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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Washing Machines are crap


michael

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My 18 month old Indesit W143S washing machine is dead - the internet suggests it's a common fault with the onboard module.

 

So I got a repairman out with the understanding that they could repair things - he charged me £20 to tell me the module was dead and that I should buy a new machine. I asked why he couldn't fix it and he said he'd only be able to order a new board at a cost of £120.

 

He then had a look around my garage and attempted to buy a set of tyres from me for silly money despite them being the wrong size for him.

 

So I removed the module myself and posted it to a company called QER who test and repair them for £20 > £30 depending on type. This seemed sensible enough as it's only a jumble of 1p parts on a chunk of circuit board. A week later I called them to discover that their "test rig" isn't capable of doing anything with my board for some reason and it would cost me £4.11 to get it sent back.

 

Total cost so far £30+ and it's still broken.

 

So now I have a choice, use a company similar to QER to try and fix the module and risk losing more money, buy a new module for £90 (I can get them cheaper than the fool said) and risk the common fault coming back soon after or buy a new machine that isn't under the Indesit brand and doesn't share these crap boards (Hoover, Ariston, Indesit and a few others are all owned by Marconi I belive?).

 

I'd rather spend the money on something fun but my clothes are starting to walk around on their own.

 

Thanks for listening, if anyone sells washing machines on the cheap please get in touch asap :)

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I know exactly what you mean...

 

I had some spare cash and we needed a tumble dryer so I went out and bought the top of the line hotpoint jobbie which has all sorts of gadgets, like delayed drying times and complete monitoring that kinda thing £400's worth....

 

28 days into ownership, main board failed, give its credit the display did say what the error was... took them 2 weeks to come out and upgrade the firmware after numerous so called missed appointments...

 

30 days later it failed AGAIN, phoned them up and said I wanted a new unit as two failures in 2 months is silly... 'Sorry, the unit is over a month old'....

 

So I put my best diplomatic voice on and told them they had a choice 'replace it' or I will deliver to the hotpoint office personally.... new one delivered next day

 

Needless to say, not had a problem with the unit since then....

 

Gav

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Mines brill, it makes little tunes when its starts and finishes and has lots of buttons and lights.

 

I would say get a new one coz it's easier but thats not actually true. Just delivering mine took 2 months :rolleyes:

 

:scare: someone must hate you up there.... it takes 2 months for your machine to arrive...... 3years for your soop to.....

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What you need is an old boy electrician like I know in my area. If the bloke can fix it he does. None of this disposable PCB's for him. He'll spend eons figuring out which chip is gone and replace it if he has to. To be fair he knows what causes a whole catalogue of faults on a limitless scale so he can usually bore the sh*t out of you with known fault this and should have a company based recall for that yawn yawn lol. He comes to your house and fixes the machine and all for about £30 as like you say transistors and chips are pennies.

 

If it is indeed a known common fault you should have recourse to get the manufacturer to splash some cash for this. I beleive the remit of the sales of goods act is quite long reaching and you would be surprised at how strong the fit for purpose clause is. After all if its provable that these machines have an inherent PCB fault then they left the factory like that new and were not fit for purpose at that time. It is actually reasonable to expect a machines circuit board to last a lot longer than 18 months after all. There's no moving parts to wear which strengthens your case. Send indesit UK customer services an email asking them why their machines develope a fault like this and what they intend on doing about it. CC it to trading standards or a consumer group and see where it gets you. In the meantime get your stinkin ass down the laundrette or just do what the rest of do take your washing home to mum on sunday afternoon. She can wash your clothes and cook you dinner while you wait :)

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I feel for you. Our first washing machine died on the day after the garuntee ran out. Both dumb shock punched holes in the drum on a boil nappy wash. Bendix di not want to know. So thought no more of this cheap crap and bought a Meile and it lasted 20 years used at least 7 times a week. Our second Meile is still going strong. Our cheapo Bendix tumble drier lasted 23 years:p

 

If it is a know fault try pushing for them to cough up.

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I know exactly what you mean...

 

I had some spare cash and we needed a tumble dryer so I went out and bought the top of the line hotpoint jobbie which has all sorts of gadgets, like delayed drying times and complete monitoring that kinda thing £400's worth....

 

28 days into ownership, main board failed, give its credit the display did say what the error was... took them 2 weeks to come out and upgrade the firmware after numerous so called missed appointments...

 

30 days later it failed AGAIN, phoned them up and said I wanted a new unit as two failures in 2 months is silly... 'Sorry, the unit is over a month old'....

 

So I put my best diplomatic voice on and told them they had a choice 'replace it' or I will deliver to the hotpoint office personally.... new one delivered next day

 

Needless to say, not had a problem with the unit since then....

 

Gav

 

 

Sorry but this kinda made me laugh. Tumble dryers need firmware updates now!

 

Apparently, on a different note, is it possible now for cars to catch viruses via their built in bluetooth devices. People can hack into the bluetooth device and because its all wired into the ECU, the car can be rendered useless. Someone just told me. It wouldn't suprise me though!

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