terrible washing machine installation

[sophielong]

i'll try to be brief!

approximately a year ago, i paid to have a brand new washing machine installed by AO.

the washing machine has always been noisy, but it's got worse and it bangs and squeaks like crazy. i've also always hated the way it washed my clothes and bedding, everything seemed to come out horrible.

the noises got worse so i decided to get the manufacturer out to have a look as the warranty was just about to run out. he told me whoever installed it had left a polystyrene brick in underneath which was knocking against the motor and he also said it had been hooked up to the hot feed rather than the cold.

the consequences of this, to me, are:

- unnecessary wear and tear on my machine - it will undoubtedly have to be replaced sooner
- i have unwittingly been washing silk and flax linen bedding in scalding hot water
- it will have undoubtedly been costing me a bomb to run it if it's drawn exclusively off the hot feed for every single wash it has done

the engineer told me to claim for my installation fee back (£25), but actually a lot of my stuff is completely ruined due to being washed in scalding hot water.

do you think i have a claim for compensation here? i'm not interested in claiming for any clothes as they're all very old but i invested in some bedding which came to north of £400 and is ruined.

ideally i want to claim for

- at least partial contribution towards a new machine
- ruined items
- increased utility bills due to their mistake

i understand that it wasn't deliberate, people make mistakes and i'm not angry, i just want it putting right.

thanks for your time and i'd love to hear your comments

[Manxman]

Has the manufacturer's engineer provided to you a written report detailing what was wrong with the installation by AO? (eg the m/c was not unpackaged properly and packaging was wrongly left loose inside the machine and it was tapped into a hot water feed rather than cold water etc etc.)

If you haven't got it in writing you need to get it in writing.

Then estimate how much AO's negligent installation has cost you and contact them explaining what you want to be reinbursed for (I'd count £400 for the ruined bedding but you'll have to estimate a figure for wasted hot water over a year. If the engineer's report states that the m/c will ineveitable fail earlier because it was installed wrongly, then yes - say you want a contribution to recognise this increased wear and tear).

Then see what AO say. You might need to negotiate with them.

If they refuse to accept any liability at all you will have to decide if it's worth going down the small claims court route. You might win some compensation or you might not. Nobody can really predict the outcome of a case in court...

See what others think.

NB - I'm sure AO will ask why you put up with these problems for a year without getting back to them earlier. They will argue that if you had, and they had investigated, that they could have fixed it then

[des8]

I'm with Manxman
Try and negotiate with AG (it was their installation and you have suffered loss) but go in with a high figure and include everything including inconvenience.
You can then negotiate down!

If negotiation fails you can consider initiating court action

[echat11]

You can also consider Retail ADR, it's free to use.

I've never used Retail ADR, so can't categorize 'Good, Bad or Ugly'.

I suspect that things might be stacked against you, but you have some evidence.

https://www.retailadr.org.uk/

[des8]

To clarify the situation:
Did you purchase the machine directly from AG or from a retailer?
Did you or the seller (AG or retailer) instruct the installer?
Did you pay the installer directly or via the seller?

[sophielong]

thanks for your replies.

i purchased the machine from AO and paid for the installation at the same time.

as for putting up with things for a year without telling them, in my defence i just thought it was a bad machine. the noise didn’t get really bad until i contacted them to come out just before the warranty expired.

additionally, i had no reason to suspect the installation was bad. whilst the machine did wash all my items horribly, the apartment building i live in dates back to 2006 and i did not realise hot taps for washing machines were still installed that late. to my knowledge washing machines have run exclusively off cold taps for a very long time.

i suppose i’ll just have to square my shoulders for an argument with them.

[echat11]

thanks for your replies.

i purchased the machine from AO and paid for the installation at the same time.

as for putting up with things for a year without telling them, in my defence i just thought it was a bad machine. the noise didn’t get really bad until i contacted them to come out just before the warranty expired.

additionally, i had no reason to suspect the installation was bad. whilst the machine did wash all my items horribly, the apartment building i live in dates back to 2006 and i did not realise hot taps for washing machines were still installed that late. to my knowledge washing machines have run exclusively off cold taps for a very long time.

i suppose i’ll just have to square my shoulders for an argument with them.

AO are pretty good on the whole, had the installation been carried out correctly, then the washing machine would have worked correctly. Did the manufacturer leave you with a report? That is what you need to get hold of.

I think you are saying, although the washing machine didn't work correctly, you thought that it was just one of those things that you put up with. Now you realize it was the installation that was causing the issues.

Just in case customer service can't help, write a formal complaint to the CEO -

John Roberts
CEO
AO World
jr@ao.com

[Manxman]

Further to my previous post. Do you have smart meters or bills going back a couple of years so that you can show gas/electricity consumption - depending on how your water is heated? If you have, you might be able to provide objective evidence that you have used excess energy and you could use that to come up with a reasonable estimate of how much extra energy you have used as a direct result of their negligent installation. Of course they'll argue about it but it would help to give you a starting point for negotiation.

So I'd try to claim the full cost of the ruined bedding (assuming it was brand new - a reduced figure if it wasn't), a contribution to a new m/c if supported by the engineer's report (I don't know, £100 - £200?), plus estimated wasted energy costs.

As per DES8, start with a high figure on the basis they'll try to knock you down...