how do i find I.F.H.S. customer service or web site?

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 16 Apr 2007, 16:07

I baught spheres for my xantia 6 months ago and now they are no good.
on the original packing (I.F.H.S. Brand) there s a number 2 mark - i assume it means there is a 2 year garantee on the spheres.
The guy i baught it from says there is only 3 months garantee.
how do i find a document that says they have that 2 year garantee or their customer service? (is there a web site?)

Thank you,
Elad.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 16 Apr 2007, 16:41

The 2 could mean anything, you're assuming it means number of years warranty.
Are they new units or re-gassed ones?
Where did you buy them from?
From what I've read regarding warranties, they are worthless in law, it's just an assurance from the seller that they will exchange them without trouble within the warrenty period.
Legally you should be able to expect a reasonable amount of use/time out of anything you purchase new.
So if you bought a widget and the shop gave you a 1 month warranty, but most other shops gave 2 years, you could use that to get a replacement/repair if your widget failed after 6 months.
Would probably mean the small claims court or trading standards etc.

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 16 Apr 2007, 18:49

or at least they were supposed to be new, and they came in their original box of I.F.H.S., the number has a black circle around it.
I bought it from a shop and not from cit. dealer.

Well, tomorrow i wil try to go back there with the original box (i am lucky i saved it..) and we'll see what happens.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 16 Apr 2007, 18:52

Look on google for the sale of goods act and consumer rights acts so you can go armed

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 16 Apr 2007, 19:20

The following is a direct copy from the I.F.H.S. catalogue;

WARRANTY CONDITIONS
I.F.H.S. guarantees that the new spheres are free of defects caused by manufacturing, design
and/or material faults for a period of 2 years from the purchase date.
This warranty does not cover wear due to normal use (such as the gradual decrease in the
pre-charge pressure), nor defects caused by incorrect assembly or an accident.
The warranty provided by I.F.H.S. only extends to the replacement of the defective sphere with
a new sphere.

Here's a link to their catalogue http://www.dworzak.at/Kataloge/KATALOG_ ... N_2005.pdf

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 17 Apr 2007, 05:32

Damn, what kind of liability is that?!!!
What does it mean when they say defective parts - i say that if within 2 years the gas escapes, then it means the sealer/gasket/what ever there is in there is faulty. isn't it?

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 17 Apr 2007, 09:39

Sounds right to me.
The sphere should work for 2 years, if the gas completely escapes in those 2 years then its defective.

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 21 Apr 2007, 17:45

hey there...
I went to the shop today, he saw the box and replaced the spheres without argument. good for me.

One question though - the front spheres should be 55/400, he offered me 50/400 - saying it's better. My car is not hidra active, what will be the difference? he also offered me 55/500.

Thank you.

slim123 · Post by **slim123** » 21 Apr 2007, 22:25

Warranty issues are very difficult with a sphere.

I guess that what IFHS mean is that they will not guarantee against natural diffusion.

If you popped a front sphere back to them after 12 months and it was flat then they would replace it as it has an obvious fault, but if the pressure had dropped from 55- to 45- then that would be wear and tear with no faults.

Front spheres and accumulators will loose pressure through diffusion at approx 10- per year, whilst the rear will loose approx 5- per year. The fronts going faster because of under bonnet temperatures.

I know that Mandrake is a big fan of recharging, he will probabally agree that recharged spheres seem to last longer than new.

Regards
Slim

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 21 Apr 2007, 23:27

slim123 wrote:I know that Mandrake is a big fan of recharging, he will probabally agree that recharged spheres seem to last longer than new.

Eh ? When did I say I was a big fan of recharging ?

What I might have said is that if you recharge spheres before they get too low in pressure their total lifespan before failure will be a lot longer than letting them get really low in pressure and then trying to recharge them. (As running spheres with very low pressure damages the diaphram due to excessive flexing)

I don't think the actual rate of gas loss from diffusion is any slower for a recharged sphere - in fact it probably increases gradually with age and recharging cycles...(meaning they need regassing more frequently as they age)

Over here where spheres are very expensive and not readily available theres a lot more motivation for recharging - if I lived in the UK where they are cheap and plentiful I wouldn't bother.

Having said that I havn't had any recharged recently, I've just had to fork out for new due to circumstances...

Regards,
Simon

wonderd · Post by **wonderd** » 22 Apr 2007, 08:42

there use to be a shop in israel that was recharging spheres and for a very cheep price (10-15 pounds), but they stopped doing that a few years ago.

I can buy new ones here from the main cit dealer for 40 pounds or go to my supplier and get it from him for 25. with warranty.

jmd · Post by **jmd** » 23 Apr 2007, 20:28

Here in Ireland they can be re-charged for €20-00 each.

French Car Forum

how do i find I.F.H.S. customer service or web site?

how do i find I.F.H.S. customer service or web site?

I bought them new

///