CGA thoughts - Pool Cleaner

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E3xtc

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#302928 4-Jan-2023 16:40

Hello,

Just after a little perspective and thoughts (again - shessh it seems to be all I am posting on lately :( )

We purchased a pool cleaner robot just over 4 years ago, and it recently failed. After taking it to the service/repair agent (on guidance from the manufacturer) they confirmed it needed a new motor and power cable, which came to a total of about $1300 or about 50% of the initial purchase price.

I sent the manufacturer a message suggesting this is unacceptable from a durability perspective to have to pay 50% of the purchase price on a repair about 4 years after initial purchase.

A few weeks went buy and I have been sent an invoice by the repair agent for a $700 bill, with parts reduced by 50% and also reduced labour cost. So while its good to have it repaired and at a reduced (from the initial bill) price, what are peoples thoughts on whether I should push back on this? Is ~25% of the purchase price reasonable for repairs 4 years after purchase? I don't want to be unreasonable and I had accepted I would be fine with contributing to the repair bill, but I suppose I would have liked to have seen it less than this....

Thanks for your thoughts and hope you all had a great/safe break!

Mehrts

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#3016924 4-Jan-2023 17:15

I think for an item like that, four years service is reasonable, and the 50% drop in fees is a decent gesture by the repair facility.

If I were in your position, I'd think $700 is a reasonable price to pay for another potential four years of service. Others may disagree.

Jase2985

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#3016926 4-Jan-2023 17:23

i agree with the above poster.

Lias

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#3017178 5-Jan-2023 08:32

I think the biggest issue with things like this is, is the market for pool robots is small enough that most people wouldn't have a clue what was good value. If I spent several thousand dollars on a TV or a fridge I'd know roughly how many decades I expect it to last. However If I spent a few thousand dollars on a car I'd probably be overjoyed if it lasted a year or two. You could try and push back a bit more and see what happen, worst case they won't go any lower and you have to decide if you want to accept or take it further. Going to disputes could arguably go either way, because the adjudicator probably has zero idea on the reasonable durability of such a device and will be swayed by whomever has the best argument :-)

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E3xtc

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#3017215 5-Jan-2023 10:11

Thanks everyone for the thoughts/ideas.

I had been thinking that it was just like a vacuum cleaner which from memory have a ballpark of 7-8 years or something.

Anyhow, as I had mentioned I was happy to contribute something, but was just hoping it was less than this, but after the feedback here I think I will be taking this one on the chin and going for it. Its a balance I suppose and the difference between where I was happy with and now isn't too far off, so I won't be dying on this hill :D

Thanks again.

Bung

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#3017221 5-Jan-2023 10:24

Owning a pool is probably similar to owning a boat. You can get the same feeling standing in a shower flushing $20 notes down the drain.

Maybe not as bad as boating. Two years ago neighbour had both diesels out for repair =$20,000. One year ago cooling system and alternators = $10,000. This summer "Should be good". We'll see.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3017240 5-Jan-2023 11:21

The markup on pool products is absurd. I would definitely push for them to cover the costs. A new power cable? Pull the other one. If that's the case, and assuming you didn't run over it with the lawnmower or something stupid, it's a design flaw.

We had a mechanical cleaner break a year or so a year ago. We'd had it for probably two years at that point. When we dropped it off, the person who accepted it indicated it was a known problem with the injection moulding and said it would be repaired. I later received a phone call indicating they wouldn't repair it, with the store manager denying anyone ever made a comment on the [known] production issue. After I told them I would pursue the matter through the Disputes Tribunal, they eventually agreed to the repairs, but insisted on sending the cleaner to Australia for inspection. We had no problem with this, and they loaned us a robotic cleaner (which sucked, IMO) in the meantime.

E3xtc

773 posts

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#3017250 5-Jan-2023 11:39

Bung: Owning a pool is probably similar to owning a boat. You can get the same feeling standing in a shower flushing $20 notes down the drain.

Thats not the experience we have had to date; the overheads have been pretty insignificant and certainly less than the enjoyment we have had from it. What makes it tricky is the size of the market for any remdiation, its just a big boys club where they all protect one and other, so its hard to get any evidence or affirmation from other people in the industry on the what should be acceptable. Even the governing body (Pool Builders guild) is just a self serving group of members where they circle the wagons and are not an impartial person there to help either party. Totally bogus. But yeah.

Anyhow my concern here was around durability and that this had failed only a year outside of its normal warranty for a significant failure (ie power and motor - presumably the first failed which fried the second).

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insane

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#3017366 5-Jan-2023 14:47

One of the CGA checks around a product lifetime is whether you bought a premium product or a budget one.

Even a budget one would be expected to last a reasonable length of time, so a premium one would be expected to last even longer.

Additionally if the manufacturer specifications were followed, i.e don't leave it in the pool too long, rinse off salt water, storred in a dry covered area etc etc then 4 years is a bit short IMO given the pool season isn't even 12months of the year, closer to 6. So really you've only got perhaps 2.5 years of actual use out of it.

It's good that they have come to the party somewhat, so they clearly acknowledge it's failed before it should have.

Jase2985

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#3017425 5-Jan-2023 15:21

insane: One of the CGA checks around a product lifetime is whether you bought a premium product or a budget one.

Even a budget one would be expected to last a reasonable length of time, so a premium one would be expected to last even longer.

Additionally if the manufacturer specifications were followed, i.e don't leave it in the pool too long, rinse off salt water, storred in a dry covered area etc etc then 4 years is a bit short IMO given the pool season isn't even 12months of the year, closer to 6. So really you've only got perhaps 2.5 years of actual use out of it.

It's good that they have come to the party somewhat, so they clearly acknowledge it's failed before it should have.

pools still need cleaning in winter :) just maybe not as regularly

insane

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#3017433 5-Jan-2023 15:36

Fair call - duh!

Still waiting for my pool to be installed.. Another two months or so till it's all ready - went with self-cleaning in the end so I don't have to hopefully ever need to worry about robots etc!

I guess I'll get it just in time to learn about autumn/winter pool cleaning :(

As a kid we just had a creepy crawly pool cleaner - no fancy motorised parts and only occasionally had to replace the cheap rubber diaphragm. Robots seem like an expensive way to solve a problem that didn't really exist. Swimming with the vacuum hose pulsing back and forth was part of the fun.

Jase2985

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#3017446 5-Jan-2023 15:57

the robot is sucking up debris which you pool will do but its also scrubbing the surfaces which you will have to do somehow. that's the other thing a robot does.

a robot means you don't need to spend your time scrubbing and vacuuming every week. i only manually scrub/vacuum the pool once every 4-6 weeks. the robot does the rest for me. 10mins to set it up and put it away vs 45mins or more to vacuum and scrub the pool.

The time saving pays for the robot.