Bosch Profeesional Warranty - Or NOT!

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Dodge

Established Member
Joined
15 Oct 2010
Messages
2,634
Reaction score
11
Location
Shelfanger
Well I thought you might be interested in this - I have quite a few Bosch Professional tools - non of which have ever let me down - until last week that is.

2 years ago I bought a 10.8v professional drill/driver at a show and as instructed by the vendor registered the product on line to extend the warranty from 12 months to three years. The warranty was stated as covering the drill and batteries. I was told that as a professional tool should it fail a single phone call would get it collected next day, repaired the following day and re-dispatched to arrive back with me two working days after collection - sounded perfect!

Anyway - last week the gearbox failed so I phoned Bosch and fair enough they advised that FEDEX would collect the next day - guess what - no show! - Phoned Bosch who advised there appeared to have been a clerical error but assured me it would be collected the following working day.

The following day at 5pm still no show - I chased Bosch who said they would look into it - ten minutes later a very flustered and abrupt FEDEX driver arrived to tell me he was getting here and there had been no need to chase him - obviously Bosch had phoned Fedex and they had contacted the driver!

Anyway it was collected last Monday and guess what - to date no sign of my drill being returned - chased them this afternoon and apparently being dispatched today.

I have got to say - i'm not impressed


Rog
 
That`s surprising Roger.

I`ve always had good after sales service from Bosch.

When my 10.8 volt drill driver set on fire, they collected it & i had a new one delivered within a couple of days.

Hope you get it sorted satisfactorily soon.

Cheers.
 
(Not woodworking but the same principle) - I bought a professional hedge trimmer which cost an arm and a leg a few years ago, purely for my own home use and the gearbox fell apart after only a couple of hours light use, a 3 month old machine!

Collected next day after 'phone call then no word for a week until I chased it only to be told I had to pay for the repair as it had been abused (rubbish as it had cut only a Leylandii hedge and was supposed to cut up to 30mm thick branches).

They "kindly" offered to dispose of it FOC or send it back to me in bits for the sum of £40. i was only after several phone calls and a stroppy letter to a senior manager that I was sent a replacement machine "as a gesture of goodwill".

They lost a customer that day as I haven't bought a Bosch product since.
 
Well all I can say is what a bloody joke!

After being told last Thursday that my drill had been repaired and had been dispatched - guess what - no sign of it :x

Spoke to them today - unable to confirm whether/if it has been repaired - whether or not it has actually been received by them and apparently have no knowledge of the reference numbers they gave me!

After many phone calls they have conceded the mother of all f#ck ups at their end and eventually agreed to authorise the dispatch of a new replacement - I'm not holding my breath whether this will actually turn up though.

Watch this space!

Will I be buying Bosch again - I dont think so!!
 
Not quite the same, but.....

I was in Screwfix a few weeks ago. A couple of guys came in with a BOSCH sds hammer drill they had purchased the day before. It was dead after only a few hours work. Screwfix told them they couldn't replace it and it would have to be sent away to BOSCH, and produced some company literature to support this. They could not say how long this would take. The guys didn't argue and just let it go! Unbelievable.

If you buy any power tools from Screwfix I recommend you check their returns policy.

About 10yrs ago I bought a Bosch sds (one of many sds's I have owned) from Marshal & Parsons in Southend. After a few months of moderate use the sds chuck was worn to the point that it damaged the shank of any bits I put in it. They tried to tell me it was wear and tear and so not covered by the warrenty. I stayed calm and explained that it was rated up to 24mm in concrete, but I'd only used it up to (rarely) 16mm. They maintained their stance and things got very heated. They reluctantly agreed to look at it in their own workshop, but on a chargeable basis. I told them in no uncertain terms that I would be back in exactly 1 week to collect it and into which orifice to insert their bill.

I never bought anything from them again.

I think WHERE you buy is just as important as WHAT you buy.

Roy
 
Rojer

Is this not breach of contract ?

Not fit for purpose ?

They sold it to you and they gave the professional guarantee

Remind them of this !!

You purchased the tool because of the PROFESSIONAL WARRANTE

ARRRR :evil:

Things like this make my blood boil :evil: :evil: :evil:
 
doorframe":1dzewxuz said:
Not quite the same, but.....

I was in Screwfix a few weeks ago. A couple of guys came in with a BOSCH sds hammer drill they had purchased the day before. It was dead after only a few hours work. Screwfix told them they couldn't replace it and it would have to be sent away to BOSCH, and produced some company literature to support this. They could not say how long this would take. The guys didn't argue and just let it go! Unbelievable.

If you buy any power tools from Screwfix I recommend you check their returns policy.

Roy

Roy

I am not aware of Screwfix returns policy but I would have thought they should have replaced or refunded the guys as the drill they sold was not fit for its purpose!!

Stew
 
doorframe":277fvuk8 said:
Not quite the same, but.....

I was in Screwfix a few weeks ago. A couple of guys came in with a BOSCH sds hammer drill they had purchased the day before. It was dead after only a few hours work. Screwfix told them they couldn't replace it and it would have to be sent away to BOSCH, and produced some company literature to support this. They could not say how long this would take. The guys didn't argue and just let it go! Unbelievable.

If you buy any power tools from Screwfix I recommend you check their returns policy.
Also check the law - which the company literature described above would be at variance with!
Don't let them fob you off with company policy: the contract of sale is between you and the retailer, not the manufacturer (Sale of Goods Act, 1979). In this scenario, it was up to the retailer to replace what was clearly a faulty item.

Had the two gentlemen looked them in the eye and said "I know the law and I want a replacement" I think their problem would have been resolved very promptly. Failing that, a stiff letter to the MD claiming their rights under SOGA would almost certainly have done the trick.
 
DIY Stew and Sawyer,

Couldn't agree more. I was as shocked as everyone else in the queue that the 2 guys just accepted it with a shrug of their shoulders. I would have been screaming "Replace or refund!"

Roy
 
DIY Stew":1zugr4dj said:
I am not aware of Screwfix returns policy but I would have thought they should have replaced or refunded the guys as the drill they sold was not fit for its purpose!!

Stew
They certainly should. In Screwfix's favour (by my understanding, they are a reputable trader), I doubt very much that their company policy actually does state the unsupportable position in the Bosch SDS scenario. Maybe the staff involved in the incident need reporting to head office?

By the way, no company policy can override the law, even extended warranties and such like. You might get things like 'Because you've taken out the special extra warranty, it needs to be taken up directly with the manufacturer.'
Balderdash :!:
No extra warranty &c. can affect you statutory rights.
 
Sawyer, you obviously have a good understanding of the law regarding the SOGA. What about this one....

Screwfix again.

An 'old boy' had bought a lawn mower (I didn't even know they sold them) before the weekend. The grassbox supplied with it was very obviously wrong. He'd rung them and they said bring it back. He used it over the weekend without the grassbox. No problem. It worked well. He took the grassbox back to Screwfix on the Monday (when I was in there listening to the saga). Screwfix couldn't find the correct grassbox, and said as it was an 'end of line' machine they wouldn't be able to get one. He said that's no problem, he'll exchange / trade it for a better one. Screwfix said that as it's been used and it's working OK they can't take it back under any warrenty. The poor old boy was getting quite aggitated and his wife was getting very upset. He rang somebody (his son, I would guess), who was then on his way to 'sort it out'.

I would have loved to hang around to see the outcome but my order came out and I left.

Roy
 
Hmm, maybe I need to reconsider what I think of Screwfix's reputation!
Working or not, being supplied with the wrong grassbox makes the lawnmower faulty. The motor might work, but the grassbox does not. A second argument could be that the goods have been mis-described: even a picture on a box is a 'description' unless stated otherwise.
Certainly it would have been better not to have used the lawnmower once the defect was spotted, but even so, they can't refuse to replace faulty goods just because they have been used (normally, that's how you discover a fault in the first place!). Even more so as the man wasn't even seeking a refund, just an exchange/trade in. The retailer wouldn't have a leg to stand on. I hope the customer complained to Trading Standards.
 
It is one thing to use something and finding out it doesn't work as intended and something wholly different to use it to do a job and then try and get your money back. WRT the lawnmower, it would have been blatantly obvious that the grassbox was incorrect, the old boy didn't need to mow his lawn to find that out.

Mowing the lawn and then taking it back is taking the p!ss. Whereas if it ran for 20 secs and then cut out and wouldn't start for 30 mins is something else & I would expect a refund for that.

Dibs
 
Dibs-h":2gx9wynk said:
It is one thing to use something and finding out it doesn't work as intended and something wholly different to use it to do a job and then try and get your money back. WRT the lawnmower, it would have been blatantly obvious that the grassbox was incorrect, the old boy didn't need to mow his lawn to find that out.

Mowing the lawn and then taking it back is taking the p!ss. Whereas if it ran for 20 secs and then cut out and wouldn't start for 30 mins is something else & I would expect a refund for that.

Dibs
But the chap probably thought he was bringing it back to return the incorrect grassbox and swap it for the right one and wasn't even asking for a cash refund. I bet when he rang then, they didn't say 'But it's an end of line - impossible to obtain the proper part.'
Incorrect component = faulty lawnmower, so the customer is entitled to a remedy.
I would expect better from a large and well-known company.
 
Going back to the original topic :D , I wonder if it's significant that the Bosch professional SDS drill I bought secondhand for a fiver some 10 years still works fine after quite a lot of abuse? That is, have Bosch done the usual accountant-sponsored trick of paring specifications to keep up the profits.
(Hope not - I've just bought an 18V Bosch battery drill)
 
Well the promised replacement didnt arrive today as advised - am I surprised :x :x

Will give it till the weekend and then I'm afraid the gloves will be coming off!
 
I have owned quite a few Bosch tools over the years. Green and blue. All bought 2nd hand except the new sds, which is the only one that gave me any grief. Compared to my bargain-basement cheapo tools I've found Bosch to be quite a decent brand. It would be a shame if their service department let them down. Manufacturers and retail outlets regularly get discussed on forums such as this, and you would think they are aware of that fact and would try to impress with their service.

Roy
 
dickm":d8miryqh said:
Going back to the original topic :D , I wonder if it's significant that the Bosch professional SDS drill I bought secondhand for a fiver some 10 years still works fine after quite a lot of abuse? That is, have Bosch done the usual accountant-sponsored trick of paring specifications to keep up the profits.
(Hope not - I've just bought an 18V Bosch battery drill)
So do I - just bought their biscuit jointer!
 
Well I wasnt at the workshop yesterday as I was delivering furniture - and had told Bosch there would be nobody at my premises to sign for a delivery yesterday.

Guess what - got there this morning and a note through the door from Fedex who tried to deliver yesterday ! :x :x :x

Anyway called Fedex and they re-delivered this afternoon - Bosch have sent me a new replacement for the drill they lost - so at least I have my drill back in a way but the service they have offered has been absolutely atrocious

So - if you are thinking of buying Bosch - just beware, if you need to rely on the guarantee expect alot of hassle!!
 
Back
Top