Poor Quality Washing Machine

R

roker

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I have purchased a Tricity Bendix (Electrolux Zanussi group) washing machine that is just over 2 years, it makes a terrible noise when spinning because the bearings have failed and the weights on the drum have come loose and are knocking. It has not had a lot of use because there is only two of us at home.
I would have expected the mechanics to have lasted 10 years or more so I wrote to Tricity Bendix who told me (as they all do) it is out of its 12 month guarantee period and they could not do anything, just to contact the engineer. I know the repair would cost possible half the price of the machine and I would rather buy a new washer machine
(not a Tricity Bendix group, as there is clearly a quality issue with these machine)

I could take action against them, but it will take time, so all that I can do is inform others of these poor quality machines.
 
Just because a machine does not get used does not mean it should last. It depends on the use. Do you overfill it? This would possibly cause the issue listed.
 
I have a 20 yr old Whirlpool from Philips. I keep threatening to change it, but it keeps going, and I don't believe in replacement for replacement's sake. Bad for the enviornment. Two year old machine and all those problems? Sounds pretty shoddy goods to me. Why not check out your rights with Consumer Advice? I would, and I would write to Bendix and let them know your doing it maybe on the grounds of merchantible quality. Worth a punt, they may decide it would be in their interest to replace it for you.
 
niceonted: it is not overfilled, and I am talking about the mechanics which do not wear if you do not use it. My old Indesit which is considered lower quality to the Tricity Bendix lasted 15 years.
Horusd: I have already written, but that is a good suggestion to write to them about quality, I may contact the retailer first.
 
I can't remember the exact wording (it should be easy enough for you to find) but the law states that just because a product is outside of it's manufacture's warranty, it doesn't mean you don't have any comeback on the manufacturer if it is reasonable to expect that the failure should not have occurred through normal use.

Proving the various variables here however could be problematic, but there's no harm in being a pain in the proverbial to the manufacturer to see what you can get.
 
Similar experience here OP just with an oven and not washing machine. Mind you I have a 2,5 years old freezer from Zanussi which starts acting up at the moment.

My oven from Whirlpool died last December (two days before Christmas) and their Customer Service was useless. I ended up paying three weeks later (that's how long Whirlpool's CS took to follow up) € 50 for a "technician" to come out and look at it. Oven was 2 years old last December. Anyway technician was as blunt as saying it's the joak that gets the display to function that is defect (hence oven can't be switched on), no fault of mine at all and if I am "lucky" Whirlpool trades my oven in for a new oven or part replacement. It took me 8 weeks, several phone calls (Irish number but UK prices as their CS is in the UK - don't get me started here), a letter etc. to then get the grand offer from Whirlpool to pay 50% less on my next Whirlpool oven purchase.

I told them that I wanted the defect part of my current oven replaced but all they (Manager at that stage) said "I'll look into it and get back to you". It took her 2 weeks to get back to me to re-offer the 50% off next purchase

So I bought a new, non brand oven that cost half of what I had paid for Whirlpool and with good old manual knobs. Needless to say I'll never go near Whirlpool again.
 
Being out of warranty does not impact your statutory rights. A washing machine should last considerably more than 2 years. Check out the NCA website for your entitlements.

Did you remove the transport bolts? The symptoms you describe would be typical of a case where they were left in place. If they are in place, of have been for any time the machine was in use, this will be the root cause of the damaged bearings and you will have no come back.
Leo
 
I have a 20 yr old Whirlpool from Philips. I keep threatening to change it, but it keeps going, and I don't believe in replacement for replacement's sake.
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Sounds like gold-dust of a washing machine! - Would you seriously consider replacing something where there's nothing wrong?

I've found the following generally true:
€200-300 = 5-7 years
€500-700 = 10 - 12 years
€1000+ = 15+ years

Advantages to cheap white goods = keep up with technology and energy efficiency
Disadvantages to cheap white goods = hassle replacing every 5 years or so, awful for the environment.
 
All mounting bolts were taken out. I do know that there has been inferior bearings coming from suppliers that originated in china etc, we had experience of this where I worked and we sent hundreds back
 

No, but I've had it in my budget to replace it every yr for the last ten yrs! I keep expectin it to give up the ghost, but it keeps trundlin along... Lucky me .
 
roker said:
I could take action against them, but it will take time,
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You could but how successful would you be. The machine in question is not a top of the range make. The modern machines are made to last around 5 years at their best.
 
Update,
I wrote to the retailer who did not have the courtesy to even reply, I had previously bought a lot of appliances from them, but not anymore.
When I contacted Tricity Bendix Ireland, they told me the washer had a 5 year parts guarantee, it cost me €140 labour to get it fixed. As the bearings cannot be replaced, as in some modern machines, they had to provide a complete drum assembly (Inner and outer) I would think it cost them more for parts than I paid for labour. It will be interesting to see how long it last because the new drum has backwards and forward play on the bearings.
 
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