I bought a washing machine 8 months ago and now it's started making a strange noise and not draining properly. The store says the 12-month warranty period has passed, but the appliance shouldn't break down this soon. What are my actual rights here?
Don't fall for the idea that the 12-month period has passed - legal warranty is completely different from the warranty offered by the store. You have the right to complain about a product defect for up to 30 days if it's a non-durable good, but since a washing machine is considered a durable good, the timeframe is much longer: you can complain within 90 days counted from when you discovered the defect (not from the purchase). After that, you still have up to 5 years to file a lawsuit if you can prove the problem existed at the time of purchase - so at 8 months you're well within the deadline no problem. Send an email or go to the store in person documenting everything, make it clear that you want the product repaired or replaced due to manufacturing defect, not because the commercial warranty expired.
Log into answer.
