Fridge/Freezer is knackered - who to repair?

[SidewinderINC]

Hi all,

My hotpoint fridge/freezer has given up, no idea what part of it - it's only 2 years old :(

I can't hear the compressor as much as I used to, and any air that's blown through the freezer vents isn't particularly cold.


I'm hoping it's going to be cheaper to repair than it would be to buy a new one, this was £400 when I bought it.


So a question to the people that have inevitably had a large appliance failure... do you tend to go for one of the store repair services such as comet repair (£125 service includes all labour and parts up to £150) or a smaller local company?


I'm currently cooking a lot of food so that it doesn't go to waste :p

[Zico]

Our American style fridge freezer died recently and it wasn't worth getting it repaired. Only downside is that a new one cost us (me) £835.

A colleague of mine tends to go with the local repair shop (or independent) for repairs or new units even if it's a slight premium.

You could always check with Domestic & General to see if they can give you a quote (http://www.domgen.com/).

[SidewinderINC]

how would it have been more expensive than £835 to repair?

I've just had a closer inspection, taken a few of the grilles off and it seems like it's the compressor that's definitely gone.

EDIT - or maybe not, compressor is still quite hot. if it had died it would have cooled down during the day.

[Jingo]

D&G won't look to cover an appliance that's already broken down - even if you told porkies I believe it's a 28 day period before you could claim on a non-new appliance etc.

I'd get in touch with the company you purchased it with i.e. comet / curries etc or failing this with hotpoint directly - go through any of the over the phone advice they give you, (even if it sounds moronic) and they'll eventually come to the conclusion that you would require an engineer's visit to confirm a problem.

If you do not have ext.warranty (which is apparent) then you need to make it very clear to them/a senior member of staff that it is unacceptable for the appliance to have such a major component fail in an appliance less than 6 years old.

This '6 year golden rule' (falls under the sales of goods act and enforced by TS) will result in you having your appliance fixed with no labour or parts costs, however you will almost certainly have to face a charge for the engineer's callout inspection and to confirm the problem which could be anything from £35-75 depending upon the company and a few other things.

Another consideration is that your waiting time + call out + inconvenience + lost food etc means you cannot be backsided and just buy another.

:)

[SidewinderINC]

Yep, no extended warranty. Should have had a free 5 year parts warranty based on registering product.

I don't think I have the effort right now to argue with people at hotpoint and I've already lost near enough all of the food in the thing.
If I can get it fixed for £125 by comet then I'll do that, if not then I'll have to do without a fridge freezer for a while because I can't afford a new one!

[Jingo]

I think the process will go through Comet, though you may require it to go via hotpoint; either way they'll be able to advise you.

If you call the following number they will be able to put it through a diagnostic and offer you some advice from engineers who are on site; this might be futile or simply a confirmation that yes it's almost certainly buggered- but if you have nothing to lose then it might be worth spending 10 minutes on the phone etc. (0844 879 7577)

Failing all of this Comet do a £99/125 call out, inspection and repair inclusive of parts on the higher cost - this is probably cheaper than a new FF.

Also consider gumtree/craigslist/freecycle - with all the home alterations going on there are lots of perfectly good but 'aesthetically unsuitable' appliances out there :)

[SidewinderINC]

£169 from comet, not a service they advertise online..

includes all parts/labour to an unlimited value, 12 months warranty on the repairs, paid interest free over 12 months (I know it's not a huge sum of money, but that really helps me right now) and if they can't fix it in 4 attempts then they'll give me a new appliance :)

Got the guy coming out tuesday afternoon.

It's been quite a while since I've lived without a fridge freezer and it's bizarre but means the butcher gets used more :p

[Mark]

Does yours have a fan near the compressor? Mine (same make, but much older) does, and that failed, leading to the same symptoms you're describing (the compressor would run, overheat, and stop). Think that cost about £68 to fix.

Cause of the failure was likely dust ingress - it was caked. Always remember to vacuum the vents. :)

[SidewinderINC]

The rear of the unit is near enough completely open and there's no dust in there :p

It's cooled down completely now and attempting to start it again does nothing, relays click and nothing happens.

I know there's a potential for it to cost <£100 for the fix, but I would rather spend £170 and know that it will be completely fixed than have somebody come out to tell me that it'll cost £500 and then charge a callout fee.