Recalled product failed because of recall issue 3 years after recall (maybe)

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CokemonZ

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#261525 2-Dec-2019 13:49

So I thought I'd try my luck on this one.

I have an insinkerator 65+ manufactured in 2012. I would have bought it 2013/2014 and it has a 4 year warranty. I am out of warranty - no argument. Can't find receipt, but meh - it's out of warranty.

However the units were recalled in 2015 (https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/recall-insinkerator-waste-disposers) because of an issue where water can enter the air switch and cause electrical issues and even a fire. The remedy was to ship a different type of airswitch I believe, not replace the whole unit.

I did not know about this.

The recall is over now - by a couple of years.

Well my insnikerator has failed, and when I turn it on at the wall (not even with the airswitch) it will trip the main rcd 4 other circuits run off, not just one fuse. Sounds like an electrical issue to me......

So I called the local insinkerator crowd and they said yes - it's the model recalled but:

too old and out of warranty
recall is over
sounds like it could be a motor issue - not covered by the recall anyway

So this unit was not cheap - here is the equivalent model - https://www.priceme.co.nz/Insinkerator-ISE66/p-893203302.aspx

What should I do? Suck it up - lets say 5 - 6 years use. Get antsy? I can't prove the issue is related to the recall, and it would likely cost me more to prove that than just get a new one. Not sure, if it hadn't been recalled I probably would have just sucked it up.

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#2364704 2-Dec-2019 14:22

CGA. Most people would assume that an insinkerator would last longer than 6 years. Doesn't matter if the warranty has expired.

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Fred99

13684 posts

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#2364766 2-Dec-2019 14:44

Yeah - I agree that it's CGA. I wouldn't expect that it'd be possible to easily check whether the leakage to earth causing the RCD to trip was from water in the internal air switch, or the motor. They'd need to pull it apart to see/check. So it's a bit cheeky of them to suggest that it's probably the motor.

Ruphus

464 posts

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#2364810 2-Dec-2019 14:51

I don't know the model of our Insinkerator* but we've had it for approximately 10 years without any issues.

*I'll check when I get home just in case it's the same model as the OP.

CokemonZ

1037 posts

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#2364920 2-Dec-2019 15:30

CGA you reckon.

I this case I'm not even sure who the retailer was, so I guess it's with the wholesaler.

So I guess I write a polite email stating the above, and see how I go, and if they don't bite - small claims....?

BlinkyBill

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#2364943 2-Dec-2019 16:16

Let’s see ... you didn’t activate the warranty on purchase so weren’t informed of the recall. You can’t quite recall when you purchased the unit, could have had 8 years of use. Cost for brand new is $500-600.

i would say you won’t be getting a repair or replacement for free, and can’t conceive what basis you would have for a CGA claim, since you haven’t taken even basic measures to activate the warranty. The cost of replacement means the cost of litigation is not worthwhile.

i think you need to suck up the cost of replacement if you elect not to repair, and if you do, send in the warranty card.

CokemonZ

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#2364945 2-Dec-2019 16:24

That's not quite fair. Manufacturing date was November 2012 according to the serial number.

So assuming I bought it in December 2012 I've had 7 years. That's fairly unlikely so I think a 6 year estimate is reasonable.

I don't activate warranty cards without value being added like ryobi extending warranty to 6 years. Otherwise I am on a marketing list that I really don't care about for years.

networkn

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#2364948 2-Dec-2019 16:26

CokemonZ: That's not quite fair. Manufacturing date was November 2012 according to the serial number.

So assuming I bought it in December 2012 I've had 7 years. That's fairly unlikely so I think a 6 year estimate is reasonable.

I don't activate warranty cards without value being added like ryobi extending warranty to 6 years. Otherwise I am on a marketing list that I really don't care about for years.

Well, the "value" is, that they know how to contact you when a recall or issue that affects you, comes up.

I'd consider that valuable.

Behodar

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#2364949 2-Dec-2019 16:28

As far as I'm aware, you don't need to "activate" a warranty under CGA anyway.

BlinkyBill

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#2364958 2-Dec-2019 16:45

CokemonZ: That's not quite fair. Manufacturing date was November 2012 according to the serial number.

So assuming I bought it in December 2012 I've had 7 years. That's fairly unlikely so I think a 6 year estimate is reasonable.

I don't activate warranty cards without value being added like ryobi extending warranty to 6 years. Otherwise I am on a marketing list that I really don't care about for years.

you pay for the warranty, you missed out on the benefit of the product recall, you can opt out of marketing lists. But, it’s your choice.

it’ll be interesting to see how you get on with the CGA claim.

BlinkyBill

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#2364966 2-Dec-2019 16:53

Behodar:

As far as I'm aware, you don't need to "activate" a warranty under CGA anyway.

when you buy something that has a warranty, you get the benefits of that warranty at the point you paid for it. If you don’t activate it, you miss out on some of the benefits, such as advice of a (in this case important) product recall.

the Consumer Goods Act kicks in when the warranty you paid for has unreasonably failed.

the CGA isn’t all one way - I believe that it requires the purchaser to act in good faith as well - in this case I predict the supplier will have a defence that the purchaser didn’t take the not unreasonable step of advising the manufacturer of the purchase in the event of a product recall, allowing the manufacturer to advise the purchaser of the need to apply a product fix.

RunningMan

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#2364969 2-Dec-2019 17:09

BlinkyBill:

the Consumer Goods Act kicks in

There's no such Act.

mattwnz

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#2364995 2-Dec-2019 18:11

If it was the model that was recalled for those reasons, why would the recall period have an end date?

SATTV

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#2365114 2-Dec-2019 19:20

Where are you located?

I had the misfortune of our insinkerator playing up earlier this year, only three years old.

Long story short, if in Auckland, dont get Jeffries plumbing to replace it, they told us our was faulty, blunt and corroded, they said not worth repair and replaced it. I asked to keep it so I could CGA it.

I was not there at the time, my wife was and it was just blocked.

They still replaced it and will not do anything about it when I challenged them, nor would insinkerator.

Push back to insinkerator, if not solved swiftly take it to the disputes tribunal.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

BlinkyBill

1443 posts

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#2365163 2-Dec-2019 19:51

RunningMan:

BlinkyBill:

the Consumer Goods Act kicks in

There's no such Act.

for those unclear or unable to infer from the obvious, I mean the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

scuwp

3874 posts

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#2365178 2-Dec-2019 21:32

Insinkerators typically fail the bottom bearing or wear/rust on the bottom plate let's water into the electrics, presto you get circuit trips. If you go the CGA just be prepared you may need to show evidence it wasn't neglect or operator error. All it takes is a spoon or something similar down there, the bottom plate gets damaged and starts rusting. Have replaced quite a few and the story is very common. Yes I would expect 10 years out of one, but sometimes things happen that shorten the life. I have found Insinkerator good to deal with, but to take a CGA claim to court you will need to prove what caused the failure.

It's certainly worth raising with them, but to follow through to court you wil have to decide if it's worth it, and if you have a solid case that the product failed because of a manufacturing fault.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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