. The retailer is obliged by law to replace or refund and I think this is is clearly a case of breach of the consumer rights act 2015 as you can get because the manufacturer has admitted that there is a serious fault. So unfortunately our options are to either fight the retailer or join the queue to try and get in touch with Hotpoint. If you decide to fight the retailer I would strongly recommend you get proper consumer help and advice from somewhere like Which? (why subscribe to Which?) or Citizens Advice
Hi Andy
I bought a hotpoint washing machine on the 19/01/20 from currys online. My son used it on the 2nd day and I came home from work to the machine still going. I enquired about it my son told me that it kept resetting itself and wouldn’t stop. I turned it off at the mains and released the clothes. But they were soaking wet.
On Friday 24 ,I tried to use it to wash school clothes and it kept resetting itself again. I must mention that the soap was still in the soap dispenser both times.
On Friday morning I called the helpline and they want to charge me for an engineer to come out ..so I quoted consumer protection . They then said I won’t be charged if it’s a manufacturer fault. They gave me a 2 week timeslot! 6/2/20.
On Friday night as I was washing smoke came out of machine. I turned off completely.
On Saturday I called again this time demanding I want my money back as the appliance is not fit for purpose.
Currys are willing to take machine back and refund my money but I am having to deal with the manufacturer whirlpool who are a complete nightmare! Currys say as long as I get an authorisation code from manufacturer they are good to go. Manufacturer are insisting on sending an engineer out but cannot give me an emergency call out. I insisted and still waiting on their call. Meanwhile I have had to go to a laundromat to wash my kids uniform costing more money.
What can I do. The machine is less than a week old.
Hello Abie. Have you read all my advice, and checked all the points in my other article it inks to called Is your washing machine really faulty?. I know it’s frustrating when it appears no one believes your washing machine is faulty, it obviously could be – but from a betting odds point of view they usually aren’t. I explain in this article that it’s very rare for a washing machine to be faulty right from the factory. So there’s no way any retailer will exchange one until an engineer has confirmed it is faulty. Most of the time if one has a fault the first time it’s used it is one of the faults in my article I just linked to.
If it is faulty I don’t think you will have any problems, the engineer should arrange for it to be exchanged. You can reject it under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. But if it isn’t they will charge you so it’s wise to make sure it’s not an installation fault. One installation fault that can cause a washing machine to stick is if the washing machine is losing water through siphoning. That would cause it to constantly be filling with water but then losing it down the drain and filling up again etc.
So it may well be faulty, but they have to check first.
Hi, i ordered a candy washing machine via very on the 23rd Feb it arrived today however went to put my first cycle on it fills up starts working go to do school run come home to find an e09 code. Very do not want to refund me despite it being the first time I used the machine. Any help or advise? I do not want to wait for an engineer i simply want my money back as.
Hello Ashleigh. My article explains why no one will exchange an appliance without an engineer confirming it is faulty. Many faults, especially on washing machines, can be related to installation faults or user faults (see the list here is the washing machine actually faulty?”) If an engineer confirms the washing machine is faulty though you should be able to reject it then. The engineer will want to repair it, he might be able to authorise a replacement if it’s a big fault, but if they won’t you will need to demand a replacement from the retailer. If it’s a very minor fault it may well be better to just get it fixed. Getting it replaced will involve dealing with the retailer and waiting. So if for example the engineer can fix it in 5 mins you have to decide if it’s worth the hassle. But if something quite serious has failed, or he has to order parts for it – I would insist on getting it replaced asap.
I have a logik washer dryer from Currys in October this is the third time now it is just blowing cold air instead of hot have to get the engineer out now again. It seems to be tripping out a lot where do I stand on this problem