Faulty Microwave Oven

[minesapint]

I'd be very grateful if someone could provide some advice on the following problem please which is causing much heartache.

We bought a Panasonic Combination Oven (Microwave/Oven/Grill) in January from Littlewoods mail order. The microwave arrived within 48 hours and upon plugging it in, an error message came up on the display and the turntable started revolving erratically. We contacted Littlewoods who agreed to pick up the oven and deliver a replacement within another 48 hours.

The second oven worked for just over a month without any problems until last Wednesday, when it tripped the house consumer unit circuit breaker. After resetting the breaker and trying the microwave again, the microwave was dead.

We contacted Littlewoods who were adamant that they would not provide a replacement as we had had the oven for over 28 days. They insisted that we contact Panasonic to arrange for it to be serviced. This we did, and earlier today an engineer arrived.

(continued)

[minesapint]

The engineer said he was unable to repair it at my home - the microwave oven would have to go back to the workshop. It could take up to ten working days to repair. The most he could do otherwise was to provide written confirmation of the fault with me. Rightly or wrongly, I declined the offer to have the oven taken to the workshop and he gave me a document outlining the fault.

I'd like some advice on my consumer rights on this matter please. I consider it very unfair that I would have been expected to tolerate being without an almost new oven for a further ten working days. If the oven had been many months old, it would have been a different matter. All in all the oven could be out of action for in the region of three weeks before I got it back given "working days" and the time we've had to wait for the engineer to call. Is this really acceptable on a product around five weeks old?

Whilst I appreciate that products like this do break down and we have to give the supplier a chance to put things right, we're not very impressed that this is the second faulty model we've received. The engineer was not even from Panasonic but from a service agency over 50 miles away and did not look particularly competent, sympathetic or helpful and had no tools with him. Can we insist on Littlewoods taking the oven back?

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

[6758]

Hi there... This is really awful service nad seems to be becoming the norm! I posted a similar question at the weekend called faulty camera... Some of the replies I got might be useful to you... Its on down the page...

[New Judge]

Under the Sale of Goods Act goods purchased from a trader must be of �satisfactory quality�. If they are not you have the right to reject them and claim a full refund from the retailer.

�Satisfactory Quality� is not defined and neither is the time you have to reject the goods - each case is examined on its merits. I would suggest that it is reasonable to expect an oven to last more than two months and its failure makes it unsatisfactory.

You�ve given the supplier the chance to put matters right (which you did not have to do) but they�ve failed. Don�t mess about any more. Simply ask for your money back and threaten action via the small claims division of the County Court if you are met with a refusal.

[minesapint]

Thank you both very much. I' m very grateful for your help.

We've been in touch with Littlewoods this afternoon and pointed out that the engineers behaviour and policy left a great deal to be desired. They insist that they will make no decision until a faxed copy of the engineers report reaches them tomorrow (Tuesday).

I hope they relent, but if not you've both provided with a means of throwing the book at them legally.

Thank you both very much indeed once again.

[Hammer]

Further to New Judge's excellent response, can I just point out that it is the RETAILER that must put things right. The RETAILER must repair / replace / refund under the Sale of goods act, and if they try to tell you otherwise they are just fobbing you off. Any guarantee offered by the manufacturer is in addition to your legal rights and you can use it if you wish, but you don't have to. You can insist that the RETAILER sorts it out for you.

I agree with the advice to ask for a refund, mention the Sale of Goods Act, and the Small Claims court if necessary. This will usually get you what you want with little fuss.

[Oneeyedvic]

As Hammerman says, they cannot tell you to contact the manufacturer.

Play them at their own game, tell them that you have taken legal advice and as such you are requesting them to confirm it writing to you that they (as the supplier) will not honour the warranty but that they are asking you to contact the manufacturer. (they will of course not do this as they would be admitting in writing that they are breaking the law).


Also, how did you pay for the microwave?

If you purchased it on creditcard as opposed to debit card, or if you took out credit on this product, then you have further legal rights (under section 75 of the Consumer credit act the finance company or credit card provider have equal liability - so you can get a refund from them instead)

[minesapint]

Thanks Hammer and Oneyedvic. The points you raised are very pertinent.

We had a vague idea of what our rights were especially over the matter of the retailer not being able to pass the buck to the manufacturer.

The reason why we remained doubtful over our rights did concern the method of payment. What happened was that we ordered the original microwave oven in January with Littlewoods on one of their "buy now, pay later" schemes. The first payment or total cost of the oven (whichever we chose) was not due until November this year.

What we were afraid of was that Littlewoods could sit tight on this matter until at least October. After October, we might only be able to protest by writing to them and stating that we were refusing the initial payment or full payment on the basis that the microwave had been was kaput since late February. I don't know in law if the microwave would have been classified as their property or ours during that period.

What happens with Littlewoods is that the oven would appear as having been delivered on a certain date on each of the monthly invoices sent to us, but the minimum monthly payment calculated for the total value of goods ordered to date for any particular month would not include the microwave oven cost until the November statement

Do these schemes make any difference to our rights in matters like this? Given these circumstances, I don't quite understand how we'd put our case in the County Court.

(continued)

[minesapint]

Anyhow, we spoke to a telesales person at Littlewoods this morning, who was adamant the "service engineers" needed to check the microwave and it should have been taken away. They needed a report from the service engineer which had not been received. My wife laid down the law to them as kindly provided by 6758 and NewJudge and gave them an hour to return our phone call or we would file a County Court Action online.

Within fifteen minutes, a senior member of staff phoned back and apologised profusely for the inconvenience caused. They will collect the faulty microwave oven on Wednesday and deliver a replacement on Thursday.

It's truly amazing what the threat of court action can do. I'd like to thank you all once again for taking the time to offer some very sound advice. I'm immensely grateful.

[Ice.Maiden]

Good for you, minesapint. Glad you've got your problem sorted out. A friend of mine took delivery of a camera and printing dock package from the same place as you. It was faulty from the start, and was going to be bought on something called a buy now pay later offer. She was told to return the whole package to the manufacturer. My friend quoted her statutory rights, and lo and behold - the item will now be deducted from any future statement, and she's bought from elsewhere.

[minesapint]

Thanks Ice.Maiden.

It just goes to show that there must be thousands of people that are being fobbed off by suppliers. It's an appalling situation and must be causing a great deal of worry to many people daily. It's little wonder that my local council recycling centre seems to have more and more high value almost new electronic goods dumped almost daily - people either don't know how to fight for the rights they have in law or don't have the fight in them to do so.

My wife has had a Littlewoods account for many years and is one of their "privileged" "Gold Class" customers due to the annual value of goods ordered. You would have thought that this fact alone would have caused them to be more reasonable. We're appalled by the shabby treatment we've received and are seriously thinking of paying off the account as quickly as possible.