Fisher & Paykel Not Honouring Consumer Guarantees Act.

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wreck90

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#72980 6-Dec-2010 12:38

Ice maker in 3 year old F&P fridge just stopped working.

It was working one day, then just stopped.

Phoned F&P, and spoke to their service rep.

F&P maintain I am not covered by the consumer guarantees act because the fridge is outside the F&P warranty period. I mentioned the CGA and she consulted with her manager. However, they maintain that F&P warranties are compliant with the consumer guarantees act.

This is the official F&P policy, which would appear to me to be intentionally breaking the CGA law (assuming, that a fridge should be trouble free for longer than 3 years).

This is annoying, I have told F&P I will be taking them to the disputes tribunal after the repairs are made.

I might have been happy if they asked me to pay for labour, and the parts are free. But, bugger that, I'm going for full repair costs now.

I was just wondering if I should be dealing with the retailer, or F&P, but , having experienced F&P's arrogance I will be putting their name on the papers. I will post the results here, but, the retailer said it will take 7 months to get a result.

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#413396 6-Dec-2010 12:42

Have you tried claiming it through the retailer rather than the manufacturer?
It is your right to have any problems resolved by the retailer rather than the manufacturer. I would approach the retailer with the problems you are having, along with what you expect them to do about it and why. See what they do.
If they do not repair or replace it, they would be the one I would be taking to the disputes tribunal rather than the manufacturer.

Regs

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#413397 6-Dec-2010 12:43

did you diagnose the actual fault before calling them? they wont be liable for a unit that stops working due to dodgy cabling, physical damage etc.

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boby55

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#413398 6-Dec-2010 12:44

I always thought the cga wa between buyer and retailer not the manufacture, so f&p are most likely right when saying this.

dolsen

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#413411 6-Dec-2010 13:01

boby55: I always thought the cga wa between buyer and retailer not the manufacture, so f&p are most likely right when saying this.

Nah, it's up to you to choose who to go after...

Starplay

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#413412 6-Dec-2010 13:02

boby55: I always thought the cga wa between buyer and retailer not the manufacture, so f&p are most likely right when saying this.

Correct... The CGA is between the consumer and the retail (point of sale). It is up to the retailer to liase with F&P to repair, replace or refund the fridge. It is set out in the CGA 1993 that it is with the point of retail and consumer.

sbiddle

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#413413 6-Dec-2010 13:03

The CGA covers the transaction between the buyer and seller. In this case it's the retailer you purchased the unit from, not F&P.

If you haven't already contacted the retailer and have undertaken repairs I wouldn't expect to get any money back from them as the issue needs to be raised with them first.

alasta

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#413414 6-Dec-2010 13:04

It seems to be a common misconception that the CGA requires an out of warranty failure to be immediately remedied. The fact is that the supplier of the product is well within their rights to await a Disputes Tribunal ruling if they so wish.

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sbiddle

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#413416 6-Dec-2010 13:06

dolsen:
boby55: I always thought the cga wa between buyer and retailer not the manufacture, so f&p are most likely right when saying this.

Nah, it's up to you to choose who to go after...

You can go directly to a manufacturer / distributor but the first point of call should always be the seller of the product. A manufacturer / distributor could be your point of call of the seller has gone out of business for example.

wreck90

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#413419 6-Dec-2010 13:11

I talked with the retailer, they were actually pretty good about it and agreed in principle I should not have to pay for fixing a 3 year old fridge.

I'll talk to F&P again after the repairs, give them one more chance.

The retailer said they'd talk to F&P also, see if they can apply pressure from their side.

I don't see that it is fair taking the retailer to disputes, when the actual fault lies with F&P. And , from my point of view, why does it matter whether I take F&P or the retailer to disputes?

martyyn

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#413423 6-Dec-2010 13:21

F&P ?......what a surprise !

We bought a new F&P fridge/freezer, a dishwasher and a washing machine five years ago when we bought our house.

All the plastics in the fridge/freezer are now smashed or cracked and we spent hundreds on the washing machine over those five years until it came to the point the repairer told us not to bother anymore.

We contacted Farmers (the retailer) who didnt want to know. So we had to deal solely with F&P. After much deliberation, mentions of the CGA and plenty of voice raising from our side, they insisted on a report by one of their own repairers (who coincidentally was our repairer) at our expense.

He refused to come out again saying it wasnt worth his time and so F&P refused to play ball. Further cross words and a letter saw them offer a replacement (of their choice) if we were willing to put $200 towards it.

We eventually got them down to $100 but the replacement they gave us was totally 'budget' compared to the top of the range model we had bought. But with three young kids and having had no washing machine for a number of weeks they had us over a barrel.

A month later the dishwasher blew up...literally....flames, smoke, sparks the works. We tried to have that repaired but were told it would cost well over $500. We decided not to bother with another fight and just replaced it with a Bosch. I wasnt going to wash dishes for a month :)

Moral of the story is dont give up. Get someones name at F&P and ring them daily. If it goes nowhere after a couple of days, get their managers name and call them daily. The CGA covers you for this and they should be made to pay up.

Interestingly our repairer said 90% of his business was repairing F&P products and he wouldnt recommend them to anyone.

Good luck.

wreck90

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#413424 6-Dec-2010 13:22

@Starplay : you are incorrect. The CGA law is clear that the importer/manufacturer are also responsible for the quality of goods.

I recently asked apple to fix a 3 year old ipod under the CGA. They complained and ummed and ahhed for a while, but they ended up fixing for free.

Is there an advantage of going through the retailer?

Do I have more rights with the retailer? The consumer website seems to indicate you can go for either the retailer, or the importer/manufacturer. But, says it is easier going through the retailer.

I don't want to stuff it up, if I follow the incorrect process then my claim could be denied. I am not even sure about paying for it first, since they could say that payment is acceptance of liability for the problem. But, I don't have an option in that respect, we need it working.

wreck90

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#413430 6-Dec-2010 13:26

Oh, should mention, this is the second time the fridge has failed.

The first time, was a total failure, no refrigeration at all. Fortunately, that was no hassle as it was still under warranty .

This is one of their high end fridges too.

dolsen

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#413433 6-Dec-2010 13:29

martyyn: F&P ?......what a surprise !

<snip>

We contacted Farmers (the retailer) who didnt want to know. So we had to deal solely with F&P. After much deliberation, mentions of the CGA and plenty of voice raising from our side, they insisted on a report by one of their own repairers (who coincidentally was our repairer) at our expense.

yeah, the quality of F&P seems to have taken quite a dive (imho).

I believe it's against the fair trading act to misled you that you had to deal with the manufacturer, it's your decision who you deal with, not theirs. Not sure from reading above if they denied responsibility, or, they were just being difficult.

NonprayingMantis

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#413528 6-Dec-2010 15:16

wreck90: I talked with the retailer, they were actually pretty good about it and agreed in principle I should not have to pay for fixing a 3 year old fridge.

I'll talk to F&P again after the repairs, give them one more chance.

The retailer said they'd talk to F&P also, see if they can apply pressure from their side.

I don't see that it is fair taking the retailer to disputes, when the actual fault lies with F&P. And , from my point of view, why does it matter whether I take F&P or the retailer to disputes?

If the retailer agrees, then why bother with F&P? Just go through the retailer.

Dunnersfella

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#413531 6-Dec-2010 15:22

*Acts surprised at hearing about 'issues' with Fisher and Paykel*
To be fair, I wouldn't expect an F&P product to last 3 years...

That aside, your retailer will hold a heck of a lot more clout than the general public, so issues will typically be sorted out a lot quicker if you go through them. Work with them towards gaining a resolution and you should be fine.

If F&P were to tell the retailer that they won't support their 3 year old ice maker, when the rest of the appliance has:
* 5 years sealed system (parts only)
* 2 year parts and labour warranty
* 5 years rust free.
Then the retailer may well investigate no longer stocking that particular product.
Heck, there can't be any profit to be made in an item that is constantly on sale at '20%' off... or as Powerstore were the other day, '21% off'.

I was suggesting Twittering them... but http://twitter.com/#!/FisherPaykelNZ hasn't been updated for quite some time apparently...

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