Q: Four months ago my parents bought a new washing machine. After a few days, my mother noticed the machine was draining away water while washing and giving her an error sign on its screen. Since the machine did not do this with every wash, my mother switched programmes until it worked properly.

Consequently, it wasted a lot of water and electricity as it took a lot of time to finish a programme. When the error sign was appearing more often, she called the supplier and was told that a pump needs to be installed as there wasn’t enough water pressure.

The seller did not even send a technician to confirm this was the problem. Furthermore, my parents were never told before they bought the machine that they needed a water pump for the washing machine to work well. What rights do they have?

A: Before your parents bought the washing machine, they should have been clearly informed by the seller that the machine required a pump to function properly. If the seller did not provide this information and your parents do not want to incur the additional expense of a water pump, then they may argue that it does not conform to the contract of sale and may request a remedy. In this particular case, you may request a replacement of the machine with another model that does not need a pump to work properly, or if such a solution is not possible, your parents may opt to cancel the sale and claim a refund.