ALDI Warranty Charging Callout Fee for Assessor - UPDATE

zrorz on 08/05/2024 - 09:26
Last edited 09/05/2024 - 12:23 by 1 other user

I need an opinion of this is normal or not, I bought ALDI washing machine a year and a bit ago for $349 during the special sale. It has three year warranty on it. It decided to stop working last week midwash with e03 error, which is clogged filter, I have checked said filter and it is clear.

Since it has only been about 1 and half year into its warranty, I rang up ALDI (company called Tempo) and they said they will schedule an assessor to check it, they will confirm in writing by email. Today. I finally have a call with no email confirmation from the repairman and they said that there's a possible charge of $140 for the callout, which was not mentioned by the ALDI at all.

It's half the price of the machine. Is this even normal? Should I go through with it? ALDI didn't even mention of any fees for the assessor only for possible part fees.

UPDATE:
Well the repairman / assessor came around two on tuesday since they had a slot open, said a single hello while chatting away on his phone, i showed him the machine and he just looked at the removable washing machine filter that was causing the error. Walked out of the laundry, still chatting away to whoever he is talking to on the phone, finally pauses and just says to me it needs motor repair and said i will order part from ALDI. And left chatting away still , total "assessment" time 5 mins.

The least the he could do is get off his damn call while speaking to a client, all i got was 2 sentences in a 5 minute interaction.
Either way i called Aldi (tempo) today and they said nothing has been or could be done since according to them no assessment has been done, so no ETA.

Electrical & Electronics Washing Machine

Related Stores

ALDI
ALDI

Comments

  • jm7 on 08/05/2024 - 09:29
    +24

    Refuse to pay the $140 if it's a manufacturing fault. I suspect it will only be payable if the repairer determines you are at fault

    • Sal in SA on 08/05/2024 - 09:31
      +8

      Agree - if it is indeed a failure - then you should be fine, if it is a user error - expect to get charged for it.
      Upside, either way you get a working machine.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 08/05/2024 - 09:38
      +12

      yeah this is usually the way and its fair, if its not a warranty issue (user error or other) , why should the seller cop the cost?

      • zrorz on 08/05/2024 - 09:51
        -7

        I would agree with that if the seller ALDI would have mentioned it or written it down somewhere including the actual amount for the callout fee for warranties.

        There was no mention on it on their warranty pages, the aldi call center did not tell me anything about any fees at all beforehand, i have received 0 email or anything that said about callout fees, the assessor/repair man that called me does not want to put down anything in writing that they are scheduled to assess said machine or the costs for the callout.

        It just seemed iffy, which is why i am freaking out a bit.

        • garetz on 08/05/2024 - 11:09

          I would not agree to any fees unless they were clearly stated beforehand and gave you the opportunity to refuse it if you disagreed with it reasonably.

        • jjjaar on 08/05/2024 - 16:16
          +4

          But this is them telling you of the fees. You can choose, proceed or not.

        • jjj123 on 08/05/2024 - 19:38

          op, even they send invoice to you to pay, you can choose not to pay and dispute, they can not enforce it if it is under dispute, so you do not need to freak out.

    • HeWhoKnows on 09/05/2024 - 07:53
      +3

      Not exactly how to word it.
      Call out fee is usually applicable if the repairman finds there nothing wrong with the machine or issue due to user error such as not following instructions.
      Could also apply if they turn up and nobody is home or cannot get access.
      Ceratinly you would not expect to pay if there is some sort of failure with the machine.
      This should be explained in the warranty statement.
      Best to call back and confirm all this.

  • mapax on 08/05/2024 - 09:31
    +11

    A family friend had similar and was told that the callout fee was only if there’s was nothing wrong or user error.
    Aldi ended up refusing to send the repair person out when they realized it was a rural location and issued a refund after a couple of weeks of arguing that the person should take the item to the city to have it inspected.

  • whitepuma on 08/05/2024 - 09:47
    +2

    If the issue falls under warranty. Then no they shouldn't be allowed to charge it
    If the issue doesn't fall under warranty (i.e. negligence, or user error). Then yes they should be allowed to charge it
    If the repairer comes out and determines there is no issue. Then yes they should be allowed to charge it

    However regardless of if they should be allowed to charge it or not, they should notify you of any potential fees BEFORE they send someone out.

    I've had a similar experience with getting a samsung phone repaired under warranty. When calling up samsung they said i need to send my phone in, if they find the issue isn't covered under warranty (they listed some potential reasons) then i will be charged a fee of $x. However like mentioned, they advised me of those fees UPFRONT, before sending them the phone.

    • djsweet on 08/05/2024 - 12:42
      +3

      The OP knows about the fee and it sounds like the technician hasn't visited yet. So I don't see a problem here?

      • whitepuma on 08/05/2024 - 13:00

        ah i see, my bad. Well yes, i think the OP just needs to confirm if there is that fee regardless of if it's covered under warranty.

        If Aldi are going to be charged regardless, and you tried reasoning with them…then i would bring it back to them and get a refund.

  • star-ggg on 08/05/2024 - 09:47
    +5

    Murphy's law the error won't show when the technician is there

    • zrorz on 08/05/2024 - 09:53

      Yeah thats what i am thinking about too, but its definitely not working, drum spins, No pumps are turning on.

      • EightImmortals on 08/05/2024 - 14:49
        +8

        Video the errors so if it doesn't play up when the tech is there you can show them.

  • barge-in hunter on 08/05/2024 - 09:54

    Maybe it's time to just take it back to an Aldi store. Your contract is with them.

    The store team might say:
    - "leave it here and we'll get someone to inspect it" (in which case no call out fee can be charged, as it's located at their store already), or
    - "here's a refund because it's not worth the hassle for the price you paid" (in which case you get free use of a washing machine for the past year - and can go buy a better quality one somewhere else).

  • Muzeeb on 08/05/2024 - 09:55
    +2

    It's to stop the lowest common denominator making a warranty claim every time something goes "wrong".

    • dizzle on 08/05/2024 - 13:53
      +5

      Here's an example of precisly that.

      I worked for a store that sold high end home-theatre systems. Customer purchased a system and we couriered it out to North NSW. Customer set it up, then complained it wasn;t working. We supplied all the phone support we could but couldn't find the fix. We organised a repairer/installer to come from Brisbane (closer to the home). Two installers (They get paid for travel time as well as distance travelled), driving, hotel for the night and time to fix it cost us a couple of thousand dollars. Only to find the customer had cut the speaker cables while opening the system. All to replace with $50 worth of cables that were damaged by the customer (and I don't know how the customer wouldn't have known, because cutting through those cables with plain scissors would have taken effort).

      We absorbed the cost in order to keep a happy customer, but I can understand why an installer would charge a fee if the error turns out to be non-warranty.

      • EightImmortals on 08/05/2024 - 15:02
        +2

        I remember back in the day when I did copier tech work we had a machine at a government vet lab down south. They were always calling up with strange image quality problems. Turns out when the vets discovered a particularly interesting bit of guts they would slop them right on the platen glass so they could fax the pics to other vets. Needless to say once you get a few of those juices in the optics it messes things right up. Did we charge them? You bet we did. :)

  • Darayus on 08/05/2024 - 10:27
    +10

    A clog filter error means that, outflow water connection with your drainage pipe is an issue. This means machine is good but technician need to come and fixed your clogging at your end. I would recommend you to unclip the outflow water pipe from the drainage, clean the small spirot with a small brush and see if the error goes if you allow water to get drain in the bucket. I had the same issue with another reputable brand machine and I learned this from my mistake.

    • coxjon on 08/05/2024 - 11:40

      I was thinking it might be something like this too, as I had a similar problem.

  • jugsy on 08/05/2024 - 10:43
    +1

    Package it up and take it to the counter for an on-the-spot no-questions-asked refund

    • Brian McGee on 08/05/2024 - 10:52

      Isn't that only for 60 days?

      • jugsy on 08/05/2024 - 11:02

        I returned a 6 month old scooter that was broken in half! Aus Consumer Law trumps any in-store policy

        • Brian McGee on 08/05/2024 - 11:06

          But for a blocked lint filter error?
          Bit of a difference between a maintenence error and a broken product.

  • ihbh on 08/05/2024 - 11:20
    +3

    possible charge of $140 for the callout. It's half the price of the machine. Is this even normal?

    If you had got the washing machine for $70, it would be double the price of the price. So what?

    How much is the repairman's time worth/cost to the company per hour, etc.? That is the valid comparison.

  • altomic on 08/05/2024 - 11:56

    or the inlet valve has died.

    they are pretty generic and can be sourced from ebay for as cheap as $16 delivered.

  • MeesusEff on 08/05/2024 - 14:42

    If not your fault =/= no pay. I brought my Samsung vacuum + station to Camtec because my bin wouldn't open automatically like 70% of the time. They said they'll charge me $100 if they couldn't find the issue. Just for someone to look at it!! Luckily they found the issue.

  • AndyC1 on 08/05/2024 - 20:37
    +2

    Do you try googling how to fix the error yourself?

    • jonkvh on 09/05/2024 - 11:29

      ^this^ I prefer Bing though.

      • AndyC1 on 09/05/2024 - 19:41

        Altavista

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