Getting a warranty honoured is draining
A repair technician discovered that Susan and John Young’s dishwasher had been improperly installed.
A computer or household appliance isn’t working. It’s still under warranty, so you expect to receive quick repairs — and a replacement if the product can’t be salvaged.
But that’s not always the case. Here are stories of customers reaching out to the media after their hopes of speedy service and no-cost coverage are dashed.
á Annette Foux paid $2,500 for a Dell XPS 13-9370 laptop computer last May. Three months later, she had a battery problem that was reported by others at Dell’s community forum.
“I barely used it and the battery completely died,” she said. “The computer can no longer be used without being plugged in.”
Dell offered two options: 1) An inhome visit by a technician to replace the battery; 2) A shipment to the factory to have the battery replaced there. Call centre staff repeatedly warned her that Dell would not be responsible for damage to the computer that might occur during a repair, she said. (Only later did she learn this was not the case.)
Foux felt she’d reached a dead end, despite copying CEO Michael Dell on emails and asking for a review of her case.
Lauren Lee, a spokesperson at Dell’s head office in Round Rock, Texas, reiterated that Foux had only these two options, despite asking for others. She couldn’t get a battery shipped to her home for replacement elsewhere, given the structure of the laptop system. As for replacing the computer, Lee said it was not allowed under the warranty’s terms.
Foux argued that she couldn’t send the computer away, since she needed it for work. And a technician’s home visit meant taking time off work, since Dell’s appointments were only during business hours. In the meantime, another problem had cropped up. Batteries for her computer were out of stock and Dell had no information about when they would come in.
“We have spoken to Ms. Foux,” Lee said a few days after the initial refusal.
“As a gesture of goodwill, we have offered her a full refund for her system, which she has accepted.”
Persistence also paid off for Iris Fershstater, who had problems with a Frigidaire washing machine purchased for $2,000 last January at the Canadian Appliance Source website.
The machine didn’t start properly when she pressed the button. It finally stopped working on May 14 and was still not working when she wrote to me Oct. 12.
“After seven useless appointments, when I needed to stay home for a technician and skip my work, after multiple incorrect parts ordered, my washing machine is still not functional,” Fershstater said. “I’ve spoken with different Frigidaire supervisors. They say the warranty covers repair only and that’s what they do — try to repair.”
There was no time limit for repairs in the warranty terms. So if her appliance was still not working when the manufacturer’s warranty ran out in January 2019, she would have to buy an extended warranty to cover the cost of future repairs.
“That means giving them more money for this poor quality product and all the inconvenience,” Fershstater said.
“It’s easier to throw the unit away, pray again and buy another one.”
Eloise Hale, a U.S. spokesperson for Swedish parent company Electrolux Group, satisfied her concerns within a day.
“We resolved the issue with a full refund and $500 compensation for the laundry expenses,” Fershstater said.
“I’m waiting for the cheque and praying to buy another washer as soon as I get the refund money.
“From all the things I tried (the supervisors from both Trans Global Service and Frigidaire, the Ontario consumer ministry, consultations with lawyers), the Toronto Star was the most efficient.”
Susan and John Young bought a Bosch dishwasher at Hudson’s Bay Co. in December 2016. They paid $825 (half price during a Bay Day sale), plus $179 for an extended warranty.
When the dishwasher did not drain completely in year two, HBC’s service provider Warrantech said it could not be repaired.
“Perhaps we are expecting too much,” Susan said about receiving a $932.25 HBC gift card as a refund.
When I got involved, the Bay agreed to replace the dishwasher.
The Youngs had to pay a $220 fee to remove the old machine and install the new one. But when a technician came to their home, he found the dishwasher wasn’t draining properly because it had been installed incorrectly.
The instruction manual said the drain hose must be looped high.
It wasn’t in their case, which meant that residual water left in the hose drained back into the dishwasher, which kept trying to pump it out again until the pump expired.
“I paid a $220 installation fee for the new dishwasher to fix a problem caused by your first technician,” she said.
“I hope the Bay will refund the fee.”
Instead, the couple received a refund of the initial installation fee ($162.72), after signing a release form saying they would take no further action.
In my experience, warranties are a huge source of complaints from customers.
Service providers often promise more than they are willing to deliver.
My advice: Stand your ground. Ask for a replacement or refund when a product can’t be fixed in a reasonable amount of time. Retailers have a legal duty to sell items that work properly. They can’t hold your merchandise hostage while they struggle to figure out what went wrong.