An interesting post appeared on our Facebook page this week, written by Bags Mort, who’s asking us all for input on a problem he’s having with rusty shower controls. In it, he says:

“I am currently having an issue with a supplier under the Sale of Goods Act regarding shower controls provided three years ago. It would appear that the controls are rusting externally, and the supplier is now arguing about durability and the reasonable amount of time a person should expect shower controls to last.

“Can anyone give me any industry guidance on how long a consumer should expect shower controls to last before they might reasonably expect this type of corrosion, given that shower controls by their very nature will be subject to heat and moisture for prolonged periods of time?

“The company is asking for expert/industry standards to determine reasonable time against durability etc. before they will help in any way, and in the meantime I am stuck with a shower that is constantly continuing to corrode.

“All help/comment appreciated!”

I mentioned to John Austen that I was incredulous that a supplier felt it was ok for a shower control to go rusty. I agree with Bags that anything that’s destined to spend its life in a damp and steamy bathroom and be constantly doused in water, shouldn’t really change too much in appearance – unless of course you’re a human being who’s spent too long in the bath & ended up looking lobster-like and with wrinkled fingers!

John’s response was that his showerhead – even newer than Bags’s – had gone the same way, (rusty, not wrinkled!) but I got the impression that he was resigned to the fact that it had rusted, because he’d bought it over the Internet.

So what’s the answer to this one please?

Do we come from such a throwaway society that we shouldn’t be bothered that bathroom fittings are rusting while still fairly new? Or is it that there are so many fabulous designs being launched that the manufacturers expect to be able to tempt us to replace our old fittings after a couple of years, and therefore don’t build them to last? Or have Bags and John fallen foul of some products that are just not fit for purpose?

Your input – as Bags said – will be most appreciated; not just for his dispute, but for my own knowledge.

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Yours,

Jan Hobbs