Psychic warranty dates

[droopsnoot]

My old Aldi angle grinder gave up the ghost last Friday afternoon, started having a few problems maintaining speed, then stopped altogether and won't start up again.

Looking on the body of the machine, I noticed a 2009 manufacture date on the label. So I went through my pile of receipts, remembering that it has a three year warranty. Found it! Ah....

Bought it on the 25th July 2009
Failed on the 27th July 2012, exactly two days after the warranty ended.

There must be some kind of countdown timer in them, that causes failures just after the warranty has ended.

So now, the long wait until Aldi get some more grinders. Had a quick look in Makro the other day, their cheapest is a 1-year Draper for £23.

 

[tigler]

If I were you I'd try a sympathy claim !! You have nothing to lose, they can only say no !

 

[PTvor]

Have you checked the brushes and cleaned up the commutator with IPA and cotton buds? They usually give you a spare set of brushes with their grinders.

Is it worth the bother and cost of posting it off anyway?

How about biting the bullet and getting a Makita/Blue Bosch/Hitachi/Metabo for ££££s painful?

 

[cumbriasteve]

As PTvor, sounds like the brushes and mine came with a spare set...which has got me trying to think where was the 'safe place' I put them 2 years ago

 

[Shox Dr]

Without having to climb onto my soap box again. You have 6yrs to make a claim in the UK.

have a read of this

 

[gordon stephenson]

I have one of those angle grinders and it performed well for a long time, When it did stop working it was only the brushes worn right down,Fitted the spares that came with the machine and good as new again, these angle grinders come with a side handle and even though I don't usually use it that is where I kept my spare brushes, inside the hollow handle,turned a little plastic plug to keep them in place,

 

[Sean]

where's the [like!] button for that top tip?

 

[cumbriasteve]

where's the [like!] button for that top tip?

I agree 100%..just wish I could find the spare brushes to make use of the tip

 

[droopsnoot]

To be honest I hadn't looked in the box - I will tomorrow though. I did remove the side panels and pull the brushes out, one was quite worn but the other not so much. I also had the centre of the grinder out and cleaned the commutator, though I did it with some fine wet and dry.

When I said I "went through my pile of receipts", I really meant that I "looked through MS Money where I type all this stuff in", so the next hurdle on a claim may be finding the paper one. That said, last time I got in touch for a warranty claim (worn collet with my dremel-a-like) once they'd verified the receipt they just sent me a new one, didn't want the old one. And when I say "sent me a new one", I mean the whole kit, dremel-a-like, all the bits, flexi drive, the lot, just because the collet had worn and wouldn't grip the tool any more. Now that was a good warranty.

Dr Shox, I may well pursue that.

PTVor, I have three angle grinders - my old B&D Pro 100mm with a grinding disc, this one (until last week) with the wire brush, and a cheap B&Q one with a cutting disc in it. I could really do with another so I don't have to keep swapping between cutting and flap disc. I'm doing a lot of bodywork at the moment so for the cost of these cheap ones, it's really worth having a few so as not to waste time swapping around all the time.

 

[PTvor]

If you keep an eye out on here you sometimes see mention of offers on decent quality grinders at reasonable prices. It's worth keeping an eye on e-bay as well.

Have a look at this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOSCH-GWS...1045364178096943759&pid=100011&prg=1005&rk=2&


Maybe better than waiting for Aldi to come up with another offer. Well OK, it's not buy it now, but there have been ebay sellers recommended on here selling good stuff, buy it now.

I've got an Aldi grinder along with a couple of Makitas and others. It was worth the £15, and I bought it because I wondered how much more convenient it was not to keep swapping wheels and brushes. The answer is - a lot.

It's OK, but it's not nice to use, it's like a miniature 9". It's got plenty of power (1200W), but the bearings are getting sloppy.

I must admit that I'm coming round to the view that if you have a serious use for a power tool, buy a good 'un (or two) and keep your eyes open for offers.

 

[pedrobedro]

I still have a 125mm Aldi grinder with the back handle in my cupboard. I recently bought a Metabo after burning two cheap grinders out in a week although they were both old and very well used.

 

[tigler]

Without having to climb onto my soap box again. You have 6yrs to make a claim in the UK.

have a read of this

Ironically I'm just about to put this to the test !! An item my mother bought has just failed, 1 month outside the ubiquitous 12 month manufacturers warranty and the retailer is trying to walk away from it. It has had very little use in that time.
Apparently there is an EU directive to change the mandatory warranty on everything to 2 years minimum but it hasn't yet been formally incorporated into British consumer law. The 6 year thing is a fact but not automatically for a new replacement or full refund, wear & tear and the time the consumer has had use of the item are taken into account, so for example, a £15 grinder from Aldi that has given 5 years of hard service may only warrant a £5 refund if it fails. Personally, I think the Aldi 3 warranty is very fair.
Have spoken to what was consumer direct, now run by CAB, for clarification and they have advised a procedure to follow to allow the retailer a chance to offer a reasonable settlement before taking it further.
Interestingly, they mentioned something that could be very useful, the debit card charge back scheme. I thought only credit cards offered consumer protection but not so, an application can be made to request a refund of the amount paid which is charged back to the retailer if they don't play ball ! I really like the sound of that !
Anyway, the offending party will shortly receive a letter, giving them the opportunity to either replace, repair or refund within 14 days or it goes further.

 

[Shox Dr]

The main reason the UK government hasn't "adopted" the EU 2 yr ruling is because the UK already has the 6yr rule. However EU law over rules this.

As you say the 6yr rule takes into account the initial cost, expected life span, use, age when failure occurred etc.

Keep us posted

 

[tigler]

Yes thats correct but the EU 2 yr minimum would be empiric so the retailer would have no wriggle room !! The sooner it's implemented the better, might see the end of some of the worst Chinese tat !

 

[droopsnoot]

I like this forum. Down to the shed this afternoon, a quick look in the grinder box finds a little plastic bag with a spare pair of carbon brushes in it, fitted them and it's back working again.

Thanks all, even though I'd had the brushes out they looked "OK" to me, though without the new ones to compare to, I couldn't tell how much "meat" they'd lost.

 

[tigler]

Nice one, makes the Aldi grinder even more impressive !

 

[Robotstar5]

Nice one, makes the Aldi grinder even more impressive !

I've found B&Q "performance" range similar, bought a 280mm circular saw about 8 years ago came with spare brushes and blade. Since then I've completely floored a loft, completed numerous woodwork projects/DIY etc and haven't needed the spare blade yet! good value for £35

 

[CRB]

Ironically I'm just about to put this to the test !! An item my mother bought has just failed, 1 month outside the ubiquitous 12 month manufacturers warranty and the retailer is trying to walk away from it. It has had very little use in that time.
Apparently there is an EU directive to change the mandatory warranty on everything to 2 years minimum but it hasn't yet been formally incorporated into British consumer law. The 6 year thing is a fact but not automatically for a new replacement or full refund, wear & tear and the time the consumer has had use of the item are taken into account, so for example, a £15 grinder from Aldi that has given 5 years of hard service may only warrant a £5 refund if it fails. Personally, I think the Aldi 3 warranty is very fair.
Have spoken to what was consumer direct, now run by CAB, for clarification and they have advised a procedure to follow to allow the retailer a chance to offer a reasonable settlement before taking it further.
Interestingly, they mentioned something that could be very useful, the debit card charge back scheme. I thought only credit cards offered consumer protection but not so, an application can be made to request a refund of the amount paid which is charged back to the retailer if they don't play ball ! I really like the sound of that !
Anyway, the offending party will shortly receive a letter, giving them the opportunity to either replace, repair or refund within 14 days or it goes further.

Wish i had known all that when my HP A3 Colour printer gave up 3months after the 1y warranty had finished. I was told that I should have taken out an extended warranty. My question about how long they expected the printer to last, was not received very well. HP wanted 175 to fix it, half the cost. I kept it for a while, hoping to find another way of fixing it, but ended up giving it to a computer recycler.

 

[tigler]

If that was less than 6 years ago you could still claim !

 

[PTvor]

I've found B&Q "performance" range similar, bought a 280mm circular saw about 8 years ago came with spare brushes and blade. Since then I've completely floored a loft, completed numerous woodwork projects/DIY etc and haven't needed the spare blade yet! good value for £35

From what I've seen of the cheap stuff, it's very variable in quality and generally won't stand abuse. So if you let it go at its own pace and don't slow it down, like you ought to use it, it can last a surprisingly long time.

Bear in mind that many people on here doing car restoration projects, cutting and cleaning up steel for welding practise, building gates and all the rest of it, can give an angle grinder more use in a month than the average DIYer (which the cheapies are aimed at) would give one in a lifetime.

I know someone who has done a major house restoration and has a collection of broken cheap power tools, angle grinders, drills, sanders, saws. Looking at the cost and the hassle and the level of use likely, he'd have done better to have bought quality gear to begin with.

Part of the reason for buying cheap stuff is that if you've never had an angle grinder or a router, you don't really know how useful you are going to find it until you try one.