moores2525

Bought a front-loader from Gumtree (bad move) - 7 months old with a 2 year warranty and looked in good nick. Got home and found the power lead is cut!!!

I think I can source a replacment lead, but heard someone that's it's a bad idea (i.e. illegal) to fit new leads and things to washing machines without being a qualified electrician. Is that true?

Plan B - I have a phone number for the guy I bought it from, and the address of his block - could always demand the money back I suppose? Advertised as "excellent condition and in full working order".

Can anyone advise the best plan of action from here? My understand is Gumtree = no comeback.

Rossi

Go back to where you bought it from,
it's common practice amongst professionals to cut the lead off of any potentially dangerous appliance. At the very least, you should be getting a qualified electrician to check it out - even if you wire a new lead yourself

Water & Electricity can be a deadly combination

Vash the Stampede

Bunnings sells new plugs directly to punters and I've fitted dozens of them in my time, so I'm going with 'No, it's not illegal.'

At least, not in South Australia AFAIK.

mulben

My take on it is that it was picked up during a Council Whitegoods free pickup ( where leads are 99% of the time cut off ) and put on Gumtree .
Often see some enterprising person going around with a trailer load of fridges and washing machines during Council collection period .

sheene

If it is just the plug, that is ok, but if the lead has been cut you would have to open the machine up. Te fact that you are asking the question, would imply you need to get an expert.

smee

I tend to agree with you, I know someone who goes around during council pick up and just cuts the leads off whitegoods, he sells them for the copper inside.

KJCherokee

Gumtree is just a classified ad site: they take no responsibility for the condition of the goods sold.

Unless you can get your money back from the seller yourself you have no other recourse. Would it be undiplomatic of me to ask why the lack of a power lead wasn't noticed when you collected it?

You say that it is still under warranty: did the seller have all the necessary receipts and paperwork? If so I suggest you get him to put a lead on it and demonstrate that it works.

Did you pay enough to make it worthwhile going to the Small Claims Tribunal?

Amazulu

But it has a 2 year warranty - get them to fix it.

spartacus

Perhaps it's one of those new solar powered machines? If it is, I don't think it needs a power lead.

hoofie2002

He is a bastard then. Cutting the lead off means no-one will be able to use that again without wiring it up. Some of the stuff that goes out is perfectly serviceable but once the vultures arrive and hack all the wiring out its buggered. I put a microwave out last year - nothing wrong with it it was just old and I had replaced it with a newer one - I even put a sign on it saying it was in working order. When I came home that day someone had cut the cable AND levered open the side with a bar and nicked all the internal wiring - result one piece of scrap. For gods sake they are coming round now in vans with tail-lifts to take stuff; that's hardly people taking bits and bobs is it ?

Next time anything that contains cable etc. or recyclable metal I will take it up to the council recycling rather than let the thieving vultures get their hands on it whilst destroying everything and leaving a huge mess.

KJCherokee

Better off taking it to Vinnies, the Salvos or Lifeline - mind you, I'm not sure they accept electrical goods these days because of the liability issues if anything goes wrong.

If you put it on the street for a hard rubbish pickup, don't be surprised at what happens to it.

smee

Anything on the verge is collected and taken to the tip anyways so it would have been scrapped, if not taken sooner.
There is always the freecycle network to get rid of unwanted, but still usable goods, it not only gives it a new home but is keeps it out of landfill.

moores2525

Update - I contacted the seller and told them about the problem. First they denied all knowledge, then told me they'd give me a full refund or pay for repairs. Then they failed to show up to have a look at the lead (as arranged) and have gone silent.

I contacted Electrolux and they quoted $155 to repair, out of warranty. I'm going to give the seller 3 options - give a full refund and collect, pay for repair or I'll raise a police report (Gumtree advised me to do this) and raise a CTTT.

Basically the washer was advertised "as new in full working condition", I didn't see the lead as they showed me the machine in an outdoor laundry without a power socket and in the dark. I checked it and everything looked brand new - didn't check the lead though (my bad). However the seller admitted in writing today that the washer had sat in the outdoor shared laundry for 6 weeks and they hadn't checked it before advertising.

Lots of fun, I'm not stressing about it but some good lessons learned...

moores2525

Oh and the lead isn't completely severed - 3/4 of the way through, although it does look like it has been cut. The machine looks spotless, and has an invoice dated March 2011 and a 2 year warranty.

Amazulu

I put our old UK Toshiba 32" CRT TV out for kerbside collection earlier this year. It was in perfect working order and I put a sign on it stating this, so I was hoping that someone would take it (I could not sell it or give it away). Some f**ker came along, pushed it over and smashed the back open to take the power lead, could not even be arsed to just cut it off.

Tosser.