A valueless 5 year warranty

03-09-202020"]
Product tests by Choice cannot predict how a product performs in the future as in this case with an extended five year warranty. And so it was with my Daiken air conditioning unit.
I purchased a Daiken model FTXS35LVMA air conditioning unit 18 March 2015. After four and a half years it failed and as a result of poor service from the local service/installer in Ballarat the warranty ran out. Daiken have become involved and have taken the position, in writing, that the warranty is, in effect, invalid and have told me how much I have to pay for repairs.
Thanks to Choice we can be better advised as to the choices we make.

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Who provided the extended warranty?

Did you pay for it or was it a company promotion?

Choice has covered extended warranties in the past and whether they are worth it…

There has also been a number of threads in this forum about extended warranties as well, including this one…

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Hi @pedro. Welcome to the community.

In raising your concerns are you able to share/confirm a little more detail on how the 5yr warranty was provided? Eg was the extended warranty provided by Daiken and sold by their agent?

When the unit failed what transpired with the local Daiken agent? Do you have any records of correspondence or claim?

We have at least twice needed to claim for repair or replacements on extended warranties. In both instances we were required to fill out a standard claim form at the time. This locked in the claim date within the warranty period. One was a fixed ceiling fan, warranty per the importer, no extra cost. The other an ironing station covered by a store purchased plan, which did have a cost.

Daiken historically have a reputation for the quality of their product. It might be up to someone from the Choice test team to comment on reliability testing. Even the best of brands will have a percentage of products that fail during warranty. The better the design and quality of manufacture the less likely a purchase will fail early or unexpectedly.

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It would also be useful to know why Daiken indicated this. Was the aircon misused (e.g. accidentally damaged), not maintained in accordance with the user manual, installed in an environment which caused the failure (e.g. work environment high in dust or chemicals), a natural event caused the failure (e.g. lighting strike, water leaks, flood) or other reasons excluded by warranty conditions?

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Unless Daikin changed their warranty since your purchase would that have been the Daikin 5-year warranty, not an extra (eg extended) warranty?

Would you clarify what you mean by that? Your warranty would have gone to 18 March 2020 but subject to conditions for maintenance and so on as expressed in the warranty card.

Daikin cannot refuse your rights under the ACL, but the ACL puts the responsibility on the retailer who sold you the unit, not Daikin per se, so you should be going formal with the retailer who sold it (assuming they are also the maintenance company since Daikin is a specialist brand).

Once we have better detail, we might advise you to send a formal letter of complaint to the retailer/installer company who sold and serviced the unit, assuming they are still in business. That is a precursor to filing a formal complaint with your state fair trading. If the company failed to provide the necessary standard of service/maintenance, and that is the crux of the problem, the ACL also offers consumer guarantees for that.

An entry into your rights is at

We look forward to having more information so we can be more confident in our advice.

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Hello everybody. Thank you for your interest. In response to your questions the following should address them all.

This Daiken AC unit was brand new, out of the box and the warranty was a standard Daiken five year warranty not an extended warranty.

The paperwork that I put together for the claim was sent by Melbourne, to head office in Warwick Farm apparently as the emailed replies from Melbourne were accompanied by copies of emails from H.O. with message details deleted. The final response from Melbourne was that the unit was out of warranty. The decision I’m sure came from H.O.

I was not offered any sort of certificate where my claim might have been recorded and all communication was by phone calls and emails. However my claim is locked in by the record of emails that I sent when it broke down some six months before the warranty ran out. I have down loaded the record of phone calls made to the repairer. It is quite a number and they all relate to the complaint since we aren’t friends.

I understand that in normal circumstances the retailer is liable for warranty work but the fact is Daiken have taken it upon themselves to become involved

Why Daiken have taken the position they have taken is a mystery. The unit was installed in a sunroom not often used. This is Ballarat after all.

It seems to me that since they must know the claim is within the limits of their warranty the claim is valid. I can’t help feeling they have just decided to give me the finger. By the paperwork they know it’s an honest claim.

As far as I am concerned Daiken is the bottom of the barrel. I had a unit fail some years ago - same model - but it was out of warranty. I can’t imagine why I bought another. I think it was because the builder talked me into it.

I am in my eighties. I have never experienced anything quite like this.
Pedro

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Even so, it remains the retailers problem according to law. Sometimes the manufacturer steps in to help, sometimes to stonewall, but it is still the retailer who owns a warranty problem.

Have you read how to and written a formal letter of complaint sent to the installer/retailer? If not everything you have done is what I call ‘idle chit chat’ as regards your rights under Australian Consumer Law (linked above in my post of 4 Sep).

Send it to the retailer/installer, cc Daikin HO, and cc Consumer Affairs Victoria all receipted in some way, be it tracked real mail or an automated email receipt or actual response.

Do not take claims from a retailer/installer/manufacturer at face value when you believe they are in the wrong. Read about your rights and make your claims as formally required.

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Indeed a claim via VCAT might be in order as well.

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Back at last with what I hope will be the answer to my problem.
First I don’t know where a 15 year warranty came from. It is a 5 year warranty and the air con. unit failed after 4 years and 9 months.
In that time the technician managed to stall to the extent that the warranty just ran out. I wonder if that was the plan of the company all along.
Some of you are correct when identifying the responsible party in a warranty claim is involved; it is the retailer and in this case it is the technician as he sold the unit and installed it. The remedy is the small claims at the magistrates court.
I’ll keep you informed.
Pedro

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It was in the topic title, perhaps an original typo? I will correct it to 5.

You would be in a better position if you send a letter of complaint if you have not already, and have a formal ‘paper trail’ prior to going to a magistrate, that in most states is going to be the ‘xCAT’ (eg VCAT in Victoria) tribunal.

One needs to be well prepared, with evidence. Be aware xCATs can make determinations but sometimes one needs to take those determinations to a court for enforcement since xCATs often have no enforcement power.

We look forward to reading the next chapter, hoping it is the last and your installer or Daikin has done the right thing.

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