The Auswine Forum

Hi for those of you thinking about buying a new fridge I would strongly caution against buying one from Kitchener Wine Cabinets. After owning the cabinets (I bought two) for only 2 years we are going to have to spend over $1,100 dollars repairing the condenser. A qualified and registered refrigeration engineer has told me the fault lies in “the poor quality of the components used” - from China. On their web site they claim the technology is "the best in the world". That lasts only two years…really!
Also on their web site they say "If for whatever reason you feel like we've promised you one thing and delivered another, rest assured we're only too happy to work through your problems”. So I called them up and explained I would have to have someone build a whole new condenser as their one is built into the cabinet wall so it can't be reached and repaired. Their offer was a 30% discount - only 15% more than they are offering as standard on a new fridge and said "these things happen". The sales manager Sam explained they were doing me a “big favour” as other companies wouldn't even do that.
I have had other problems with the fridge as well. After it was switched off you can't reset the cabinet temperature upwards- so the temp goes down to 12 again which is the default. I was told this was "unavoidable" and is caused by moisture on the circuit board. I have checked with friends with other brands such as Vintec and they report no such problems.
Also the drain hole got blocked and a dozen wine labels ruined. Now I understand a drain can get blocked but when I rang Kitchener at no point did anybody apologise - just said "well it happens".
I quote from the website "we make a good product and deliver on our promises, and treat customers with respect” I have never dealt with a company so at odds with their public claims.

Look up "statutory warranty".

Goods sold in Australia must function as intended for its expected consumer lifespan, generally commensurate with the cost.

If you expect a television or fridge to last 10 years then by law if it stops functioning as intended after 2 years, even though it is out of manufacturer warranty, it is still covered by automatic consumer guarantee (Competition and Consumer Act 2010) if purchased in/after 2011, or by Trade Practices Act if purchased before 2011.

I would suggest calling up the manufacturer's local offices first and tell them you expect a $2000 fridge to last for at least 10-20 years, mutter on about statutory warranty and ask for a repair, replace or refund. They will not want to refund it but trust me, they will know exactly what you are talking about.

If they argue then inform them you will have to go to fair trading as they are breaking Australian law.

If they continue to argue then try the retailer and say exactly the same things (might be easier than going through fair trading).

If all else fails then go to fair trading.

http://www.accc.gov.au/taxonomy/term/159

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-06-07/b ... ts/2749924

http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consum ... guarantees

http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-te ... rongs.aspx

PS I'd do it before a more business-bent, free-market government gets full control of both houses again and has free reign. Many people don't know they have these protections so the Suppository of All Wisdom could probably quietly snip bits of them away piece by piece before Choice got extremely vocal about it.

Although I guess in theory you should still be protected by what the laws were at the time you purchased. Better to be safe though.

One very good thing about minority governments and hostile senates. Everything gets assessed. Even if they are 'unrepresentative swill'.

30% off looks like a reasonable offer to me, try getting that from Harvey Normans - if it cost $5K that's about $1500 bucks and if two years old and assume out of warranty (notwithstanding comments above about new legislation) sounds fair and maybe you could get a bit more...

I'm with Andoman. You buy a product and expect it last as intended. O.k maybe not 20 years but 2!!!!! you gotta be kiddin. I wouldn't be happy either. The offer of 30% is meaningless unless you have $$ to burn.

Oldwine - how would you feel if you bought a $30k car and then it was stuffed after 2 years. The manufacturer offered 30% off a new car. Please.

Yep - consumer law in Aus is great right now. I recently had an iPhone replaced for free, as the contract was for two years, and it crapped out after 14 months.

Also, further to this, it is illegal for any representative of any company to mislead you about your consumer rights. So if you claim that under your consumer rights they are responsible for the remedy (although they have choice of repair or replace), and they claim that they are not, that action is illegal. If you inform them of that, they may think twice about restricting your claim

Oldwine - Why settle for 30% whe, assuming that the OP is Australian, then legally Kitchener MUST replace or repair the unit for free?

Yeah, good luck. Would like to see all the case law on how they operating in the real world. And these laws are going to last about five minutes with the new Senate

No case law required, fair trading have been enforcing this for many years.

OldWine I really dont think changing the TPA or its modern name sake with these provisions which have been in place for years and were in place during the Howard government is going to be the #1 priority of a new Abott govt (who btw will not control the senate anyway)

That said, I do think the Choice article states the extent of the TPA/consumer gtee protections as a bit more broad than they are generally intended... Goods must indeed be of merchantable quality and fit for purpose and match their description. If not you are entitled to a refund... But claiming this 5-yrs down the track on the basis the fact it is now broken implies that 5-yrs previously at the point of sale the good was not of merchantable quality... This is indeed more difficult.

I think the typical argument from the manufacturer is the warranty they offer should be a guide to the minimum life of a product... No one expects a fridge to last 10-20yrs anymore, though perhaps 2-yrs is still too short... Overall, though the cost might reflect the complexity of the product as well as the intended life span, and is not on its own determinative.

Consider buying a car... often $20-30K and typically a 3-yr manufactuers warranty. If the law was such that because of the high price alone your car was in fact warrantied to last "10-20 years" then my mechanic bills would be a lot less.

The key thing to consider is really whether the error is such that you can directly point to its initial production being of such poor quality or poor design standards that it was always going to fail and hence was never really fit for purpose in the first place.

Two examples to illustrate: 1) a condenser simply fails due to its components having a natural deterioration over an avg life of say 2-3yrs, reflected in the 2yr express warranty: thats life; 2) condenser melts due to its being placed too close to the motor in a poor design: manufacturers problem up to a "reasonable" period after sale (in which case you would then consider the price, normal life of the product, etc to see what is a reasonable period).

To conclude more pragmatically, given you must only be just outside of warranty & it seems the product was pretty crap to begin with, I dont see that it can hurt to rant at them a little about ACCC Gtees and Fair Trading etc and see if they wont just man up and fix the damn fridge...

I find writing angry letters can be effective, but then it is my speciality...