Did you pay to have your old appliance taken away?

[MotCO]

I'll probably be buying a new fridge shortly, and the on-line companies charge for taking away your old appliance. I thought, rightly or wrongly, that the new supplier had a legal obligation to take the old appliance away, and presumably should not charge for this service.

My question is have you ever not paid the removal charge but the company still took the old appliance away? Were there any problems?

 

[DelW]

I bought a new washing machine from a local electrical retailer a couple of years ago, and I think there was a supplementary charge for (a) disconnecting and removing the old machine, and (b) installing and connecting the new one. I think the two together added up to about £50, which I thought was reasonable, it took two guys the best part of an hour plus their travelling time and any disposal fee. (My kitchen door is unusually narrow, which meant taking the door off the new machine then refitting it once through).
I suspect if I hadn't paid (a), they might have disconnected it, but they'd have left it in my kitchen - and the old one had a heavy ballast weight.

 

[Ostrich]

Yep, as Del W. New washing machine installed about 3 weeks ago, supplied by local Euronics dealer - it was £45 for removal of the old appliance and installation of the new. During lockdown, mind you, they were not offering any removal / installation service and only reinstated it when lockdown ended; some suppliers could well still not be offering it at the moment.
I can't personally recall any past instance where I've replaced an appliance and the old one was removed for free.

 

[DerekC]

John Lewis removed our old washing machine for free - but it was a special offer.

 

[GB]

I'll probably be buying a new fridge shortly, and the on-line companies charge for taking away your old appliance. I thought, rightly or wrongly, that the new supplier had a legal obligation to take the old appliance away, and presumably should not charge for this service.

My question is have you ever not paid the removal charge but the company still took the old appliance away? Were there any problems?

Companies have no legal obligation to take away your old appliances. Where they do take them away as part of a service they are obligated to dispose of them correctly at dedicated recycling centers. All consumers are also required to pay the WEEE charge ( waste electrical and electronic equipment ) though that maybe included in the service price or paid by the company as a special offer.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They are required to arrange disposal (though there's a "get out" of them having some sort of arrangement with Councils for it to go to the tip) but not to pay for disconnection and collection. TBH, I think they should be so required, i.e. be required to include it in the price, as it would considerably reduce fly tipping.

 

[talltim]

I replaced our washing machine recently. I took the old one apart for spares for the new one, kept the drum for a a fire pit and gave the metal shell to a passing scrap man. The concrete weight went in the bin
Cost? Hour of my time minus a fire pit which seem to sell for £20ish

 

[beeza1]

I used my local councils "large item disposal" service, booked and paid for online to remove my old freezer, cost £20, I had to leave it outside my property to be collected "within the next 3 weeks", came home after a few days and it had gone, whether it was the council who collected it or the "scratters" I'm not sure.
A neighbour had paid for a washing machine to be removed and that was definitely taken by the "scratters", I actually saw them, fair play though they did ask first.

 

[Essan]

I get my removed for free, but only because I am friends with the owner of the local appliance shop whom I use - they would normally charge. They in turn then have to pay an authorised scrap merchant to remove old appliances from their premises each week.

 

[John Hunt]

I used my local councils "large item disposal" service, booked and paid for online to remove my old freezer, cost £20, I had to leave it outside my property to be collected "within the next 3 weeks", came home after a few days and it had gone, whether it was the council who collected it or the "scratters" I'm not sure.
A neighbour had paid for a washing machine to be removed and that was definitely taken by the "scratters", I actually saw them, fair play though they did ask first.

I have done the same. The difference here in Leicester is that the council made no charge and specified a more narrow time window. They also asked that it should be left out on the collection day, not before. That was pre-Covid.

 

[birchesgreen]

Around where i live people just seem to dump their appliances by the side of the road and let the scrap dealers do the rest. Sometimes this is remarkably quick, i remember a neighbour put an old washing machine out and it was gone in less than half an hour!

 

[hexagon789]

I have done the same. The difference here in Leicester is that the council made no charge and specified a more narrow time window. They also asked that it should be left out on the collection day, not before. That was pre-Covid.

Council cleansing dept here in Glasgow the same with hours - no charge but they didn't give a time slot simply a day.

 

[LowLevel]

I live opposite a family of travellers. Anything metal you want removing you just leave outside and they wait a polite period of time (say overnight if it's at the top of the garden possibly awaiting collection) or if you're around ask the question, and make it disappear. Apart from the huge number of vehicles they have lying around the place they're actually pretty good neighbours and the local druggies certainly don't cause any bother on our road.

 

[Tom B]

You could put it on freecycle - if it works, somebody might be interested in it if theirs has packed up and they don't have the money for a new one - or if it's broken an enthusiastic tinkerer might be interested, or someone who wants to take it apart for fun. Or, as said above, some segments of the community can make scrap metal disappear very quickly.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I replaced our washing machine recently. I took the old one apart for spares for the new one, kept the drum for a a fire pit and gave the metal shell to a passing scrap man. The concrete weight went in the bin
Cost? Hour of my time minus a fire pit which seem to sell for £20ish

Most impressive. A bit unsure about the lump of concrete in the bin though.

I recently arranged a new fridge for an elderly family member. Had to pay for delivery if you wanted it quick (otherwise free), optional charge for installation (paid but unhappy with service received), optional charge for removal of the old appliance (paid for).

I have had free collection of items in the past - for fridge/freezers and washing machines - the only stipulation being disconnection and defrosting / ensuring all water removed respectively.

My own recent freezer, I kept the old one as a 'spare' or 'backup'. Useful in case some form of pandemic rips through the country and you need to stockpile!

 

[ComUtoR]

Around where i live people just seem to dump their appliances by the side of the road and let the scrap dealers do the rest. Sometimes this is remarkably quick, i remember a neighbour put an old washing machine out and it was gone in less than half an hour!

I've done that for the past couple of appliance replacements. I leave it in the front (not in the street) with a note saying 'Free' or 'help yourself' its generally gone within 2 days. My last item was a kids play table. My neighbour knocked on my door and asked if they could take it. Awesome play table, glad to give to away for free.

 

[dgl]

I've had a washing machine, tumble dryer and cooker collected for free by a local scrappie though fridges have always been a paid for service due to the need to safely recover the refrigerant.

I suppose given most white goods are mainly all metal they are worth at least something as scrap, esp. once you include any copper content (i.e. wires).

 

[Puffing Devil]

I've had a washing machine, tumble dryer and cooker collected for free by a local scrappie though fridges have always been a paid for service due to the need to safely recover the refrigerant.

I suppose given most white goods are mainly all metal they are worth at least something as scrap, esp. once you include any copper content (i.e. wires).

Same here - they can't take fridges unfortunately.

 

[SiggysigAah]

I took the drum out of the washing machine and made a small fire pit. Removed the old machine and fitted the new one myself. Left the old one outside the gates on the drive and it was gone in less than 12 hours.

 

[Iskra]

Had to get a new washing machine about 4 weeks ago, paid £20 for them to take the old one away. Due to Covid they wouldn't come in the house (fair enough) so I had to put the old one outside the front door and connect the new one. This was Curry's.

However, the first washing machine they delivered had a smashed-in digital display, but they replaced it the next day.

 

[dgl]

Had to get a new washing machine about 4 weeks ago, paid £20 for them to take the old one away. Due to Covid they wouldn't come in the house (fair enough) so I had to put the old one outside the front door and connect the new one. This was Curry's.

However, the first washing machine they delivered had a smashed-in digital display, but they replaced it the next day.

Curry's supplied our latest Haier washing machine with a CEE 7/7 plug, I just replaced the plug with the correct BS1363 one.
Thinking back I should have complained just so they were aware of it and knew to supply the correct power connections adaptor with them.

 

[CrispyUK]

The last appliance I had delivered was a couple of years ago, new dishwasher purchased via SmartCare Rewards and their collection of the old appliance was included free of charge at the time, it looks like they now apply a charge for this (as the likes of ao.com were doing already 2 years ago).

Whilst leaving an old appliance out for anyone passing to collect is an easy option and usually takes it off your hands, you don’t know how responsibly it is being disposed of, it could be done properly, or they could be stripping of anything of value and dumping what’s left in a lay-by/quiet country lane.

 

[High Dyke]

I got rid of the old boiler a number of years ago. It cost me £16,500 - still at least I kept the house.

In the past I've looked for firms doing an all-in fitting and disposal of old item price, though these can vary from firm to firm. On the downside of this is when you pay for an item to be installed and the firm couldn't complete the contract. Had that many years ago with a gas cooker from Comet. They couldn't complete the fitting due to the layout of my kitchen. In fairness, when we complained that we had a paid for a service they hadn't provided Comet did refund all of the delivery and installation charge, and I got a local gas fitter to complete the installation for a slightly cheaper cost.

 

[Lucan]

The concrete weight went in the bin

I bet your dustmen love you. If I did that I don't think they would ever call again.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I got rid of the old boiler a number of years ago. It cost me £16,500 - still at least I kept the house.

What on earth sort of specialist boiler have you got that it costs that much to get it replaced? Unless you're living in a castle or something, you would get change out of that sum for a completely new central heating installation from scratch. Boiler replacements generally run around the 5 grand mark at most (mine was about 3K).

 

[LowLevel]

What on earth sort of specialist boiler have you got that it costs that much to get it replaced? Unless you're living in a castle or something, you would get change out of that sum for a completely new central heating installation from scratch. Boiler replacements generally run around the 5 grand mark at most (mine was about 3K).

I suspect you should consider an alternative meaning for old boiler

 

[Bletchleyite]

Curry's supplied our latest Haier washing machine with a CEE 7/7 plug, I just replaced the plug with the correct BS1363 one.
Thinking back I should have complained just so they were aware of it and knew to supply the correct power connections adaptor with them.

They're actually breaking the law doing that. It's not unusual for an appliance to have a flat Europlug and then they clip it into a UK adaptor which gives you a regular 13A plug with fuse, but a CE 7/7 (i.e. the big round one) wouldn't be legal to supply for UK use in any form.

I suspect you should consider an alternative meaning for old boiler

Sorry, being slow, I get it now

 

[nlogax]

Looking at replacing both my fridge freezer and washing machine in coming months, they still work fine but I've been looking to donate them to British Heart Foundation as they've been great before when I've donated furniture. BHF have certain restrictions on what they can and can't accept but I would really recommend them - and it helps with your taxes.

It's either that or I pay Currys or John Lewis to take away the old appliances after the new ones are fitted.

 

[83A]

Take the appliance out the front of your house

Put “For Sale £50” on it.

Will be gone in the morning

 

[dgl]

They're actually breaking the law doing that. It's not unusual for an appliance to have a flat Europlug and then they clip it into a UK adaptor which gives you a regular 13A plug with fuse, but a CE 7/7 (i.e. the big round one) wouldn't be legal to supply for UK use in any form.

Yes I know it wasn't right but I had a brand new plug spare and can wire plugs to a high standard (even using ferrules, lovely).
When I buy stuff from the worlds largest musical instrument supplier, Thomann. who are based in a village in Germany and as such their products are designed for German/French style sockets they always either supply the correct Power Connections adaptor or a replacement IEC/Cloverleaf/Figure 8 lead (the reviews of said cables being quite humorous!), so if they can do it a UK company should.