I am curious to know if anyone has any experience of Dualit Toasters. We have just had a very expensive one die after about 18 months. Apparently some are hand made in UK (even more expensive) and some are made in China in huge appliance factory (as ours was). It cost $135 on sale, so I would expect it to last longer.
I wound up talking to the Australian rep for Dualit, who assured me that my toaster was a rarity. (not lasting for a long time) (even thought warranty on these things is a year) I know of one other case (via a consumer review on a retail website) of our model dying too early, in exactly the same way, and I would like to know if there are others. Since we could have spent much less for a toaster that would last only 18 months and still wind up in landfill.
Drives me nuts. I am very happy to pay a lot more for quality. Why is it so hard to find good quality?
This is good information to know and provides you with the necessary grounds to request a repair, replacement or possibly a refund under the Australian Consumer Guarantee.
These guarantees apply irrespective of manufacturer warranty:
I would be formally writing to them saying that toaster should have lasted longer, its failure was a ‘rarity’ and you are seeking a repair, replacement or refund under the ACL, as a reasonable person (including the Australian rep) would expect the toaster to last longer.
Do you mean Dualit or ACCC? I have been in contact with Dualit, the Dualit Australian rep and David Jones who sold us the product. With no luck, I emailed all parties and spoke to the Australian rep on the phone as well. I did quote the reasonable person angle and wondered around why I would have spent such a large amount of money for something that would last such a short time.
Yes the Choice review is interesting, although that was from a long while ago. What vexes me about Choice (especially in the past) is that they have not paid much attention to what the items are made of and how long they can be expected to last before they die.
Compose a formal ‘Letter of Complaint’ per the ACCC directions and give it to the DJ manager and be sure to have it receipted/verified in some manner s/he received it. CC’ing Dual It would not hurt.
Anything less than the formality of a ‘Letter of Complaint’ written as if you are a silk in front of a magistrate and the magistrate (ie the manager in this case) knows nothing about anything (including your rights, claims of quality, reasonable minimum lifetime and why you claim that, and so on) so you need to explain it to him, is but ‘idle chit chat’ as I call it. The ‘Letter of Complaint’ and their response or non-response can be used as evidence should you chose to go to your consumer affairs agency; conversations and what amount to ‘random’ emails, not so much.
We have had our Dualit 3 slice toaster since our wedding 24 years ago. Its built like a tank and everything is manual, you insert the bread, lower it via a handle, turn the timer and when its done you raise the bread via the handle again. It looks super retro cool and every part is replaceable. So far we’ve replaced 3 elements and the timer, so not bad going considering the age. The toasting is very even due to the density of the elements. Our toaster was made in England, but was unaware that they’d moved production to China. That shouldn’t mean a reduction in quality so I’d be demanding replacement or repair and not accepting a fob-off. BTW, a 12 month warranty is meaningless, ACCC requires that appliances work properly for a reasonable period of time, which for a toaster should be more like 5 years.
I’ve repaired several Dualit toaster myself over the years. Parts are readily available and are screwed or bolted together so you can DYI. All English - I thought all Dualits were English.
We sold them and went cheap - Dualits don’t toast all that well - many on Amazon agree.
You may be interested - when the dust settles - in BuyMeOnce - English Dualits and other long lasting products.
On further investigation, the Dualit Claasic range is made in China. Hopefully the price reflects any difference in quality.
Well that’s the thing. The price of the China made range is still around $140 for a double slice toaster. Significantly more than you would expect to pay for a toaster that dies in 18 months! I am told that they are impossible to repair at all. They aren’t screwed together and repairable like the English made range.
Here in NZ the English Dualit 2 slice is $499 while the Cheaper Version is $300. Yes, $300 is a lot to spend, but it is also a lot less than the English one. I guess the clue was in the price. And the repair guy here also said he has no trouble with the Cheaper Version. Neither of those prices makes much sense to me these days when compared to other toasters that , in my opinion , do a better job of toasting.
Going cheap these days seems to mean you run a greater risk of getting a dud. Some you win , some you lose. Good luck with your future battles.
