Faulty kitchen installation warranty

Hi everyone,
Im completely new to this so hope my message can reach someone who might be able to help me with regarding my house I had built.

I have edited to place here, but I forwarded this letter to a highly regarded company who installed our kitchen who isn't responding to me and I am curious as to if they are right in it not being a warranty issue.


****
I asked you to come out and inspect a concern in our kitchen your company had installed around 12 months ago. We looked at a faulty join line in the bench top of the laminated board. This joint line started bubbling just before Christmas, only 6 months after installation. I contacted the site supervisors from ***** ******* at the time who failed to follow up on this complaint until my wife started contacting your company direct.

Someone was sent out to look at it about 2 months ago who said it was water damage. They managed to greatly reduce the appearance of the damage by using a block of wood and a hammer to squash down the swollen area and then applied silicon to the join. The laminate has started to lift again as the under lying board is obviously still damaged.

I appreciate you taking the time to come and meet with me a few weeks ago. You stated this was a common problem with water and the materials you use for kitchen bench tops.

I have spoken to my insurance broker at *** who was very surprised your company was not willing to fix this issue. We are asking for an explanation in writing as to why you believe it is not your responsibility to fix after a faulty installation.

We are disappointed to have these issues with a brand new kitchen, especially from a local company.

Regards,



On inspection by the manager, he claimed wasn't his problem, he did leave his warranty cover sheet and basically I believe its worded in such a way it really does away there responsibility for anything especially water damage, even though they advertise having a 5 year warranty! However I am convinced it never had enough silicon used at time of installation. Hence my claim a faulty installation which their cover sheet doesn't exempt.

If anyone can perhaps point me in the right direction, is this my problem to sort out with my own insurance, or is this a big name kitchen company doing the dodge. Im not getting a response from the kitchen company and unsure of the next step. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read!
 
Regardless of what it says in their warranty, provided you signed the contract for construction of the house after 1 Jan 2011, you have rights under the Australian Consumer Law, which is uniform national legislation (i.e. passed in all states and territories, administered separately by each state, but on the basis of the same law).

In SA, it's administered by OBCA, and I would be ringing them to confirm that the ACL applies to your kitchen, and ask about how you should proceed.

The ACL requires all goods to be "durable" and "fit for purpose", amongst other things; it's quite broad-reaching and cannot be limited by company warranties. Companies issuing warranties can only add to your consumer rights, but not detract from them. If their company-issued warranty represents that you have fewer rights than are available to you under the ACL, that warranty may be in violation of the ACL and they may be vulnerable to prosecution, which puts you in a relatively strong position.
 
If it is a new house it should be covered by the builders warranty, who in turn would send the kitchen supplier out to fix it, shouldn't it?
 
If it is a new house it should be covered by the builders warranty, who in turn would send the kitchen supplier out to fix it, shouldn't it?
Yes, that's who has to deal with it, the issue at hand is what the scope of the warranty is.

The kitchen supplier is trying to use their own warranty terms to deny liability for water damage. The point is that the kitchen supplier can't provide the customer with any fewer warranty rights than they're entitled to under the ACL. In particular, trying to blanket deny any coverage for water damage to a kitchen is nonsense, because a kitchen has to be "fit for purpose", and the purpose of a kitchen is food preparation, which is going to require some water.
 
Thanks Perp,

I wanted to add a few of the extracts from their warranty sheet, which the manager pointed out his side from.

4. This warranty does not cover the following circumstances :-

c. Any natural occurrence or other circumstances not within the control of ******* (such as ; heat, moisture/water damage

f. The High Moisture Resistant board (HMR) used in the manufacture of the ******** products, has a High Moisture Resistance, but is not waterproof. HMR will not deteriorate if water, steam and oil spills are wiped off immediately. However, HMR will deteriorate if water, steam and oils are left to soak into the material, in which case the Warranty does not apply.

g. If care is not taken in regard to the potential of moisture damage the components. Benchtop joins cannot withstand water overflows and steam caused by kettles being placed directly under cupboards will not be covered by warranty.



Which leaves to my word against his that I haven't allowed water to be left on the benchtop join. But it goes back to my original thought it wasn't sealed with silicon correctly. As yes I admit, I do very often wipe with a damp cloth to keep the whole kitchen clean, being a black surface. However being my first home and heavily borrowed, I am a little over the top keeping clean and in top condition. There certainly hasn't been a pool of water left there.
 
Back
Top