Panasonic Microwave Warranty Void Due to Cockroaches

Lusbc activist on 11/06/2016 - 15:06
Last edited 12/06/2016 - 09:37 by 1 other user

I bought a Panasonic microwave in Myer. It still has a month of warranty left on it. I also bought extended warranty from Myer which starts once the Panasonic warranty expires.

One fine day, the fuse started going off whenever we switched on the microwave. I called Panasonic and gave it for repair in their authorized service centre. After examining it, the warranty is void as there is cockroach infestation in it. They are demanding $77 to tell us what the repair is about. I already spent a lot of money on it. Bought it for around $250 to $300. I also bought additional extended warranty. I am not sure if I have to pay that $77 to learn how much extra I need to spend to get it working again.

Need your help to know

  1. If it is worth to pay them the money?

  2. Should I take the microwave back and wait for the Panasonic warranty period to be over and then try my luck with Myer? The person who I got friendly with at the service centre told me that Myer as well refers the microwave to them and there is no point in trying with them?

  3. Instead should I look at some repair service in Gumtree and show it to them?

  4. Forget about it altogether and buy a new one

I bought my previous one at Kmart. It worked amazingly for four years till I have to throw it away as it is getting rust on the inside.

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • Vieira4 on 14/06/2016 - 10:53
    +2

    Even if it gets repaired I wouldn't eat anything out of that microwave ever.

    • Mad Max on 14/06/2016 - 14:01
      +6

      Do you go to restaurants or eat out at all?
      Just saying…

    • c64 on 15/06/2016 - 09:58

      the cockroaches aren't in the cooking compartment of the microwave. a little bit of roach poo is not going to hurt you.

      • Jalif on 16/06/2016 - 07:22
        +1

        If there is a roach infestation it won't be solely in the microwave.

        The whole house will be infested.

        I doubt he will have much to worry about.

        Throw the thing out, it's the price you pay for filth.

  • samboread on 14/06/2016 - 16:45

    so spend 30%-ish of what you paid for it just to find out how much to fix it… pfft tell them their dreaming. Just go buy a new one

  • Baebs on 14/06/2016 - 17:36
    +1

    I guess they really can survive radiation..

    • JediJan on 14/06/2016 - 17:46
      +1

      Pity they didn't go the way of the dinosaurs too.

  • Hydevanity on 14/06/2016 - 19:38

    Are they saying the cockroach infestation caused the fault or just that there is an infestation? Because the extended warranty terms and conditions advise (copied from above):

    What’s excluded? This Extended Warranty does not cover:
    (b) faults caused by:
    (iv) infestations of vermin, pests or insects;

    I can understand them not wanting to service the unit because of the condition of the unit (dirty) but if it has not caused the problem - i.e. fuse breaking down and you clean it up; it should be covered under your extended warranty.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/06/2016 - 20:17
    -2

    You are filthy or lazy and that is the reason why you have cockroaches in your microwave. If you are paying for extended warranties perhaps you should spend some money on pest control!

    • lonix on 15/06/2016 - 23:38
      +3

      Ever tried living in an apartment block with slobs next door?

  • iforgotmysocks on 15/06/2016 - 08:54
    +2

    Have you tried keeping your cockroaches elsewhere?

    • scrimshaw on 15/06/2016 - 16:28
      +2

      Send the cockroaches an eviction notice, or play loud music until they leave?

    • [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 09:17
      +1

      Cockroach tenant rights

  • everypenny on 15/06/2016 - 11:07
    +2

    Forget about Panasonic! Go buy yourself a new one from Kmart.. Will save you loads of hassle.. Time is MONEY!

  • Lancerx on 15/06/2016 - 13:11
    -1

    To have cockroach living in your microwave, can't begin to imagine the other part of your house..

    • [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 09:18
      +1

      Totally agree. Why bother paying for extended warranties if you cannot be bothered to buy pest spray.

  • wallet72 on 15/06/2016 - 16:09

    What is the definition of 'infestation'? One roach could kill a microwave, but it might be the only roach around. Or 200 could be living in your walls and you'd never know.

    I don't think that clause would hold up in court, it is unreasonable to expect a house to be 100% pest free, so unless they can prove you climb over cockroaches to get to the kitchen I doubt it would be enforceable.

  • robb6014 on 15/06/2016 - 18:01
    -2

    Not the manufacturers fault your disgusting

    • bargainhunter on 15/06/2016 - 18:26
      +3

      No, you are or you're

      • robb6014 on 15/06/2016 - 19:47
        -2

        Thanks spelling champion of the world

    • asausas on 16/06/2016 - 05:47

      Nitwit! How can you make such assertions with certainty … -1 vote for you.

    • [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 09:27

      As Janet Jackson would say… It's all about control. Now control your infestation with some Mortein Control Bombs and stop making a poor international company with trillions pay to repair your microwave.

  • snajper on 15/06/2016 - 21:35

    I had panasonic microwave for 15 years and have chucked in the rubbish as i found german cockrouches in it. It was $400 microwave but didn't think twice. Bought a replacement panasnic microwave for $100.
    They got into lcd screen and could see them from the outside.

    • [Deactivated] on 16/06/2016 - 09:28
      +1

      Racist!

      • snajper on 16/06/2016 - 11:28

        ???? What are you on about??

  • ankor on 16/06/2016 - 04:01
    +2

    I had been having trouble sleeping lately, this thread and cochroach infestation stories are definitely not helping. I've also got a Panasonic microwave argh.

    • peteru on 16/06/2016 - 05:30
      +3

      It's a good thing you are not sleeping. You know what they say - for every cockroach you see, there are a thousand hidden nearby. As long as you keep your eyes open things will be fine, but as soon as you fall asleep, there will be cockroaches all over your kitchen, bedroom, maybe even running over your face as you sleep, keeping warm and moist in your breath.

  • asausas on 16/06/2016 - 05:42
    +1

    Hi OP/gd,

    Written Complaint:

    Suggest a complaint-letter via email to the VP of Customer Services & Support at both Coles Myer Group and Panasonic Aust. as your 1st step. Refer to the ACL, which protects your consumer rights. Highlight that cockroach-infestation is a nornal expectation in the typical Oz home (unfortunately), and as such, your uwave has not met with the real-world 'fit-for-purpose' obligation. The internal electrically-generated warmth of a uwave is not only a cockroach-magnet, it is an inadvertent design-feature/flaw. Consequently, you have a legal entitlement to a free-of-charge repair or full foc replacement within 72 hours for instance.

    Follow-up:

    i. phone-call after 48 hrs to Myers customer-complaints department (or sim) if u haven't received a written response.
    ii. call to PA complaints department. after 72 hrs of emailing initial complaint.

    If still not resolved to your satisfaction, raise a formal complaint with the Office of Fair Trading in Sydney.

    Best of luck.

  • paulojr on 16/06/2016 - 12:24
    +3

    Hi OP
    Ok, firstly never buy an extended warranty. They can cause more problems than good. Especially NEVER buy an extended warranty backed by the corporate criminals at AIG, any policy from Harvey Norman or especially any policy by TGG. I haven't looked at the myer one but I'm sure its the same thing nonsense. These policies are not needed legally, carry too many exclusions and open your personal details to be shared. They rarely pay out and usually put you through legal processes to get any result.

    Secondly, basic electronics design principles do include designing devices to minimise impact by insects and other problems. I've never personally heard of a case where insects or specifically cockroaches (outside of hearsay and stories by companies selling insect spray products) have actually harmed a circuit unless there was a manufacturing defect. e.g. high voltage rails exposed and insufficient protective casing around the main circuit. And yes I've repaired devices filled with insects and the root cause was never the insects.

    Closest example of where they could cause problems that I can think of is insects infesting a moving part, like CPU fan while the device is powered off. Any decent design would include proper isolation of high voltage components, protective coating on the board and the casing should make it impossible for anything as large as a roach to get in.

    If Panasonic has failed to design for real world issues with their microwave I say don't buy from them again and maybe the microwave could even be a candidate for RECALL from the market. (depends on the specifics, you haven't told us what exactly they claim the roach did to the circuit or where they found it)

    I'd recommend:
    1. No longer buying any product similar to what you had. No more Panasonic, go get something else and inspect the design a bit closer this time. Geez for $130 we got a convention microwave as good as the Panasonics from sterling.. so why waste money on a panasonic with poor design and this kind of service?

    1. Investigate how to raise the problem to the relevant government or other body. I've never raised a recall notice but I'm sure there is a process and doing so might wake someone at Panasonic up to thinking about their poor products design.

    2. Deal with the roach issue asap. They are nasty things.

    Most likely, the cockroach had nothing to do wit the failure, more likely Panasonic are simply trying to make you buy another one and profit from your loss. Dishonesty is the new black with companies these days, even sony's repair firm has been cited by various customers as doing this kind of thing. I haven't seen this from Panasonic before but Samsung and LG are well know for this kind of behaviour and I've seen Sharp refusing to fix faulty microwaves where they installed a ribbon cable that lost contact with the LED display after x hundred open/close cycles of the door. (This is after they were aware of the design mistake)

    Good luck. Thanks for letting us know.. feel free to share more details on the actual "claim" and any photos of the issue.

  • Herbert on 16/06/2016 - 19:11
    +1

    I feel for you, OP.

    During my two year tenancy in my previous unit, three smart cookers, three PC power supplies, two pc monitors, one fridge broken due to cockroach infestation. The cost to replace those appliances amount to thousands of dollars. I had assumed power surge was to blame rather than cockroaches until the smart cooker warranty repairer reported found infestation inside it.

    Pest control is more important than extended warranty. Don't buy a new appliance until pest control is done.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/06/2016 - 16:28

    I would complain to your Strata about the cockroach infestation, if it's a building issue as you say - it mustn't be pleasant.

    But I would also be taking steps to rid your apartment of infestation (because if they are setting up camp in your appliances - you have an infestation - and this is not what is normal in most households) and stop them returning in the mean time.

    Kill them: put a bait under your fridge (or other place that is constantly warm), DIY Pest Control/Surface Spray (spray on the floor where the wall meets the floor and across any door ways, etc).

    Eliminate food/water sources in your apartment: plug all the drain holes you can when not in use, don't leave dirty dishes etc. around, vacuum regularly (cockroaches eat human dander - decaying hair and skin cells, they also like paper/cardboard).

    Stop them entering: Gap filler - for wall/wooden cracks and gaps. Netting - for vents. Draft stoppers - so they can't come in under doors.

  • usbc activist on 04/08/2016 - 22:22
    +1

    I thank all the ozbargain members for the suggestions. By now you might have forgotten about this thread. But, I promised I will let you all know about the final outcome. Here is what finally happened. I did not pay panasonic to repair my microwave. I waited till the panasonic warranty expired. I waited for few more days and contacted myer about the broken microwave. They gave me a claim number and after few days I received a myer gift card equivalent to the amount of the purchase price of the microwave.

    • bluesky on 04/08/2016 - 22:25
      +1

      This is a great outcome … I am happy for you! :-)

    • JediJan on 10/09/2016 - 15:07
      +1

      Well done. Also, well done Myers; one is more likely to shop at a retailer that takes care of its customers so well. I, for one, will keep this in mind next time I am looking to buy an electrical appliance.

  • Cyberninja on 10/09/2016 - 11:32
    +1

    I am in the same situation as the OP. My 'refurbished' Panasonic microwave oven stopped working due to cockroaches. At least 4 months of warranty is left but the seller, panatech, is refusing to repair it citing that faults due to cockroaches aren't covered. However, nothing like this is mentioned in their warranty terms and conditions.
    will fair trading/consumer court be of any help?

    • Apoca89 on 10/09/2016 - 11:46
      +1

      Generally the threat of this is all you need. Talk to them, ask for supervisor, then go and claim consumer Law. This should be enough to scare them into acting. Hopefully.

  • bucketbong on 04/11/2017 - 14:52

    I'm having similar trouble with a non-panasonic microwave that has broken within a year of buying it. Manufacturer says cockroaches caused fault so nothing they are obliged to do or will do. Our unit complex had a visit from pest man earlier this year - we haven't really seen many cockroaches.

    So all seems a bit weird. Any ideas? Getting nowhere with where I bought it & the manufacturer.

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