Having experienced the delights associated with using a smart toilet while on holiday in Japan in 2017, my wife and I promised that we would treat ourselves to one when next we revamped our bathroom.

That time eventually arrived and so, in January 2025, we bought the 'Purificare wall-hung smart bidet Japanese toilet with heated seat' from Better Bathrooms online.

We paid £887.45 including delivery, and it came with a two-year warranty. 

However, the seat on the toilet is now starting to chip and crack in several places. This began in September when the toilet was only about eight months old, still well within the two-year guarantee.

I raised this with Better Bathrooms, but it told us we must have 'misused' the toilet.

We certainly have not, and are keen that the guarantee is honoured and we are given a replacement toilet or a refund. Can you help? D.B, Aberdeen

Helen Crane of This is Money replies: If they haven't encountered one, readers may be wondering what is so special about a Japanese toilet.

They have attracted a cult following around the world because of their smart features which can include, but are not limited to, heated seats that open automatically, in-built bidets and dryers, air deodorisers, lights and music. Some are even self-cleaning. 

They come with a keypad to change the settings to the users' exact requirements, and are a fascination of many a Western tourist - so I can see why you were keen to bring this comfort to your own home. 

After weeks of research, you found the perfect model and ordered it via the bathroom supply website, Better Bathrooms. 

But there was a fault with the first toilet that turned up. After just a few days, you noticed the seat had a small nick in the plastic. 

You raised this with Better Bathrooms and, after an initial refusal, you told me it did eventually send a replacement seat. 

Just months later, though, the seat started cracking again - this time in three different places, around the hinge and the base of the cistern and the inside of the bowl. 

You raised this with Better Bathrooms again, feeling secure that you had a two-year guarantee. 

Guarantees can be offered by retailer or manufacturers, and add an extra level of protection over and above a customer's legal rights. 

They are especially useful if something goes wrong with a product you've owned for more than six months, according to Citizens Advice, as this is when your legal right to a refund or replacement if the product if faulty stops. 

But you'll need to check the small print as there may be restrictions on what you can claim, and in what period of time. It might not entitle you to a refund, but only a repair or replacement, for example. You may also need to pay for deliver for example. 

When claiming on a guarantee, the retailer or manufacturer will also want to check you haven't willfully caused the damage through your own actions.  

You thought yours was a clear example of a manufacturing fault, but to your shock, Better Bathrooms said you had invalidated your two-year guarantee because you and your wife had 'misused' the toilet. 

When you enquired as to what this meant, the company accused you of forcing the seat down when it has a soft-close mechanism. 

You insisted you wouldn't do this. Having spent money on a fancy toilet, why wouldn't you make use of this premium function?

You told me: 'From our point of view, the most disappointing thing about this whole palaver is that someone actually believes that we have willfully damaged something which we wanted for so long. We're a pair of pensioners, not vandals.'

I agree that the firm's stance wasn't fair. Your previous seat also started cracking within just days, suggesting this product doesn't stand up to basic wear and tear. 

I decided to contact Better Bathrooms, which is owned by the parent company Buy it Direct Group, to try and resolve this toilet trial. 

A few days later, you told me the company had called and agreed to replace the smart seat free of charge as a gesture of goodwill.

You said: 'It remains steadfast in its belief that the damage was caused by our misuse, but whilst this doesn't sit well with us (pardon the pun!) we accept that we have to agree to disagree on this point.'

Better Bathrooms did not provide a comment to me, but I am glad the matter is sorted.