Linkware Renato

Rebranding cheap imports as "Proudly Australian-made"? – Re: Advice regarding faulty kitchen mixer-tap My concern regards “fitness for purpose as well as health and safety” concerns, which have arisen with a kitchen mixer tap that I bought at a local hardware store and had installed by a licensed plumber in May 2013. I bought the mixer tap at the local K&D warehouse prior to having my kitchen remodelled. The new tap replaced two taps which had been in continuous use for more than 25 years. During that time they needed no repairs or maintenance, except for occasional washer replacement.

In contrast, by mid-2015 the shiny nickel coloured coating of the plastic hand piece of the new mixer tap had started to bubble and come off; and the plastic hand piece of the tap assembly became unglued at its internal plastic to plastic joint. That is, the mixer tap was unsightly, broken and dysfunctional after less than only two years of use. I went to K&D, who provided me with a new hand piece, which I screwed into the metal base of the water hose to hand piece joint.

In February 2016 the plastic location ring, which keeps the hand piece in a vertical position whilst connected to the tap broke. A few days later the replacement hand piece broke in the same place, where it had failed on the previous occasion. My wife was running hot water at the time of the glue fracture:

My wife (fortunately) was not scalded.

My wife (fortunately) did not suffer electric shock.

I spoke to K&D as well as emailing the Australian “Manufacturer” of the hand piece. The customer service representative at K&D suggested that I should try and receive a full refund on the mixer tap and have a replacement installed at the “Manufacturer’s” expense by a licensed plumber. I conveyed this as a request to Linkware, a company, which represents itself on its letterhead as “Linkware Australia Pty Ltd, Plumbing and Hardware Manufacturer”. The response was terse and lacking a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience, insensitive to health and safety concerns, which I conveyed in my email. I was provided with a second replacement hand piece, which I may or may not install myself.

My concerns are:

1. There are similar taps on E-bay and DH-gate – manufactured somewhere overseas to none whatsoever standard, sold for less than a third of what I paid for the tap.

2. The replacement tap has no compliance certification

a. Not for import certification into the EU, that is no CE certification.

b. Nor is it referenced to any of the Australian / New Zealand Standards:

I. AS/NZS 2032 – Installation of PVC pipe systems

ii. AS/NZS 3879:2011 Solvent cements and priming fluids for PVC (PVC-U and PVC-M) and ABS and. ASA pipes and fittings

iii. Although providing QA annotation (as advertising), there is neither any reference to the ISO 9000 standard, nor any technical standards certification.

The internal joint of the hand piece is a health and safety hazard, (becoming “unglued” probably with aging and differential thermal contraction and expansion) and is as such more characteristic of a cheap third world import item than a quality item manufactured and certified in Australia to relevant Australian Standards. (The joint, that failed twice had been glued with thick black glue, instead of being jointed with a compound to AS/NZS 3879:2011)

As I do not trust Linkware replacement spouts any longer, I used a high quality jointing compound to re-attach the original replacement spout; however now, just a few months after I repaired it, the spry/jet button does no longer work and the flash-plating of the replacement spout has bubbled up and started to come off.

I would like some advice on my best way to go forward from here.

Regards,

Papa Cool

Linkware stay clear do not buy their products – I have a Linkware Renato mixer. The product comes with a 15 years warranty on the cartridge. After 10 years of use the cartridge started to fail resulting in leaks. I contacted the manager of Linkware Australia to arrange a replacement cartridge but he refused to honour the warranty claim. After sending a complaint to Dept of Fair Trading NSW they investigated my claim and found that Linkware was in breach of the warranty. The manager of Linkware Australia even with the Fair Trading intervention would not send a replacement cartridge. I will never use Linkware products again and I suggest that others to stear clear of their products.

Refused ot honour warranty