How long should appliances last for?
BUYING big-ticket household items, including fridges, washing machines and LCD TVs, often leaves a sting in the pocket.
But with it comes the expectation these goods will last a long time – in many cases, more than 10 years.
Sadly, though, often this doesn’t end up being the case.
A relative of mine bought a high-end oven a decade ago after renovating their kitchen, expecting it would give them a good 20 years of producing stellar meals.
It came with a five-year warranty and through these first five years it gave them no issues. It worked a treat.
But then it got to about the seven-year mark and the problems started to appear. A busted oven a couple of weeks before one Christmas caused huge issues.
I phoned the oven company and within a week it was fixed free of charge, despite being a couple of years out of warranty. I explained to them it shouldn’t have these problems so early on.
A few years later and the same oven now has three busted jets and a dysfunctional switch.
Enough was enough. A local electrician came and had a look and said each busted jet would cost about $500 to repair. What a joke. For a $4000 top-of-the-range oven, this isn’t good enough.
So I phoned the company up on my family’s behalf and told them to have all these issues occur in less than a decade is not “reasonable”.
For a cheap and nasty oven, yes, you would expect all these dramas, but not for an expensive appliance.
After wangling with a representative from the oven company over the phone, she agreed to send out a technician free of charge.
And now I find out the company is paying for the parts and covering all costs to repair the broken jets. A massive win just by asking for help and explaining the oven should have lasted longer than 10 years without causing grief.
Sometimes it pays to ask for assistance if you think the item has failed to last a “reasonable” amount of time.
But don’t be fooled: “reasonable” is a very grey area. Often retailers will try to tempt you instore with extended warranties and the sleazy sales assistant will inform you coughing up more cash will give you “peace of mind”.
But I believe this is just a load of bulldust. Don’t waste your time or money.
Under Australian Consumer Law, customers are provided with consumer guarantees that the products will do what you expect them to do. I would expect a top-end oven would last more than 10 years without causing endless problems.
Choice recently put out guidelines on product life expectancy based on consumer and manufacturer feedback. For ovens, it found an entry-level one should last 10 years, mid-range 15 years and high-end 20 years.
While for washing machines, an entry-level one should last five years, midrange eight years and highend 11 years. LCD TVs at budget level should last five years, mid-range eight years and high-end 11 years.
Happy shopping!