Letters of the month: spare parts, forgotten invoice & more

Availability of spare parts

Could you tell me how long a rangehood should last? We’ve had ours (a Smeg worth $1,200–$1,400) for 3 years and 3 months. Our house is a new build. After two long power cuts (caused by work in the area), our rangehood has been randomly turning itself on full. Just clicks and off it goes. We’ve had a repair man assess it, and he says it cannot be fixed as it needs a new motherboard, and these parts are not currently available. Will this be covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA)?

- A MEMBER

OUR EXPERTS SAY

A new rangehood should last around 10 years. The CGA gives you the right to spare parts and repair facilities for a reasonable time for any product unless you are told when you make your purchase that they aren’t available. This undertaking is given by the manufacturer or importer, so we suggest you contact the importer of your rangehood and ask it to supply the part within 5 working days so you can complete the repair. If the importer’s unable to do this, you are within your rights to request it reimburse you the difference between what you paid and the current value of the unrepaired item.

UPDATE

The importer supplied the spare part, as required, and carried out the repair at no cost to the member.

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Overcharged for power

In June, when I received our power account, I noticed there was no power usage showing in the “night rate” column. I checked back over the year and found this was the case for the whole year. After much to-ing and fro-ing between myself and the power company, it was discovered that a meter replacement had been wired incorrectly, and all Night meter usage had been recorded on the Anytime meter. The company is going to get back to me when it has calculated overcharges. I thought this might be a good reminder for people to check their power bills, especially if they’ve had a new meter wired.

- ROBERT WHITE

OUR EXPERTS SAY

Thanks for bringing this to members’ attention. If anyone is unhappy with the response they get from their power company, they can make a complaint to Utilities Disputes (UDL), which offers a free, fair and independent service for sorting complaints about electricity, gas, water, phone and internet.

UPDATE

Robert’s power company gave him a full refund of overcharges plus a $75 credit for the inconvenience.

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Forgotten invoice

I’ve just received an unexpected invoice from our plumber from 2022. How late is it legitimate for businesses to issue invoices?

- DR ROBYN CHANDLER

OUR EXPERTS SAY

Under the Limitation Act 2010, your plumber has a limitation period of 6 years from the date you used their service to claim payment.

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Fish finder failure

In November 2020, I purchased a new Lowrance HDS-7 Live fish finder from a boating retailer for $1,900. The fish finder came with a 2-year warranty. The following year, the Lowrance stopped working and was replaced under warranty. In January 2024, the replacement unit failed after a firmware update. I was advised the retailer could not assist me as the warranty had expired. When I then called a support number, I was offered another replacement for $1,083.30 with a 6-month warranty – repairs were not carried out on these units. As I needed a replacement as soon as possible, I paid for the replacement but notified the support technician that I believed the unit should have been replaced for free under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) and that I would be considering further action, including lodging a claim with the Disputes Tribunal. Most sonar/chart plotters last longer than 5 years without the need for repair or replacement. I was offered a 10% refund on the replacement value. Should I accept this offer?

- A MEMBER

OUR EXPERTS SAY

We think Lowrance should be replacing the unit at no cost to you under the CGA. It is unacceptable for a 3-year-old unit that cost close to $2,000 to fail due to a firmware problem despite having been well cared for. A brief online search suggests you’re not the only Lowrance customer to have problems following firmware updates. The CGA requires goods to be durable and fit for purpose. Your experience with the HDS-7 Live suggests that the standard has not been reached in this case. Also, under the CGA, replacement goods attract the same guarantees as new ones. As the company has not repaired the unit but has sold you a new one, you should get the full warranty of 2 years. We suggest you try pointing out our views to Lowrance and ask it to reconsider its position.

UPDATE

The manufacturer refunded the money the member had paid for the replacement and provided a new unit.