On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 10:31:06 +0000 (GMT), John Cartmell
wrote:

In article , Bob Martin
wrote:
in 499337 20060213 100547 John Cartmell wrote:
In article , Bob Martin
wrote:

My high-tech, all-electronic fridge-freezer has gone kaput after less
than 2 years.

Can anyone recommend a repair route that won't cost more than a new
appliance?

Get the retailer to repair it. Such an item should last longer than 2
years and should be covered under the original terms of sale.

I eventually got through to Comet (where I bought it) and was told original
warranty was for 12 months. They are sending a man on Thursday, cost is
£60 plus parts.

That was the manufacturers' warranty. There is a minimum retailers'
responsibility. Get in touch with your trading standards or Citizens' Advice
and ask about the current EC regulations.

The EU only issues Directives in relation to minimum or harmonised
standards to facilitate trade or social conditions. National
governments enact legislation based on them.

Regulations that could have a bearing on this are in two areas:

- For first six months after purchase, the onus is on the seller to
prove that the product was manufactured properly etc. In practice,
they would find that difficult and defer to the customer. This would
no longer apply in this case since the product is older than that.

- Statute of limitations. The Directive requires member state
governments to enact legislation such that there is at least two
years. There has been much confusion over this. In Germany, for
example, there was previously no specific legislation in this consumer
area and consumer groups took it to mean that manufacturers must
provide at least 2 years warranty. They have lobbied successfully to
the point that this is what manufacturers are now doing, for the most
part to avoid the conflict.

However, in the UK we have had and continue to have 6 years statute of
limitations. If you read through the legislation, cases and words of
wisdom from TS departments, they will tell you that in the UK it is
done on reasonableness. The manufacturer warranty is simply a
convenience for the retailer and customer whereby the manufacturer
owns the problem for typically a year. It doesn't replace
statute, however.

In terms of reasonableness, had the product been a £100 special from
Makro, then a year's warranty and not expecting much after that is
probably fair. However, Bosch presents itself as a premium brand
(and generally is) and has a price point to reflect that. Therefore
a very good case could be made that a failure within two years is not
reasonable in terms of expecting the customer to pick up the tab for
the repair. It's quite likely to be £60 for the call out plus twice
that for bits.

Personally, I would push the retailer heavily on it. Of course, it
may be a distress situation - i.e. the freezer needs to be fixed now
and not in the geological time scales of the judicial process.
Therefore, I would discuss with TS department and the credit card
company (you did use a credit card so that the card company is on the
hook too?) It may be that it is acceptable to pay for the repair and
recover the cost afterwards.





--

..andy