John Lewis let me down on warranty

I bought a dishwasher from John Lewis for my daughter, who is very busy and has a young family. I later bought, also from John Lewis, an “extended cover” to safeguard her future use of the machine.

Despite several requests, John Lewis did not send a certificate of cover to my daughter with her name and address on it. This was needed by the engineers when the machine broke down.

The manufacturer has now decided that the machine is beyond repair and requires replacement.

However, John Lewis is offering a cheaper, more basic machine described on its website as being ideal “for the smaller household/ family”. My daughter’s family is larger than average.

Surely John Lewis should replace the machine with an equivalent model? JB, DORSET

You had bought a fiveyear warranty for the machine some time after you purchased it. The idea was to make sure your daughter was never without a dishwasher.

The fact that your daughter did not have warranty documentation with her name on it proved awkward when the repairer came to the house.

The warranty’s terms and conditions state that, if the dishwasher cannot be repaired, “a machine will be replaced by one up to the original purchase price”. There was no exact match but the one being offered cost less (£299) than the £349 you had originally paid. Also it did not match the previous one’s specification.

However, there was one being advertised on the John Lewis website for the right price, which seemed comparable. Meanwhile your letters to the company went unanswered.

It was only after my involvement that the required warranty documentation was sent.

By now your daughter,