Can I ask for a replacement instead of repair for my Deebot robot vacuum?

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Hi. I have a Deebot X1 Omni which is still under warranty.

It has stopped working and I have contacted the company - Ecovacs and they have asked me to send the robot for repair.

My question is: can I ask for a replacement instead of a repair? My concern is that if they repair it and the same issue is caused again and this time if the machine is not under warranty, then I might have to fork out money to get another machine. I would have been ok with a repair if they were to give the same warranty of 2.5 years but I don’t believe they will do this.

What are my rights as a consumer?
Thanks.

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Welcome to the Community @KK80

See

and

Re the above references your post implies it is a minor failure since it is a) under manufacturer warranty and b) can be repaired to focus you on the relevant clauses. ‘What if’ scenarios are not germane to your rights.

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They won’t do this with a replacement. The replacement product warranty is the date of the original purchase, not of the day that a replacement is given. If the vacuum has a major fault, you can ask for a replacement but the manufacturer warranty and consumer rights under the Australian Consumer Law still start from the original date that you purchased the vacuum.

No, because it isn’t know if the fault is minor or major - or the fault sits outside the warranty/ACL (such as it has been damaged by its use).

A business can rightfully ask for the vacuum to be returned and inspected to determine if it is a warranty/ACL issue or something they are not responsible for. However, a business can’t take an unreasonable time to assess and repair a product.

If the fault is warranty/ACL issue, Ecovacs are responsible for any costs associated with its return (such as freight, courier or postage) - which with Ecovacs before sending to what returning method they will reimburse should it is a claim under warranty/ACL. If the fault is through user damage, then you will be responsible for the cost of its return.

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Thank you for all the responses.

What would be a “reasonable” time period for them to assess and repair/replace?

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It is very much ‘how long is a piece of string’.

But, for a vacuum, with freight to and from as well as repair, one may think that a couple of weeks (no more than a month) would be reasonable.

If you take it to (drop it off at) a service agent that they nominate, possibly up to 2-3 weeks would be reasonable.

One has to allow time for the service agent to inspect, arrange parts (if it can be repaired) and repaired. This could take 5-10 business days).

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Sorry, haven’t heard a warranty called ‘express’ before. I think the ACCC only mentions voluntary or extended?

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2 weeks without my robot vacuum :exploding_head:
That does not seem reasonable :joy: :laughing:

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Actually, from the Trade Practices Act as summarised by the ACCC there are only two types of warranties: Voluntary and Extended.

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At present warranties are called Voluntary, and those we pay extra for are called Extended.
It’s best not to confuse people.

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The ACCC publications somewhat muddy the waters regarding how warranties may be described. There are various terms used including ‘express’ and ‘voluntary’. The document from 2009 on the ACCC site is linked here to show the way it has been described.

Starting at page 17 the document describes “Voluntary warranties”

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So an express warranty is actually just another way of describing a voluntary warranty.

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Another question - is it reasonable for Ecovacs to expect me to package up the machine and send it. They have provided shipping labels but expect that I package up the robot (which is fine) and the Auto Empty Station. The issue is that the Auto Empty Station is huge and there isn’t a reasonable size box that will fit it. And I am expected to this at my own cost. I have never heard of anything like this especially when the machine is under warranty.

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Simple answer is yes, if the items are small and can readily be handled by a consumer. A robot vacuum and empty station wouldn’t be considered unreasonably large. A fridge, washing machine, massive TV, standing cooker and oven etc would be considered too large for a consumer to readily handle.

Try the local fruit and vege grocer, supermarket or appliance retailers. They are often happy to give away boxes. They will also have a range of box sizes, which will be big enough.

Make sure the vacuum bits have packing materials around them to secure them during transit. Such as scrunched up paper, bubble wrap etc.

It is important this is done so it isn’t damaged through transit. If it is, they might not honour a manufacturer’s voluntary warranty or the ACL consumer guarantees as they may say the damage is not repairable due to your poor packing.

Also take photos of the items during packing showing they have been packed securely. This is unlikely to be needed, but, if it is, you will be pleased you kept a record.

It is common. Neither the manufacturer/retailer or yourself knows whether

Until such time it is known, most business will do their best to try and work with a consumer to get an outcome. This means there is a bit or give and take - something with needs to be accepted.

If the fault falls under the manufacturer’s voluntary warranty or the ACL consumer guarantees, it is fully their responsibility to resolve once this is known.

If it falls outside the manufacturer’s voluntary warranty or the ACL consumer guarantees, it will be up to you to decide what to do. As Ecovac has paid for freight to a service agent, they could rightly chose to ask you to reimburse them reasonable freight costs in such circumstances.

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Thank you for being so detailed in your reply
 :slight_smile:
Much appreciated.

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I have another question - there is a possibility they might provide me with a refurbished machine. However, I do not feel comfortable with the thought of a refurbished unit unless it comes with the full original warranty.

Can I refuse the offer and insist on a new machine?

What happens if the refurbished unit breaks down after the short warranty period they offer?

Thanks.

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For a minor fault they have the choice of repair, replace, or refund. They can use refurbished equipment to complete the repair or replacement. They must give a notice that they may intend to use refurbished parts or replacements, this notice must be provided before the business accepts the goods for repair or replacement.

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You have only said your vac doesn’t work, we can only provide you with information about your rights regarding the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and we don’t know whether the fault is major or minor. If your vac instead of having a minor fault has a major fault then you have the right to determine the options from repair, replacement, or refund, regardless of what their warranty provides or they offer. Even in the case in a major fault situation and you choose repair or replacement, refurbished parts may be used. Just because a part or replacement is refurbished does not mean it is inferior in quality to a new one, and the use of perfectly good refurbished parts is allowed by the ACL.

Warranty may have a fixed time limit, ACL rights are not limited in the same way. If it is a fault covered by your ACL rights, coverage may extend for a lot longer than a warranty, an example is Takata airbags in cars. So, if your unit has a failure again due to a fault that is covered by your ACL rights, you have the right to seek the remedy provided by the ACL even if the warranty has long ago expired. As well as this, more expensive units and units with claims of higher quality and excellence are expected to last longer and so have longer coverage under ACL rights than those that are cheap or are considered standard for the type of product.

In case you are not aware the ACL provides some rules around what helps define major and minor faults. I have included the Major fault rules here from Repair, replace, refund, cancel | ACCC

Major problem with a product

What makes a product problem major

A major problem means the product:

  • is unsafe
  • is very different from the description or sample
  • has either one serious problem or several smaller problems that would stop someone buying the product if they knew about them beforehand
  • can’t be used for its normal purpose, or another purpose the consumer told the seller about before they bought it, and can’t easily be fixed within a reasonable time.

For examples of major problems with a product, read our guides for consumers and for business and legal practitioners.

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So the issue with my machine is that it does not vacuum/mop my house. Basically, when I turn it on, it seems like it is about to start cleaning but then returns back to the dock in less than a minute without cleaning.

Based on what you have said, would I be right to assume that my machine has a major fault?

I am confused where you have said:

If your vac instead of having a minor fault has a major fault then you have the right to determine the options from repair, replacement, or refund, regardless of what their warranty provides or they offer. Even in the case in a major fault situation and you choose repair or replacement, refurbished parts may be used.

Does that mean in the case of a major fault, I can refuse a repair or refurbished machine? And insist for a new one?

Sorry in advance for any dumb/ignorant questions


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In the case of a major fault you can choose a refund instead of a repair or a replacement. If the business advises by a notice before they accept the machine for repair that they will instead supply a refurbished machine or use refurbished parts, then they can do so. I cannot say if this applies when it is the option of a replacement but it may be so. In the information provided by the ACCC about replacement it only states that the replacement has to be of an identical type. If no suitable replacement exists then it is a choice of the consumer for repair or refund.

I am not a legal expert when it comes to the fine detail of interpretation of the ACL. Some questions are best answered by legal experts in Consumer Law, that type of response is not available here. They as experts may be able to give you a better idea if it is a major fault, in my consumer opinion it would be a major fault to me though as it does not do what I expect it to do and would not have purchased it if I had known it was going to fail that way, particularly as they seem to have accepted that it is their issue to repair. Of course they may be inspecting it to determine if it is a fault they are responsible for.

There are free Community Legal centres in every State and Territory that can help provide support and advice in the finer detail. We do provide a listing here on this site of some of them.

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Thank you so much :slight_smile:

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No, it could be as simple as a fuse blown or a lose connection, both which are minor faults and can easily be repaired. It is not known whether it is minor or major, and this can’t really be determined unless it is inspected to assess the cause of the fault. Being a small appliance, it is likely to be a minor fault rather than a major fault, as components can easily be replaced/repaired.

It should be ignored that it could also be due to something outside the warranty/consumer rights. Things like power surge/lightning strike or it falling down some stairs (dropping it) which may cause it to no longer work would fit this category.

Edit:

But what may also be seen as a minor fault could also be a major fault. An example being a device which has a welded enclosure, where by it can’t be repaired. It is unlikely to be the case for your robot vacuum, but can occur with some small devices. In such case, the device can’t be repaired and the fault would be considered major.

This is why it is impossible to determine whether a fault in minor or major (or sits outside the warranty/consumer rights).

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A post was merged into an existing topic: ACL - Does it work for consumers?