Faulty Washing Machine, 8 Months Old. Currys won't help.

[TheV5]

Hi all,

I’m hoping that someone can advise on the my next action against Currys.

I purchased a Candy washing machine from Currys on 21st August 2022 at a cost of £359.  All was well with the machine until April 9th 2023 where it started leaking not an insignificant amount of water at the beginning of the cycle.  I checked the filter and removed the back cover to double check it wasn’t something simple like a loose hose etc.  However, we found an amount of broken plastic on the base cover suggesting something more serious has happened.

I contacted Currys and had a fairly prompt email saying to call their white goods department.  After many many calls and being on hold for up to an hour each time, my wife eventually managed to talk to somebody. She was immediately fobbed off with “Because the machine is under one year old, we had to contact Candy to resolve”. 

We called again, and got the same answer, to which we stated that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, out contract is with Currys and not Candy and they are liable. Put on hold again, another 45 minutes on top of the approximate 8 hours of being put on hold over the past few weeks.  They agreed to send an engineer.

A company called ‘We Repair’ text me on the 22nd May 2023 to say they would visit on the 25th May 2023.  We rejected the date (both working away) and stated the 25th May or 2nd June is good.  We had a further text saying the appointment would be on the 2nd of June.  My wife was home all day and nobody turned up.  We have had no message to explain why the appointment was missed.

My wife called Currys yesterday (3rd June 2023) to see what is going on.  On hold for an hour before somebody tried to fob her off with the standard line “It’s not our problem, it’s Candy”.  My wife quoted the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and said the contract is between us and Currys. Put on hold again, and then somebody new answers the phone.  Same questions, same answers, same line about its down to Candy. Again, put on hold.  This time they put us straight through to Candy.  They say, it’s down to Currys and to call them!

I have written an email to Currys and got a reply today saying to call their technical helpline.  The same number we have been trying for almost 2 months.

We are going around and around in circles and with no support what-so-ever and still no working washing machine.  We have now been forced to buy a new washing machine from another retailer as the laundrette bill is over £40 per week, plus our time and the travel to and fro.

Should I issue a letter before action and if so, is their a template of advice of what to include in the letter.  Or is there another course of action I could try?

Very many thanks

 

[dx100uk]

as its outside of 6mts its down to you to get a report done proving the fault was probably there at time of manu.

 

then you send that and a letter of complaint first to currys head office stating under your consumer rights/laws you demand they repair it foc. and refund your report costs.

there are a number of curry threads here detailing your route

dx

 

[BankFodder]

I'm going to deviate a little from my site team colleague's advice.

Under section 9 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you are entitled to goods which are of "satisfactory quality". Satisfactory quality doesn't only mean that they have got to be satisfactory at the time that you purchase the item but also it relates to durability.

Durability means that the item has got to last for a certain length of time – depending on what it is, price paid et cetera.

Durability means that the item has got to remain in satisfactory quality for a reasonable period of time.

It's difficult to imagine any thing which you might be purchasing from Currys to be of satisfactory quality if it breaks down within six months of use – or nine months of use.
It's difficult to imagine that any washing machine costing £359 should not last for a good four years or five years or six years.

If you bought it at the end of August last year and it broke down in April, that means that you have had it for seven months. If Candy were to advertise their washing machines and say spend £359, it will last you for seven months after which it will break down and be in need of some fundamental repair for which you will have to pay – would they sell any?

I'm hundred percent certain that they wouldn't sell any at all. No washing machine manufacturer would ever be happy with the washing machine which only lasted this long because they wouldn't sell any of them at all.

Customers reasonable expectations are that they will pay £359 for a washing machine and that it will last at least five years or six years – and most often very more. Of course I suppose it depends on the level of usage but even if you are doing one wash per day, it is difficult to imagine that even the manufacturers would be happy with the machine which broke down after seven months.

On that basis, my view is that the machine is not of satisfactory quality and because it has been sold in breach of section 9 of the 2015 Act, they are in breach of contract.

Who is in breach of contract? Candy is certainly a breach of their contract to Currys. However Currys is in breach of their contract to you. They are the retailer and they are responsible.

What you are getting is the typical fob off from Currys and other white good sellers. They simply want to store them in their warehouse, take your money and deliver them to you and they don't want anything else to do with them.

This is rubbish and nobody should put up with it and we are fast getting to a culture where people simply accept that that is what happens. You will probably even find that the people at Currys believe that they don't have any liability and that the liability is with Candy..

Have you got a paper trail or an email trail of your exchanges with Currys and with Candy? Have you got records of your telephone calls – either recorded calls or at the very least notes of how often you have called and how long you have been hanging on the phone?

You have been here since 2009 so I'm quite sure that you have read our customer services guide and you have implemented the advice there that we give people all the time and say you do have call recordings. Bravo, well done. This is a great start