JoeJoe wrote:

I bought a PPro drill from them 3 years ago.

Despite using it only on the very rare occasion, one battery is now
completely dead (wouldn't charge), and the other discharges after about 10
minute work.

Such is the nature of cheap NiCd cells. They have probably run
completely flat on occasion and been left that way for months. The
original quality of the pack and charger at this price point is going to
be suspect anyway.

Also, the drill bits seem to slip quite often as the locking mechanism is on
its last leg.

If it were not for this, then your best bet would be to get the battery
packs re-celled...

I just checked the receipt, and unfortunately it was 2 months out of the
warranty period. Speaking to the shop they washed their hands off it and
claimed that as it was more than 3 years it was tough luck on my part.

I am not particularly please to say the least. It was ｣90 - hardly a cheap
and nasty one I would have thought, and I believe that I have the right to
expect it to work beyond 3 years.

Depends a bit on what you got for your 90 quid... i.e. A 9V drill/driver
with two batteries at that price would be comparable with a top end
product. A 18V combi with 3 packs and bunch of other bits and
screwdrivers etc would be firmly in the mid range.

Any claim based on your statuary rights will be based on reasonability,
and whether the product in question performed to a level that could
reasonably be expected given its price, and quality.

Is there anything I can do about it?

You could try complaining at B&Q that you don't think the tool was of
merchantable quality - but you are going to be on shaky ground arguing
that about a badge engineered tool, bought in bulk from the far east.

Fixing the batteries and perhaps getting a decent charger for them would
sort the performance issues out, but if the mechanics of the tool are in
doubt then I would not bother.

Personally I would write that one off to experience and start again. If
you are going to be using it very infrequently, then you may be better
off with a budget tool at 20 to 30 quid. Just expect to replace it every
few years. Alternatively look at a pro level tool, and take a bit more
care of the batteries, and expect 10 years or more good service form it.

As a worse case scenario I was thinking about forcing them to fix it as I
believe they are obliged to do - I bet they don't have any spare parts for
it....

It is almost certain they won't have spare parts for them.

Understanding a bit about how the economics and production of many own
brand tools works will explain why:

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/category.htm

PS: Probably worth mentioning that it wasn't abused, and the batteries were
charged according to their instruction.

Alas the supplied charger was quite possibly abusing them from day one.
Leaving them discharged for long periods is also not doing them any
favours.

Discharging them completely in use can also be bad news (you should run
the tool until the performance starts to show signs of decline and then
recharge - not wait until the chuck will no longer rotate!) Judging this
point on a top quality battery pack is quite easy - but not so easy on a
mid range or budget one. Sadly it is the mid range and budget packs that
are most likely to be damaged here since the cells in them will not be
that well matched and there is a good likelihood that a few of the cells
will go completely flat before the others.


--
Cheers,

John.

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