Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Sep 30, 2009 11:35 am Lat week it was windy and our clothelines blew off the wall It is a wall mounted fold out one,and brackets have broken off brick wall, DH checked Hills web site and says they are guaranteed for 10 years, was installed by builder as part of house/land package 11 months ago so we do not have reciept. Rang builder several times who keeps saying he will get back to me (Im getting sick of hanging around ) anyway I rang back again today and now he asks did I have clothes on it at the time it came down. Yes, I did. Oh well, in that case we might not be liable to replace it WTF??? - what does he think I use my clothesline for?? It had one load of clothes hanging on it, not even any large sheets or anything, about every other line in use, I think that would qualify as normal usage And Yes, I often leave clothes on the line when I am not home, eg hang them out in the morning when I go to work and bring in at night, always did this in my old house too and clothesline never blew down. What do you all think? should we just replace it at our own cost or push builder to do so? or try to claim on insurance, but we would still have to pay excess, which I think is $150 Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 2Sep 30, 2009 11:59 am Depending on your Insurer, they may tell you to take it up with your builder; or, you can submit a claim for Storm/Wind Damage and your Insurers can then seek recovery from your builder. I'd try and get the builders to replace it first though (as that will save you your excess!!) as they were the installers. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 3Sep 30, 2009 12:00 pm Implied Warranty (that's the one they can't disclaim) states that a product must be fit for purpose. i.e. hanging washing (or possibly disagreeable builders) on. Obviously this unit is designed to be used, not just as a decorative feature. Hills should be able to tell you what fastening methods are recommended for your type of wall. If you can check these facts against what was actually done then it will be a bit easier to pin the liability down - either on the supplier for providing substandard specs or the installer for not following the specs. MOOO. I will follow this thread with interest. Cheers, Earl Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 4Sep 30, 2009 12:00 pm This happened to me too Helyn, my DH installed it on a very sturdy piece of timber, BOLTED to the fence, AND I only had it half filled AND it wasn't even a very windy day....anyway he bolted it again with mega bolts hopefully it will stay put. Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 5Oct 01, 2009 1:06 am This is an interesting case, you mention that the actual clothesline brackets have broken from the wall? You should post up pics if you have them. If the bracket (of the clothesline) has broken sounds like something the manufacturer (not the builder) should be replacing? On the other hand, if the builder had overtightened the fixings causing the brackets to fail then the builder would be responsible. The problem with this one is of course proving who did what? It's all in the planning Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 6Oct 01, 2009 7:42 am Helyn .......now he asks did I have clothes on it at the time it came down. Yes, I did. Oh well, in that case we might not be liable to replace it WTF??? - what does he think I use my clothesline for?? Some people are idiots. Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 7Oct 01, 2009 9:39 am As it has been said the item needs to be fit for purpose and it is unreasonable that it is failing to do so after such a short time. I would have thought that the issue of the breakage would be that there is either a fault with the line or that the wall was unsuitable. Thus, your builder was responsible for building the wall, having professional knowledge to know if that wall was suitable for the line, supplying and putting the line up (correct?), and you paid him accordingly to do this. As far as I see it, you made a contract with the builder (not the manufacturer), it is up to the builder to sort it out. Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 8Oct 01, 2009 10:23 am DH has corrected me - its not the brackets coming off the wall, its the clothesline piece breaking where it enters the bracket , the elbow piece that enables the line to be put in up or down position. Anyway our Insurance company refuses to touch it as "it is not storm damage, a piece of outdoor equipment should withstand a normal windy day, it a manafacturing issue." Building company maitenance supervisor came around this morning and after some arguing they have agreed to remove line and seek replacement under manufacturers warranty, as they installed line and we paid builder for it as part of our package. They will remove it this afternoon (lets see ) send it back to Hills and then re-install new one when it one arrives from Hills, probably take about a week. Luckily we have 2 clotheslines mounted side by side on back wall so we can still hang clothes up on the other one, will just have to do one load at a time for now, I usually have both clotheslines full. Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 9Oct 01, 2009 1:02 pm Helyn DH has corrected me - its not the brackets coming off the wall, its the clothesline piece breaking where it enters the bracket , the elbow piece that enables the line to be put in up or down position. Anyway our Insurance company refuses to touch it as "it is not storm damage, a piece of outdoor equipment should withstand a normal windy day, it a manafacturing issue." Building company maitenance supervisor came around this morning and after some arguing they have agreed to remove line and seek replacement under manufacturers warranty, as they installed line and we paid builder for it as part of our package. They will remove it this afternoon (lets see ) send it back to Hills and then re-install new one when it one arrives from Hills, probably take about a week. Luckily we have 2 clotheslines mounted side by side on back wall so we can still hang clothes up on the other one, will just have to do one load at a time for now, I usually have both clotheslines full. Ahhhhhhh the brackets on mine did actually come away from the wall, meaning the person who put it there probably didn't use the correct "bits" for it to stay secure.....yours is a manufacturing issue for sure. Mine was a DH issue Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 10Oct 01, 2009 2:32 pm Helyn Building company maitenance supervisor came around this morning and after some arguing they have agreed to remove line and seek replacement under manufacturers warranty, as they installed line and we paid builder for it as part of our package. They will remove it this afternoon (lets see ) send it back to Hills and then re-install new one when it one arrives from Hills, probably take about a week. Glad to hear it is getting resolved for you, although it must be very frustrating to have to deal through a third party to get it done. It probably won't be as high on your maintenance supervisor's priorities as yours - that would drive me nuts! Kylie Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 12Oct 01, 2009 8:21 pm another thing to note in my 'little book of things to remember for later'' Hope you get it sorted out quickly, nothing worse than laundry hanging everywher that it shouldn't be...so annoying. www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 13Oct 01, 2009 9:00 pm Strumer Implied Warranty (that's the one they can't disclaim) states that a product must be fit for purpose. i.e. hanging washing (or possibly disagreeable builders) on. This is what I was thinking when I read what you originally posted - if it is installed as per the manufacturers directions and it fails then as per the Trades Practices Act, it is not fit for purpose and is the responsibility of the manufacturer to replace the item 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 14Oct 03, 2009 7:41 pm Have you tried calling Hills Consumer Advice Centre directly. There is a 1300 number on their website. I have dealt with them before on a warranty issue and they were very helpful. They sent replacement parts quickly and with full installation instructions. I don't remember having to explain why it may have broken. I did from memory have to send a copy of my purchase receipt, but if you explain the situation they may have another solution for you. They gaurantee their products for 10 years (as far as I know) so the model you have would probably be fairly new anyway. If you need to know the name of the part that has broken, see if you can find it first in the spare parts section of their website before you call. I hope things work out for the best. Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 15Oct 04, 2009 8:32 am this should be of interest to you http://www.accc.gov.au/content/item.phtml?itemId=322947&nodeId=3726f80476d39264236239280b6cf713&fn=Warranties%20and%20refunds.pdf especially p15, which backs up my original comment that the contract is with the builder and it is up to the builder to sort it out Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 16Oct 04, 2009 4:06 pm Builder has agreed (after some persuasion) to sort it out and claim on warranty on our behalf. Well, so they said, but they didnt come back to remove clothesline to return to Hills as promised. Have to ring and chase them up about it on Tuesday (Mon being public holiday in SA) Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 17Oct 18, 2009 1:15 pm Just an update on this to let you know what has happened since I last posted 2 weeks ago...... Yes, that's right - absolutely nothing!!!!!!! Came home from holidays and broken clothesline still there where we left it!!!!! Backyard is not locked, easy access, and anyway DS was still here while we were away - no excuses. Will be ringing builder first thing Monday morning and breathing fire down the telephone line!!!!! Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - who should pay? 18Oct 20, 2009 3:20 pm VERY ANGRY!! Rang builder again today, they have now decided it is not their problem, take it up with Hills, goodbye - after 3 weeks wasted when they said they would attend to it !!! DH googled Hills, got their phone no off the web site, rang them, explained we dont have receipt as it was part of a house/land package, Hills very nicely took our word for it and agreed to send free replacement part,it will arrive in the post in few days, DH says he can replace it. If builder wasnt going to follow it up,(even though they are actually responsible since we purchased thru them ) why not tell us this in the first place - we could of had clothesline up and running 3 weeks ago!!! Or, as a gesture of goodwill, seeing as it was so easy, why not ring Hills on our behalf, quote receipt no and get part sent to us, that's all they needed to do - but No,they make empty promises, do nothing and then tell us to ring Hills after we chase it up with them 3 weeks later After sales service?? - not impressed OK - it will cost us nothing as Hills are provideing free replacement part but I am thinking of e-mailing a complaint to Head office about the way this was handled. Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - update: 20/10: not impressed! 19Oct 20, 2009 4:57 pm I don't blame you for being annoyed, Helyn - your contract is with the builder, who's the supplier of the goods from your perspective and they have a legal responsibility to sort it out, the same as if they were a shop you'd bought the item through. I'd be complaining, for sure. Lucky it's getting sorted out at no cost to you though. Re: Clothesline breaks off wall - update: 20/10: not impressed! 20Oct 20, 2009 7:19 pm I agree - very poor service. Definitely send off the letter. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." The unit normally clips into a metal plate screwed to the wall, either plate is not flush, or unit not hooked in and could be hanging from the pipes partly, either might… 2 15791 Thanks for your reply! All valid points and I agree with you on many of them. I am in QLD, any recommendations on a construction lawyer would be helpful 3 2637 I couldn't attached the photo for some reason. Here is the link to the photo https://pin.it/79jwdMp 1 3113 |