Tumble dryer cover - DID

Craven99

Hi there,

hopeing someone can assist me. My mother bought a tumbledryer in DID in Feb 2011. Today it simply stopped working. Its a hotpoint one and has worked fine until today. She phoned DID as she was under the impression it would still be covered. They say that it would cost €187 simply for a call out and not guarentee it will be fixed. I was under the impression (admitedly perhaps mistaken!) that as an electrical good it should still be covered as being fit for purpose after only 20 months.

How should I proceed?

dudara

DID are responsible for dealing with the tumble dryer, assuming that there is a fault. They are entitled to prove first though that there is a fault. Did they offer to refund the call out fee if it is determined to be a fault?

wmpdd3

I would presume the call out fee is waved if there is a fault found?

If not, DID may be trying to claim that they will only fix faulty in the first 12 months. This is their warranty, you have much better rights under consumer law.

If not write to DID and tell them you are claiming a repair under the Sales of Goods and Services Act 1980. Tell them you are holding the retailer liable for the defective dryer they have supplied.

Be aware though you may have to get a n independent engineer out at your expense to prove that the fault wasn't caused by the customer.

If you get a negitive answer form DID, then you may have to proceed to the SCC.

Procrastastudy

Careful now - the dryer is clearly still covered under the OP's consumer rights but a 'call out' might very well be justifiably charged for. I'd bring it back to them OP. Drop it back just inside the door and politely explain your consumer rights. Where the hell they come up with €187 though is beyond me. The only people I pay that much to come to my house do much more than look at the tumble dryer!

Unless the engineer is willing to come along to the SmCC to be cross examined I wouldn't worry about a report.

rameire

do you know what is the problem is with the tumbledryer?

Craven99

Much appreciated all. I spoke to a lovely girl in DID customer service who is going to sort it out for us. I'll get a call back from her this afternoon but she sounds as though she is more than willing to help.

And a clarification - my mistake here - it was actually hotpoint that my mam was put through to and where she got the €187 call out quote from. Shows that you should stay dealing with the person you bought the machine from and not the manufaturer

P. Breathnach

Thanks for reporting back, and it is very fair of you to correct the misunderstanding about who was quoting what looks to me like an outrageous callout charge.

My experience of DID is that they handle problems very well - but it's not very recent experience because nothing I have bought there in the past few years has given me trouble.

sandin

before calling out, check that the fuse in the plug has not simply blown. (it's not unheard of)

White goods like dryers normally last 10 years and more, so less than 2 years and suddenness of stopping suggests a an internal fault caused by poor manufacture.

Craven99

Many thanks for all the messages. I spoke to the quite wonderful Amanda in customer care DID. As I work in the service industry myself (IT Service Desk Manager) I rate her as one of the best I have dealt with.

Long story relatively short - My mam called the DID store she got the tumble dryer in and they said she was not under guarentee any more and sent her to hotpoint. They quoted the €187 call out charge and also convinced my mother to take out another years worth of insurance. So I got on to them - TOTALLY different experience with them. Bounced around to about 6 different people before I was able to cancel their call out and extra years unneeded support.
So Amanda called me this morning and arrange a visit, free of charge, for next week.

Result.

I shall now be sending off a thank you card to DID customer care

Shane-KornSpace

Craven99 wrote: »

Many thanks for all the messages. I spoke to the quite wonderful Amanda in customer care DID. As I work in the service industry myself (IT Service Desk Manager) I rate her as one of the best I have dealt with.

Amanda is bang-on and great to deal with. Glad you got it sorted, OP