Hoover Candy washing machine

[srdonelan]

Hi, This is my first post, so hopefully I've put it in the right area.

 

We bought a Hoover WDYN854D washing machine last April.

I wanted another Bosch, but they didn't have a washer / drier machine with an 8KG capacity .

I was aware of the bad reputation Hoover had earned themselves in the past but thought that they must have got their act together, given the length of time they've had to correct issues within the company.

 

The first sign of any problem was when one of the 32 amp ring main circuit breakers would occasionally trip, also taking out the 63 amp RCD. They would reset ok and we wouldn't have any problems for a week or so.

Then one Saturday they both tripped again and when reset we noticed that the washing machine was dead, no display, just a fill valve constantly on.

 

My wife called the Hoover Candy service centre and they sent an engineer out a few days later.

He found that a ribbon cable in the wiring loom had been rubbing on the machine chassis and had shorted out.

As a consequence the complete wiring loom, controller, display and three valves needed to be replaced.

There was no charge for parts, as these are under a five year warranty. There was however a call out fee of £120 for the engineers two visits.

 

We paid the engineer when he had finished the repair.

I then sent a letter to Hoover Candy outlining the issue and stating that the problem was caused by an incorrectly routed cable during assembly. I also stated, quite rightly, that the wiring loom is not a wear part.

I asked for a refund of the £120 along with re assurance that this issue would not re occur.

 

I received a letter back with the usual nonsense about "striving to give utmost reliability", "continuous quality control procedures", etc.

In short, ducking the real issue, which was a machine that had been assembled incorrectly at the factory, necessitating the replacement of most of its electrical components..... good job the parts were under warranty.

 

I sent another letter after this one threatening legal action, I then sent another copy of this letter to them via recorded delivery.

To date I have received no reply.

 

I am a qualified electronics / controls engineer and I am quite appalled that a small ribbon cable was carrying enough power to trip a 32 amp breaker.... point 1.

I also don't expect a wiring loom to have to be replaced, after all, would anyone expect to have a complete wiring loom on a fourteen month old car replaced? Of course not...... point 2.

 

This may have been a Friday afternoon machine or it might be an inherent design fault, and I really don't care in all honesty. I just can't see why I should have to pay for poor workmanship.

 

So, any feedback would be useful here.

Is this a matter for the small claims court, or do I have to take a different route?

 

Hoover Candy, never again

[BankFodder]

Yes, it is a matter for the small claims court. However, you would normally proceed against the supplier. Who supplied it and also when you say April - do you mean 2012? - or last year?

[srdonelan]

Hi BankFodder, Thank you for your reply.

The machine was purchased in April 2011.

We started to have intermittent tripping of the mains RCD around July 2012. Possibly difficult to prove that it was the washing machine causing this, but we've had no nuisance tripping since it was repaired.

So the machine was actually outside of the 12 month warranty period when we had issues.

 

I believe the machine was supplied by John Lewis, but I will have to confirm this with my wife.

 

My case is the fact that the wiring loom had been incorrectly installed at the factory, which meant that it was not routed in such a way as to prevent chaffing on the machine chassis.

I think if Hoover Candy Customer Support had been a little more understanding I may have been tempted to back down, we all want a quiet life after all.

 

I guess there are occasions in life when we feel the need to stand up and fight against what we believe to be wrong.

Last week I filled my car up with diesel from Asda, as I stood there I thought to myself "137.7 pence per liter, that's really good", then I thought "hang on a minute, that's disgusting", I remember not too long ago when it was 84 pence per liter.

We seem to be too accepting of things these days and it's about time we stood up as consumers and gave some of these big profit led corporations a bloody nose.

A little bit off track there, but never mind!!

[BankFodder]

Thanks for your reply.

 

I completely agree with you that people aren't standing up for themselves enough. My own personal view is that there aren't enough County Court claim is being issued. That is the only way to train large companies to provide proper customer service. Most companies are not used to being challenged by their customers.

 

Luckily for you is that you are dealing with John Lewis. They really are the Rolls-Royce of British retail companies and I will be very surprised if you have much difficulty with them.

 

Of course if you do, then we will help you take the necessary action.

 

Even though you are dealing with a manufacturing fault here, it is the retailers liability and you are protected under the Sale of Goods Act. Any item you buy has to be of satisfactory quality and must remain that way for a reasonable period of time. In the case of something fairly expensive like a washing machine then I would suggest that it should be free of any major faults for anything between four and six years.

 

I think that you should start off by sending John Lewis a letter outlining exactly what has happened and how it has happened. I think you should take some pictures if you can and tell John Lewis what you want. I must say that the damages which you have identified seem very reasonable to me.

 

Tell John Lewis that they are free to send their own engineer to inspect the washing machine if they want.

 

Of course, I am hoping that you have got evidence that you did buy from John Lewis. However, John Lewis normally so good, that they often will just take the customer at their word. John Lewis really are a great company and all of our lives would be better if the other high street names would follow their example.

 

I would never normally suggest that you do anything on the telephone with these people – but John Lewis is an exception. Start off with a telephone call to the John Lewis customer service department, tell them what has happened and asked them for an address to write to with your letter. Try to do it by email.

 

Let us know what happens. If you get any problems then of course will help you through. I am quite sure that dealing with John Lewis will be 1 million times easier than dealing with candy – and if you have to sue John Lewis, it will be a straightforward small claim and if you have your evidence – 1) that you did buy from John Lewis and 2) that you have some evidence of the fault – and engineers report or photographs, then there is no doubt that you will win the cost of all the repairs – plus something for the inconvenience, I expect.