Passing the Buck.

Product: Karcher Wet and Dry Vacuum Cleaner WD3

I bought a Karcher Vacuum Cleaner from Makro Cape Gate in May 2017. From the first time we used it, it was as if the motor ran at very high revs and it made a very loud very high pitched sound. At first I didn't worry about it, because we’ve never had a Karcher vacuum cleaner before and we only used it every second week to suck the dust from the tiles. It was only after the neighbours on top, start to complain about the noise and a friend of ours came to visit while we were cleaning, said that there must be something wrong with the vacuum cleaner as it is very unnatural for the motor to run at the noise level it does. I returned the vacuum cleaner to Makro Cape Gate at the beginning of February, who send it to ITS Cape Town who is apparently the agents for Karcher in Cape Town, to repair.

The store came back to me 8 days later and informed me that Karcher can’t repair the vacuum cleaner under its warranty as the fault was as a result of negligence on our side. Apparently they found fabric in the vacuum cleaner and some parts were missing and the cost to repair the vacuum cleaner would be R1 700.00. The cost of new one is R1 200.00, while I paid R999.00 for this item. I requested that the unit must be returned to me, with the proof of the fabric, as well as a full assessment report.

On 27/02 I received a SMS that my product is ready for collection. When I collected it, there was no proof of the fabric found or an assessment report. After complaining I received a very unclear picture of what looks like rope stuck in the motor and a meaningless report stating the same as above. Reference WK025258

I'm not happy with the findings of the investigation, as I know we never used the vacuum cleaner to clean any type of fabric. We used it in a coffee shop after all. I'm unhappy because I feel like the two companies involved, Makro and ITS aka Kärcher Cape Town keep on passing the buck and in the meantime I'm the one that draw the shortest straw.

All I'm asking is that Makro either replace the item, or ITS repair the product at no cost to me.