Faulty item 18 months old...

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haaammit

haaammit

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I bought myself, then subsequently gave to my parents, a Cookworks coffee machine from Argos 18 or so months ago. I have unfortunately lost the receipt.

My father has informed me that the seal between the grouphead and portafilter has perished causing water to overflow. I had a look on the web for spares, but couldn't find anything relating to their machine. For reference, it is a Cookworks Espresso Maker CM4626 (now a discontinued item). It would appear that Cookworks is an Argos own brand. I emailed Argos to find out about getting replacement parts. After a lot of emails back and forth, Argos have now informed me that they are unable to supply parts for this machine.

I'm a bit annoyed that an 18 month old machine may have to be thrown away because of a small rubber seal. I may be able to make one if I can get the old one out.

Does anyone have any ideas about a possible follow up complaint to Argos regarding the lack of spares, or am I wasting my time? As I said earlier, I don't think I can find the receipt. I was fully happy to pay for a replacement part, but this has peeved me off, and want to know if I can escalate it.

Many thanks

Quink :)
 
I dont think theres much you can do about it really. Without a receipt, for an item thats probably outside its warrenty period and also no longer made, theres no real avenue to explore. You could try contacting their head office or whatever equivelent of that they have, but odds are you'll be wasting your time.

Just toss it and get a new one. Unless you can find someone who knows how to repair it, but I expect you'd pay some stupid fee for the job that would likely cover the cost of a new machine.
 
Good luck but can i hijack your thread for a second and ask:

Is it just me that accepts that 18 months lifespan for mass produced cheap consumer rubbish seems to be a good innings hence why most items have a really short 1 - 2 years warranty if any.
 
Just a quick update - it was purchased on the 07th October 2010 - that's 15 and a half months ago. I've found the transaction on an old bank statement. I think that's a pretty poor show - I understand that a rubber seal could be classed as a consumable, but if so, shouldn't spares therefore be made available?

Just a bit peeved to be honest. It certainly wasn't an expensive item, but that's not really the point :/
 
Legally, potentially. Practically and realistically, definitely no.

The only way you would be able to make legal ammends (providing that the manufacturer or shop didn't provide you with an express warranty) would by demonstrating that the machine was faulty at purchase, which is difficult and financially pointless.

The best thing to do would be to continue your requests and request other ways they might be able to make ammends. You may recieve a voucher towards a new coffee machine if you are lucky.
 
Nitefly said:
The only way you would be able to make legal ammends (providing that the manufacturer or shop didn't provide you with an express warranty) would by demonstrating that the machine was faulty at purchase, which is difficult and financially pointless.
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Not true at all. If you can demonstarte an item is poorly designed or poorly constructed (which isn't the same as faulty at time of purchase) you may have grounds for a claim.

Also, if any reasonable person would have an expectation for an item to continue working past the explicit warranty period then there may also be grounds for a claim. I think it would be reasonable to expect a coffee machine to continue functioning beyond 15 moths. You may even be able to demonstrate the failing seal is an inherent design issue.

Have a read of http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/making-a-complaint/dealing-with-faulty-goods/
 
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amigafan2003 said:
Not true at all.

Even if an item only has an explicit 1 year warranty you may have grounds for a claim if the item fails after this period if any reasonable person would have an expectation for an item to continue working past this warranty period. I think it would be reasonable to expect a coffee machine to continue functioning beyond 15 moths.

Have a read of http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/making-a-complaint/dealing-with-faulty-goods/
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Read this.

Nitefly said:
Legally, potentially. Practically and realistically, definitely no.
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Notwithstanding the missing reciept / potential no proof of pruchase.

Edit - I should probably clarify that if you do have any strict form of legal address, it will probably be more hassel than what it's worth, hence in my book not worth it. I do think you should conitinue to correspond to see if they might give you something out of their goodwill though.
 
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Efour2 said:
Good luck but can i hijack your thread for a second and ask:

Is it just me that accepts that 18 months lifespan for mass produced cheap consumer rubbish seems to be a good innings hence why most items have a really short 1 - 2 years warranty if any.
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And this is why we have to put up with cheap, under performing, poorly constructed rubbish.

If more people complained when thier 18mnth old washing machine broke and raised claims then we'd have more items that lasted a decent amount of time.

Notwithstanding the missing reciept / potential no proof of pruchase.
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He does have proof of purchase.

I've found the transaction on an old bank statement.
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amigafan2003 said:
He does have proof of purchase.
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Ah, I didn't see that.

Regardless, it is essentially how much the OP can be bothered to pursue it. I would never dream of trying to exercise strict legal rights over this. Threatening them may potentially give rewards, but so may a much less aggresisve tactic.
 
What does the seal look like? instead of finding a seal specifcally made by them as a "spare" could you look for a similar seal to replace it with?

Worth a shot if you dont want to buy a new machine.
 
Cookworks are a rubbish brand. We have one of their food processors and in the 6 months we've had it it has broken in three different places. Alas, it was a gift paid for by cash and no receipt!
 
I has a similar problem with a Microwave I bought from Comet that was only a year and a week old. In store they said contact the manufacture so I did and they reliably informed me that is was made by comet under license by them.

I wrote to the comet CS team telling them it's not on to have a product only last a year even if to the letter of the law it's out of warranty. They should at the very least offer to repair at cost. They sent me an RMA number and said take it back to your local store. The manager was gob smacked and they eventually gave me a credit note.

I got a new microwave and learned two things. Never buy anything from Comet and never buy anything that's made by a retailer and not a reputable specialist manufacture. Many store like Comet, Argos and B&Q make a lot of their own stuff with misleading brands on. It's all ****, made of substandard components in sweatshops in China. No spares available and virtually unrepairable if the slightest thing goes wrong.
 
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amigafan2003 said:
And this is why we have to put up with cheap, under performing, poorly constructed rubbish.

If more people complained when thier 18mnth old washing machine broke and raised claims then we'd have more items that lasted a decent amount of time.
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Nah just buy a nor poorly constructed, not re-badged generic brand item and hopefully have it last 4x longer at 4x the cost.

But that's not what people want.
 
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