Sewing machine woes

[flh801978]

Does anyone know how the sewing machine retail network works?
My wife bought a new pfaff expensive embroidery machine £ 2.5 k
Working happily for 6 weeks then machine failed to work it just buzzed whilst starting up then refused to work.
Took it back to the supplier who is authorised pfaff dealer
They could not get it to work so said leave it with us...it will be 2 to 3 weeks !!!!
Remember this is a £2.5 k machine 6 weeks old...
Much annoyance as she had bought it to use anyway we had no option other than to leave it
After 2 weeks we rang shop to get progress report
Employee in shop said it hasn't been looked at yet
Shop owners at a show at the nec
So we thought we would go and have a work with pfaff on their stand about repairs policy
The pfaff stand when we were there seems to staffed by shop owners No one from the company present
Our dealer there on asking about our machine replied that it had been taken by herself to reddich which is also the home of pfaff uk
She also said that employee must have got wrong end of stick
In the next week I rang pfaff and they said no repair facility there all repairs are carried out by dealers in there own premises by their staff
After another week still no machine rang dealer and she was very evasive about our machine saying it was at repairers
This in spite of a pfaff dealers supposed also being a service centre
She wouldn't tell me where our machine was only after a lot of asking did she say it was at a pfaff dealers in Notts
Still no idea when it would be ready

Sorry for the long post and story but what should we do?
My wife wants her machine to use
Is it realistic to spend so much and after 6 weeks wait 4 weeks for a repair?

Ian

 

[Wuffles]

Credit card?

 

[flh801978]

£500 on debit card as deposit rest on cc luckily
Wife rang card supplier to ask about section 75 protection
What's the rules on this ?

I have already asked dealer for refund she replied no way in very strong terms

 

[Wuffles]

You probably already know this http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/ ... ct-quality sounds like the retailer does. What is a reasonable amount of time for a repair before a replacement should be issued? Try and trip them up on that.

 

[flh801978]

From reading the which guide to section 75 I take it read that the whole 2.5 k is covered even though only 2 k was on cc
But the nub is how long should a repair take.. No loan machine was offered

 

[rafezetter]

TLR go to bottom edit.

Sounds like a lot of faff to me - but seriously - if she is the lady who sold it to you tell her to keep it and you want a full refund on the grounds that if it broke down after just 6 weeks there is obviously a manufacturing fault, that she has been evasive (lied) about taking it to reddich Pfaff base, because you checked with them and tell her what they told you, and that she has not kept you apprised of what is going on, where it has been sent and furthermore cannot give you any form of ETA on when it will be "repaired" and returned.

This is YOUR property she is playing fast and loose with, and yes remind her this isn't a basic sewing machine but a 2.5k machine.

Basically you have no confidence in her or what she has told you, and if she refuses to give you the refund (make sure you quote consumer rights act, that all goods must be "fit for purpose") that you will get trading standards involved who may well start an investigation of their own into her business practises.

If she refuses; doesn't have that sort of cashflow so you'll "just have to wait until it's fixed" etc etc, (she sounds pretty small time to me), tell her you'll take it to small claims.

She / they lied to you about where your property was, did her best to conceal where it is now, and could give you no information about when it would be returned, fixed or otherwise. Did she even give you the details of how you could contact the people who have it now?

Do you honestly want to take the chance that the repair doesn't last and have to deal with her again?

My personal opinion is don't play nice with these kinds of retailers, because it's how they get the mentality that it's ok to mess around with other peoples property at their own whim. I've thankfully only had it twice and threw the book at both of them. The second of which; a big computer parts supplier (overclockers) after 2 returns of a top end graphics card (an "RMA for inspection", then return of the "repaired" item) told them to give me refund, they refused on grounds they had tried to fix the item in good faith and fulfilled their retailers requirement according to their terms and conditions - they had dragged their heels and it was now outside the 1 year warranty, at which point trading standards got involved and on top of a refund I requested compensation for all the aggravation, time spent on some 7 or 8 emails back and forth (prolly more now I think about it), and extra costs which netted me £200, just about covering the cost of the lower grade graphics card I had to buy to be able to use my PC for the several months time overall they had my card.

Suppliers like this, whether in good faith or not (and in your case it seems like not) need reminding who's in charge.

(and yes it does make my blood boil)

Get your money back, then go buy another pfaff (maybe a different brand) from someone else - I'm sure there must be a forum somewhere about this sort of hobby and advice on who is a reputable supplier.

Edit - ahh I see while I was typing others beat me to the punch

I'm not sure about "how long is reasonable for repairs" but the fact remains she LIED to you about what was going on, concealed pertinent facts, and moved your property to another location without your knowledge or consent. This alone should be all the ammo you need to tell her to give you the refund or get trading standards involved.

 

[flh801978]

Pfaff dealers look quite big time there's only a few really
The shop we bought it from has perhaps 20 machines set up for demo purposes from 2 k to 7.5 k
But no loan machines
All these price range machines don't seem to be in stock just ordered in when you want one

 

[rafezetter]

Pfaff dealers look quite big time there's only a few really
The shop we bought it from has perhaps 20 machines set up for demo purposes from 2 k to 7.5 k
But no loan machines
All these price range machines don't seem to be in stock just ordered in when you want one

Some pfaff dealers might be big time, but this supplier is "small time" they get the order, take a deposit, then place the order with their supplier. They have no floating stock, not even one of each on a "sale or return" basis because they don't sell enough to get that sort of credit terms with the manufacturers. While common practise, I know from personal retail management experience any company that does this for their main "stock in trade" and not special order items is small time, because they can't afford to carry stock, and demo machines are often "on loan" from a supplier so cost them nothing.

On that note why was she not going head over heels to accomodate a customer who has just spent £2,500 on a machine for a HOBBY, with obvious disposable income?

Why did she lie about taking it to reddich, and why was she so evasive about telling you where it is now?

It still seems to me like she or they want to keep hold of your money but without giving you resonable service.

It's your call of course but personally I'm not nice to people like this, and give them zero latitude. The law is on your side, the machine failed inside six months (six weeks in your case) so the fault is deemed present from manufacturing. While you must give them one chance at repair, a couple of weeks timeframe is reasonable, yet so far it's been in their possession a month at least, regardless of any "queue for repairs" at the notts base (which you were not told about it going there) in any case and no ETA of when your property will be returned; so it could be construed as going into the boundaries of "unnecessary inconvenience" which then gives you the right to ask for a full refund.

 

[flh801978]

Thanks for your advice rafez
The only thing we can do at the mo is sit tight and await it's return
The dealers not going to give a refund and I don't know that legally we can do anything at this stage even though 4 weeks seems a long time for a repair
As you say you have to let the dealer effect a repair
I'm just shocked that there's no on site service for such expensive machines
Other dealers at the show at the nec which was huge by the way all confirmed that all repairs were return to base
No dealer had a Machine to buy there and then
All order and it will be courierer to you direct from manufacturer's agents
The 2 biggest brands pfaff and huskvarner are all sold by the agency in redditch
But like all dealers they promised gold plated taps before a sale
The dealer that we bought from ....my wife has spent £4200 in all in the last 2 months
The software for the embroidery was £1150 and other Accesories etc

And we thought that woodwork was expensive !!!

 

[Wuffles]

Had an Onkyo amplifier sent in for repair, went via the retailer, was with them for a month and I was just biding my time to invoke Onkyo's own rule (from their website at the time) - if an item is in for repair for longer than 30 days, a new item will be issued. Bang, new amp please Onkyo, oh, new model too as this was nearly a year old. This was years ago.

So you could try the manufacturer.

More recently, a Pioneer radio kept skipping Internet radio stations, and then went into "protect mode" due to an internal wiring issue. Sent off for repair with Pioneer again through the retailer, received it back after nearly a month, "protection mode" fault was fixed, I asked them about the Internet radio issue - I think they'd forgotten about that - they said it's fixed. It wasn't, luckily the new Consumer Rights Act makes it clear now. If a repair fails, full refund. Which I received.

Finally, John Lewis cross trainer, 5 year warranty; first on-site repair took 2 weeks to get a part, 2nd repair (after 4 years of use) required another part and as it took over a month (perhaps another month from that, I didn't bother waiting) for the part this time, John Lewis refunded in full for an unfair amount of time for a repair. They even gave me compensation for one of their call centre staff trying to tell me to do one as it was 4 years old and "John Lewis wouldn't be interested in something that old". Executive Office saw that one differently.

Sounds like you have a sh*te retailer and a manufacturer that's not very well represented in this Country?

Speak to your credit card company, also a letter to retailer (email will do), keep it all in writing. Unfair amount of time for repair, blah blah. As rafezetter says, scream and shout, trading standards, small claims, whatever. Get your refund and go through a better retailer.

Or, get the machine back quickly, hope the fault returns immediately then force their hand on the Consumer Rights Act.

Do keep us in the loop - gawping here.

 

[NikNak]

My missus had a similar problem with her Pfaff, admittedly it was around 10-12 years ago.

Small shop in Southampton. It went wrong (jammed up), dealer couldn't care less. Contacted Pfaff, they arranged collection, repair and return. She then sold it...!!

You may end up with a machine that may or may not give trouble in the future, you've (she) also spent a lot of money on software, that may or may not be useful. Dont be afraid of seeking advice from CAB or a solicitor, and small claims court (although is it a 'small' claim.?)

But which ever you decide, DONT just sit on your hands and wait....

 

[graduate_owner]

Surely you could reject the machine as unfit for purpose under the sale of goods act? Your contract is with the seller, not Pfaff, and you should tell them in writing that you reject the goods and request a full refund. You might want to contact a solicitor - they often give 30 mins free advice, to get the exact terminology for the letter and to know how to proceed if the shop refuses your refund. Remember it is the shop who is responsible for the refund so don't be fobbed off by excuses blaming Pfaff etc.

K

Edit (Actually it is the Consumer Rights Act now, which gives the consumer more protection that before)

 

[whiskywill]

(although is it a 'small' claim.?)...

It is, up to £10,000.

 

[graduate_owner]

Also, check your home insurance policy. You may have free legal advice through that.

K

 

[flh801978]

Well all ok now she went and bought a new machine...even more expensive in fact double the cost from a different dealer with very visible service dept
We will deal with refund when other machine gets back
But at least my ears are not getting bashed

 

[graduate_owner]

No ear bashing perhaps, but don't let the refund issue go on the back burner or you may find you are no longer entitled to reject the goods, in which case you may have to settle for a repair. Does your wife need 2 machines? You may end up selling the first one and losing out financially because of other peoples' incompetence.

K

 

[flh801978]

This is new machine
CNC with stitching

 

[flying haggis]

having read the saga so far, out of curiosity what make is the new machine.

 

[flh801978]

The new one is a husqvarna

 

[Myfordman]

Don't they make chainsaws? just tying to tie it back to woodwork!