Creda Tumble Dryer

[colbee]

Please can anyone help with this.

On 26/12/05 I bought a Creda TCR2 Tumble dryer from Powerhouse, paying by credit card (£149.99). I did not take out an extended warranty.

On 7/1/07, 12 days outside the warranty, the machine is kaput in that it produces no heat, so no dry clothes.

Powerhouse is no longer in business so I emailed Creda. Their response is that "no white goods manufacturer can guarantee 100% reliability of its products" and therefore I have to pay for a repair. Creda charge £89.98 call-out to fix one fault; alternatively I can take out an extended warranty at £14.98 per month for ten months (£149.80) which has the benefit of allowing me to call them out any number of times.

I have read robbond55's thread with regard to his Creda dryer, which was older than mine, but his success was with the retailer Currys rather than the manufacturer.

Am I stuck because Powerhouse has gone out of business?

[rosiecotton]

Good news.

 

First of all, the manufacturer is correct, they are only responsible for the warranty they offer and after this time you cannot legally pursue them for anything as you don't have a direct contract with them.

 

Yes, you would normally be able to pursue the retailer under the Sale of Goods Act but as you say Powerhouse have gone out of business.

 

However, your saving grace is that you paid by credit card and the amount was over £100, therefore your credit card company are equally responsible for the faulty goods as Powerhouse would have been.

 

Write to your credit card company with copies of your invoices etc for the item. State that the item has now become faulty and you would not have expected such a fault after only 12 months. Therefore the goods do not comply with the terms of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 as they are not of satisfactory quality.

 

State that the retailer where you bought the goods has gone out of business and therefore you have no alternative but to pursue them (the credit card company) for the costs of a repair or replacement item (normally whichever is cheaper) under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which makes them equally liable for the faulty goods.

 

Give them a reasonable date by which to respond and keep a copy.

 

Good luck.

[colbee]

SUCCESS!! Many thanks to rosiecotton for advice.

Because of inclement weather I couldn't wait for the credit card company to get their act together, so I had the dryer repaired on 24/1/07 by an independent engineer who I contacted via UK Whitegoods. The repair cost £79.32 ( thermostat kaput).

Then I contacted the card company, Goldfish, spoke to a very helpful lady and on 2/2/07 emailed them a copy of the invoice.

Today I got a letter from Goldfish accepting the claim; they will credit the cost of repair to my account.