Legal Position on Spares
Manufacturers or distributors have no legal responsibility to supply spares within a given time frame.
There is no guarantee of spares availability or any guarantee on how quickly spares have to be provided within or outside of warranty
Functional Parts
Any mechanical or electro-mechanical parts essential for operation.
Cosmetic Parts
Plastics, handles, and decorative items are not essential for core operation.
Where a cosmetic spare part fails that there is a potential safety concern (wiring or electrical components left accessible, danger of injury from cuts etc.) it can be the case that an appliance is effectively written off due to the non-availability of such a part if the conditions would present any danger.
Spare Part Supplies In The UK
As spare parts for domestic appliances are considered to be of very low value and, as such, are generally shipped in bulk to minimise costs to consumers, manufacturers and distributors. It is rare that a single spare part is shipped this is due to the low value of the products in general and the high cost of shipping small spare parts to repair these low value items.
This means that part orders are generally made up from the requirement to fulfill multiple jobs on one spare part order. Where this is a manufacturer or distributor order there may be several hundred or, even thousands, of spare parts on a single shipment.
In general most appliance manufacturers or spare part distribution companies do not provide tracking information for single items. They may, in some instances, provide tracking information for a particular order but information of what has been shipped may not be available.
Due to this precise delivery times are very often extremely difficult to provide other than, in some cases, a very approximate estimation of when any particular spare will be delivered, even when the part is available from UK held stock.
Spare Part Delivery Times
Generally accepted industry standards for lead times based on origin and order type:
| Location / Source | Distributor Order | Factory Order |
|---|---|---|
| UK Held Stock | 1 - 5 Working Days | 2 - 10 Working Days |
| EU Held Stock | 5 - 30 Working Days | 4 - 20 Working Days |
| Non-EU Stock | 10 - 120 Working Days | 10 - 120 Working Days |
WTA Members
WTA members will generally trade well within the accepted industry standards however they can be constrained by the manufacturer or distributor's availability for spare parts.
Once the appliance is outside of any warranty WTA members are free, where possible, to use any supplier or means of obtaining spare parts that they can allowing them much more freedom which can make service faster.
WTA members are expected to inform you of any possible delays to the delivery of spare parts and to offer you an indication of lead times wherever possible.
How Can The Trade Association Help?
We can investigate a lengthy lead time but the trade association cannot force a manufacturer to supply a spare part any faster than they have already advised.
Warranty Advice Enquiry:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Unfortunately, we can only offer advice and assistance if your repairer is a WTA member due to the Code Of Practice they adhere to.
