Worthless 1yr warranties

[Michael Kilpatrick]

Another example of how worthless the typical 1-year warranty is:

Oone of the (cast iron, allegedly) pan stands (see

slipped off our gas hob when I was cooking too hastily the other day, and landed on the floor. Yes, it was a cushioned lino floor, but still the pan stand cracked and broke into two!

18 months after the purchase date, of course.

When I submitted an on-line request to Whirlpool I got an email reply two days later reminding me that there's a 1yr warranty and saying that if it's out of warranty I should phone such and such to order a replacement.

The question is, if a metal component falls on a cushioned lino floor and breaks, was it ever fit for purpose?

Does anyone think I can whinge more about this and get any better results?

Michael

[Onetap]

Grey cast iron is very brittle, I wouldn't be surprised that it had broken. See the 'Casting Question' thread on here a week or two back. Ductile cast iron is less brittle. It was invented about 1949 but costs more than the grey variety.

[Michael Kilpatrick]

It's not a question of whether you should be surprised cast iron broke, but whether such a thing should not obviously be of a design to withstand a fall from its intended installation position (kitchen surface height) to the floor.

I'm going to phone Comet (the retailer)>

Michael

[newshound]

than the grey variety.

A skilled TIG welder may be able to fix it for you (they repaired one for me years ago, but admittedly I don't know if it was grey or ductile)

[Onetap]

Cast iron is brittle, almost as brittle as glass in most cases, possibly more brittle. They are flakes of graphite and slag inclusions in it, that is what makes it brittle. They're sand cast in some Asian sweat shop foundry in a coke fired furnace.

There's no point in getting the hump with me. You bought a cast iron kitchen implement, you dropped it, you broke it. Would you be similarly wibbling if you had dropped a glass oven dish or a porcelain plate? They're brittle too.

You seem to have misinterpreted the 'metal' or 'cast iron' as being unbreakable; I see 'cast iron' and interpret the label as 'brittle s**te'. You've got a cast iron guarantee, best of luck with your claim.

[Martin Brown]

I don't think there is much doubt now that it was cast iron... Cast iron is very brittle and tends to do that when shocked by dropping.

Yes. You were careless and dropped it - end story.

No. (But I expect someone will though - you obviously do)

Nobody takes any responsibility for their own actions these days :(

[The Medway Handyman]

To be fair, it was designed to stand a pan on, not to be dropped.

[Michael Kilpatrick]

Why do you think I was getting the hump with you? I was merely saying that the question of cast iron's brittleness isn't the important issue - it's whether the damn thing should be designed and made with such a brittle metal in the first place given that it's a detachable (and droppable) part of the hob.

Michael

[Michael Kilpatrick]

My TV remote conrol is designed to control a TV, but it clearly withstands being dropped on the floor. Many times. It wasn't made with a plastic casing that was brittle.

Michael

[Onetap]

On Wednesday, July 4, 2012 11:33:03 AM UTC+1, Michael Kilpatrick wrote: =20

Your previous post read as being a bit brusque to me, i.e.,=20

I just happen to know that the grey stuff is brittle, mostly due to a lot = of years in building services engineering and previous encounters with shat= tered gutters, rain water pipes, 1880s heating mains etc.. I also just happ= en to know that a cast iron manhole cover will not support the front wheel= of a Renault estate car. Shit happens; it very often happens in a cast iro= n S&V pipe.

However, I wouldn't expect Mr or Mrs Average to know much about the prope= rties of the cast iron cookware she/he buys, so it's possible you might be = able to claim on the basis that it should be expected to have lasted longer= and/or be plastered in 'Fragile' stickers. 'Cast Iron' construction is reg= arded as a asset and charged for accordingly; see 'Le Creuset' cookware.

The reality is that casting iron is often a very low tech process. One of= the model engineering books I had when I was young had details of sand-cas= ting your own castings for steam engines with a home-made back-yard furnace= . =20

[Man at B&Q]

You don't expect Denby to guarantee all their china against being dropped.

You dropped it, get over it.

MBQ

[Man at B&Q]

have to offer a two year wattenrty on their computers for people in the EU = rather than 1 year, not sure why though (leggaly) they have to abide bthe E= U 'standards'

I believe the two year period in the rest of the EU is similar to the

6 year period under the Sale Of Goods Act in the UK.

MBQ

[Mark]

IIRC the EU are trying to get manufacturers to offer 2 year warranties on everything. I'm not sure which rule takes precedence.

[Man at B&Q]

Yes, but not in the UK. Following the EU would be a retrograde step for UK consumers, due to the protection offered by the sale of goods act.

In the UK, claims are, in any case, against the retailer not the manufacturer.

MBQ

[Man at B&Q]

Any guarantee (warranty) given by the manufacturer is in *addition* to your legal redress under SoGA. Most manufacturers make that clear in the wording of their guarantee "blah...does not affect your statutory rights...blah". Claims in the UK are always against the retailer in the first instance.

The manufacturer may sell you an extended warranty or (voluntarily) offer something over and above your legal rights or (voluntarily) run a scheme to cut out the retailer. For instance VAX "hoovers" come with a sticker advising you to call them direct, rather than take it back to the shop. That scheme works ratehr well (I had cause to use it), but is purely in the interests of promoting excellent customer service. There is no legal requirement for VAX to do that, and any retailer MUST honour their obligations under SoGA.

MBQ

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You give the impression it sort of fell off as part of a normal cooking process. Isn't it held onto the top in some way - even by a ridge?

[S Viemeister]

I had been wondering that myself! I can't come up with any plausible scenario which ends with the pan rest falling off the hob.

[Bob Eager]

Pan boils over with sticky stuff. User lifts pan off. Pan rest follows. Pan rest parts company with sticky stuff.

[S Viemeister]

Plausible - but I would have thought it less likely with a heavy cast iron one, than with those thin little steel ones.

[SteveW]

The sale of goods act takes precedence in this case. The EU simply require 2 year warranties on many things, whereas the sale of goods act specifically is nothing to do with warranties.

SteveW