Dualit 1.7 Litre “Classic” Kettles

About 3 years ago I bought what I thought was a high quality “for life” kettle from Dualit, part number CVJK13. I paid way more than was reasonable (looking now they’re approximately £150) but thought it was a long term investment, in the environment perhaps if not financially. The kettle didn’t last 3 years before it started having issues. The on switch wouldn’t stay on. I investigated and found that there is an angled plastic part that detects the presence of the base and presses a switch when the kettle is correctly located on the base.

They made it out of plastic so soft that it has worn down and has a notch in it, preventing it from depressing the internal switch. In short, the kettle to base interlock doesn’t work any more.

I contacted Dualit and was quoted £58 for repair and return shipping (I’d have to pay about another £10 to ship it to them). They do not sell parts to repair the kettle yourself.

It is usually good design to ensure the wear part is the easier to replace component – given this is burried in an assembly inside the actual kettle part, I’m not sure this is the case here. I suspect a whole new base would have cost significantly less than the quoted repair cost. Plus, 3 years means that the part is way softer than required for the use case.

While I love their toasters, which you can buy parts for, I am never buying a premium kettle again as we historically had more longevity from a Tesco “Value” kettle, and you could have bought more than 15 of them for the price of one of these.

I have ordered a £22 (delivered) kettle as it’s replacement. Note there are kettles much cheaper than this available. Lesson learned – don’t buy premium kettles expecting a better product. There is no element (heh) of the design that justifies the price.