CGA Claim - Again!

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networkn

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#233675 27-Apr-2018 10:06

Man I am really sick of appliances now.

We have a nice fridge. It cost us a few thousand dollars. Recently the freezer which is supposed to be frost free, isn't, and the fridge seems "inconsistent" in terms of temperature.

We called the manufacturer helpline spoke to someone who said we should get it assessed which we did, at a cost of $80.

Report sent to the manufacturer they came back and said it was an installation failure, that the fridge wasn't on a level surface. During his time onsite the inspector said the compressor wasn't right, something we had said the day it was delivered (Noisy) but that the manufacturer had insisted was normal given the size of the fridge. They are now acknowledging it should not be that noisy.

We disputed the findings saying the inspector never used a level to attest to it's level, then measured it's level ourselves which was fine.

They then responded and said it was 7 years out of it's 2 year warranty and they wouldn't cover it.

I went back and highlighted the inconsistency, and referenced the CGA. They said they would reinvestigate. 2 Weeks later they came back and said they would repair it except that one of the parts were no longer available so they would do us a massive favour and replace the

fridge which has an RRP of 6K (Despite selling for RRP $2400 in Australia) for $2200. We refused and said we wouldn't spend that. They then offered $1900. We went back a few days ago and offered $1000 being just under twice what the repair quote had come back at.

They have come back at $1200 and said they can't do better.

I think if I want to fight it, I could probably take this to the DT and they would need to replace it for free, but we aren't unreasonable people and understand we would get a new fridge and have had 9 years of use out of this one. Having said this, it all feels very smoke and mirrors from the original claim it was an installation issue, to it being outside of warranty, to it having a 6K RRP and them doing us a huge favour. I have firmly stated I think we are being more than reasonable and asked what the next step is.

I don't want this to get into a protracted fight as I have had 3 of them already this year with other manufacturers, all of which we have "won" despite having spent many hours on.

I had thought the CGA was something that most manufacturers were getting their head around. I am kind of annoyed now that this one is playing silly buggers. Trying to decide if I dig my heels in or just let it go. $1200 isn't insignificant money esp unexpectedly. I have other things I'd vastly rather spend that money on.

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#2003343 27-Apr-2018 10:10

I'd say if manufacture/store does not want to play by the rules - punish them with DT claim and win another case.

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timmmay

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#2003348 27-Apr-2018 10:14

9 years isn't bad, take their offer.

kryptonjohn

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#2003349 27-Apr-2018 10:14

"They then responded and said it was 7 years out of it's 2 year warranty and they wouldn't cover it. "

So it's 9 years old (!), and they offered to replace it for a small fraction of its retail price?

Wow, that sounds pretty good to me.

chevrolux

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#2003355 27-Apr-2018 10:15

So the fridge is 9 years old?! c'mon mate... buy a new fridge.

Understand the inconsistency of the repair technician, but that's an old fridge.

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#2003361 27-Apr-2018 10:18

"...7 years out of it's 2 year warranty..." so it's 9 years old? ... if so, that doesn't seem like too bad an innings to me, and a replacement "$6k" for $2k kind of seems like a reasonable offer.

Or am I misreading?

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#2003362 27-Apr-2018 10:18

I'm guessing the OP meant 7 months out of a 2 year warranty. In which case he's right to be smacking them about with the CGA stick. As a major appliance, a fridge is clearly expected to last longer than that so I would say the vendor has no defense.

networkn

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#2003363 27-Apr-2018 10:18

Consumer states fridge should be good for 10-15 years,esp if this fridge was $3000 and didn't last 10 years.

Consumer also states part should be available for a reasonable period, and repair would cost $585.

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kryptonjohn

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#2003364 27-Apr-2018 10:21

In that case it would seem fair that you have got at least 9/10ths to 9/15ths of the life of the fridge and that would be the basis of the compensation rather than a brand new fridge. So I still think their offer is a good one.

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#2003373 27-Apr-2018 10:27

Don't remember anyone whipping out a spirit level when Noel Leeming installed ours, though they did adjust the feet. And I thought fridges were supposed to lean back a bit so that the door swings shut (gently) by itself.

Though I can imagine if there's a problem with ours it'll be the inadequate ventilation excuse - there's a wall to its right (with a bit of a gap) and a cupboard half way up the left (with a bit of a gap), although there's a reasonable gap behind and nothing above (except the ceiling of course).

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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#2003374 27-Apr-2018 10:29

OTOH our old fridge lasted 20 years and that was a cheap one when we bought it (used to make more ice than the arctic though).

And there is the point about keeping spares.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

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Paul1977

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#2003379 27-Apr-2018 10:44

If you take it to DT and win then won't any CGA cover for the replacement fridge be from the date of your original purchase (i.e. 9 years ago)? Where as if you purchase a new fridge at their offered $1200, won't you get a new warranty and CGA start date?

I'm not sure if what I'm saying as above is correct, but if it is then I would definitely take the offer.

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#2003382 27-Apr-2018 10:46

Paul1977:

If you take it to DT and win then won't any CGA cover for the replacement fridge be from the date of your original purchase (i.e. 9 years ago)? Where as if you purchase a new fridge at their offered $1200, won't you get a new warranty and CGA start date?

I'm not sure if what I'm saying as above is correct, but if it is then I would definitely take the offer.

Agree as it is a new albeit discounted purchase so should get a full warranty reset. I think they've left themselves wide open there.

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#2003401 27-Apr-2018 11:26

It is amazing how many people still don't understand the CGA. And here I thought that a18 year life out of my last fridge want that good, considering the previous was 25 years old. I would expect new ones to be more reliable than old ones. Suggest you get a copy of the consumer magazine's article they did several years ago, which specifies hopw long an appliance should last. I recall for fridges it is a long time and they should last a long time because decent ones aren't cheap, and we don't want our landfills filling up with them. Also the value of a fridge has some relevance as a higher price fridge should last longer than a cheap fridge. If it went to the DT it can be a bit of a Gamble depending on who is adjudicating it.

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#2003409 27-Apr-2018 11:31

mattwnz: It is amazing how many people still don't understand the CGA. And here I thought that a18 year life out of my last fridge want that good, considering the previous was 25 years old. Suggest you get a copy of the consumer magazine's article they did several years ago, which specifies hopw long an appliance should last. I recall for fridges it is a long time and they should last a long time because decent ones aren't cheap, and we don't want our landfills filling up with them. Also the value of a fridge has some relevance as a higher price fridge should last longer than a cheap fridge. If it went to the DT it can be a bit of a Gamble depending on who is adjudicating it.

Someone already posted the ConsumerNZ guideline of 10-15 years for a fridge and that seems fair to me whereas 25 would be OTT.

But if you accept 15 years for the sake of argument, and your fridge goes pop after 14, then clearly you don't deserve a brand new fridge as that gets you a 29 year life not the 15 you paid for.

networkn

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#2003411 27-Apr-2018 11:32

mattwnz: It is amazing how many people still don't understand the CGA. And here I thought that a18 year life out of my last fridge want that good, considering the previous was 25 years old. Suggest you get a copy of the consumer magazine's article they did several years ago, which specifies hopw long an appliance should last. I recall for fridges it is a long time and they should last a long time because decent ones aren't cheap, and we don't want our landfills filling up with them. Also the value of a fridge has some relevance as a higher price fridge should last longer than a cheap fridge. If it went to the DT it can be a bit of a Gamble depending on who is adjudicating it.

I pretty much know that my fridge should last 15 Years+. I am comfortable about it. The issue is, like you say, on a bad day you get an adjudicator who sees things slightly differently and you can lose big, though it's hard to see in this case given they can't even give me parts if I want to replace them. I just don't want another protracted fight. I think $1000 is reasonable, it's probably $1000 more than they would get in a ruling. I thought with an offer like that they would just jump at it.

My issue with this particular crowd is the dodgy way they have gone about it. It makes the fairness warrior in me get annoyed. First it was an installation issue, then it was an out of warranty issue, then it's we can't get parts issue with an offer of $2200, then it's $1900, then it's $1200. They know they are responsible but are trying to squeeze as much as they can out of it.

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