Questions of Cash: I had a warranty on my Mitsubishi Outlander but I was going nowhere fast when I needed a repair

When a reader's car developed a strange noise, the dealer told her that the repair might not be covered by the warranty

When a fault was diagnosed after a reader bought a Mitsubishi, it was the start of an epic journey

Q. We bought a 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander from a dealer in November of that year. It is under warranty until April 2016.

A strange noise developed from the engine, but the dealer told us it would be two weeks before they could look at it. Two days before it was due to go in, my husband received a voicemail message saying: "Other cars have been brought in making a similar- sounding noise. The problem is the tappets; this isn't covered by the warranty, and the cost will be £355."

We were surprised the fault had been diagnosed without even looking at the vehicle. When the car did go in, it was found that the drive for the oil pump had a broken tooth. Again we were told that it might not be covered by the warranty and the cost of the repair, if it was not covered, would be £1,644.

We were also told the warranty was only valid if we could provide copies of all service invoices. We found those.

Then we were told these were not detailed enough and that Mitsubishi required copies of the checklists from the service. We asked for a contact at the company with whom we could discuss this – but when I phoned that person, they had no idea what I was talking about.

We are still being told more clarification is needed about the warranty. LD, by email

A. We did get in contact with the carmaker but this has taken longer to resolve than we would wish. However, Mitsubishi tells us that the repair is now being resolved through the warranty.

You tell us that you have been phoned directly by the company, which explained that there had been confusion between itself and the dealer as to which party was handling the matter – but that "the repair should now be authorised".

You then received an email from a representative of the dealer, who said he was "completing the warranty claim to submit to Mitsubishi today, and – if authorised, as we anticipate – I will order the components and repair as soon as possible".

We are concerned that the word "should" was used in Mitsubishi's phone call, but we do believe the matter has been cleared up. Please contact us again if the dealer attempts to charge you for the repair.

Cable for new washing machine came up short

Q. I ordered a Zanussi washing machine on the John Lewis website on 4 December. This offered a free delivery, but a delivery date of 22 December.

When I attempted to request express delivery, for which I was willing to pay, the site said the option was not available for this order.

The machine arrived on 22 December, but we were told the cable was too short to reach the electrical point. The website made no mention of cable length, nor does Zanussi's user manual.

The installer asked if we had an extension cable, which we supplied, and he completed the installation. But when we read the user manual, we found that it states, on the first page, that an adaptor is not to be used.

We contacted John Lewis, which thought we should contact Zanussi to secure a compatible extension. But we made it clear that this was John Lewis's responsibility.

The retailer agreed with this and undertook to contact us within 24 hours to arrange the next step. But despite a number of follow-up calls from us, we have received no response from John Lewis. JC, Ayrshire

A. You tell us the matter is now resolved to your full satisfaction. An adjustment has been made to the electrical point at your house to make it compatible with the Zanussi cable. John Lewis has refunded your installation costs of £93.

A spokeswoman for the John Lewis Partnership said: "On this occasion it is clear that the installation of [the reader's] Zanussi washing machine didn't meet our usual high standards. When fitting the washing machine, the cable was too short to reach the electrical point and our partner used an extension cable to complete the installation. Once we were alerted to the problem that an extension cable shouldn't be used, we did everything possible to rectify the issue – which included covering the electrician's cost to fit a new plug socket.

"We have apologised for the inconvenience, and the customer has since been refunded for the delivery charge."

I ordered a mobile but the trail went cold

Q. I ordered a new Microsoft Lumia 640 mobile phone handset for £79 on 1 January as part of the Vodafone winter sale. A payment was debited against my account the following day.

Vodafone failed to provide a tracking number for the order, so I had to email four times to enquire about the status. No reply has been received from Vodafone. Furthermore, I have tried calling the company on four different numbers, but I have been unable to get any joy. This is despite receiving emailed confirmation of the order. CD, Inverness

A. A spokeswoman for Vodafone responded: "We're sorry [the reader] didn't get the phone she ordered. We've looked into it and it seems the order was not progressed correctly. We've been in touch with her to explain and we'll send her the phone she wanted plus a £20 top-up by way of apology for our error."