Any Lawyers About? Question About The Sale Of Goods Act

Rex_Mundi wrote:

I'm hoping that we've got a few lawyers loitering in the boards.

Cheers

are you sure you ain't a lawyer cause you've just confused the heck out of me:rotfl:

Which?extra: Faulty Goods (February 2001 ):

Staff in high-street electrical stores are not taking responsibility when goods they sell go wrong
If a product breaks down outside its guarantee period, you may think that you don't have any rights. But, depending on the product and its fault, you may have the right to compensation from the store where you bought it. Staff at most electrical shops we visited, though, would have you believe otherwise - that either the manufacturer is responsible or that you have to pay for a repair.
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Passing the Buck
Under the Sale of Goods Act, retailers are responsible for faulty goods (that are not 'of satisfactory quality') for up to six years after you bought them. In Scotland the period is five years after something goes wrong. 'Satisfactory quality' covers various aspects that could be wrong with the goods, including whether they've lasted as long as you could reasonably expect. A 'reasonable' lifetime for different products is not defined in law and would ultimately be for a court to decide. But, for example, you might reasonably expect a £600 television to last longer than 18 months, but you wouldn't necessarily expect compensation if a £20 kettle broke down in this period.
To see whether stores are shirking their responsibilities, we sent undercover shoppers out to 12 major UK chains, with a complaint about an 18-month VCR that had broken down (six months after the maker's guarantee had expired). They visited two branches of each chain. In 80 per cent of the visits, staff either stated or implied (wrongly) that the problem was nothing to do with them, and washed their hands of it.

Consumer power
If a store refuses to take responsibility for a faulty product, currently the only way to seek redress is through legal action which involves proving the goods are faulty. And this is exactly what Which? reader Brenda Robertshaw did when electrical giant Currys refused to fix her £400 washing machine free of charge, when it broke down after only 18 months and ruined some clothes (see 'Currys taken to the cleaners', Which?, October 1999). Brenda won the cost of repairs, compensation and expenses, totalling £190. The judge ruled that it was reasonable to expect a £400 washing machine to last longer than 18 months. Sadly, though, some stores don't seem to have learned from Currys' ruling.
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Extended warranties
Some stores we visited took a customer complaint as a cue to extol the merits of extended warranties. Our research has shown that, in general, these are a waste of money because you spend more on the warranty than you would on any repairs needed. Out of 24 visits, 14 stores took the opportunity to mention an extended warranty. Five of them claimed that extended warranties exist for this exact type of problem.

Your rights when you buy goods
The Sale of Goods Act 1979, amended in 1994, says that when you buy goods from a trader they must fit the description, be of satisfactory quality - which includes lasting a reasonable length of time - and be fit for their purpose. If goods aren't 'of satisfactory quality', you're entitled to compensation which is normally the cost of repairs. The retailer, not the manufacturer, is legally obliged to sort out a problem if the goods don't meet these requirements.
A manufacturer's one-year guarantee is in addition to these rights - many offer free repair or replacement without quibble. Extended warranties are an extension of this.
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Taking Action
Better training needed
Within the last few weeks, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has launched a consultation detailing plans to strengthen consumers' rights, by bringing into force a European Directive covering the sale of goods and their guarantees.The new law must be implemented in the UK by January 2002. For it to have any impact, though, it's vital that shop staff are made aware of it and what rights it gives to customers. But, as our investigation shows, many staff don't have much grasp of current law, let alone any new legislation. We'll be sending our findings to the DTI and pressing for shops to give staff more thorough training.
Stores' responses
We informed the stores about our findings. Argos, Comet, Dixons Group (which includes Currys), House of Fraser, John Lewis, Littlewoods (Index Stores) and Scottish Power replied. All said that consumers' rights are part of their in-store training programmes but they would take action, either through more training or by alerting staff about giving correct advice. A Scottish Power spokesperson admitted: 'Our staff ought to have done more to take ownership of the enquiry. Then we would have arranged to get the appliance examined and ascertain who was responsible for this repair.'
Access to information
We'd like stores to stock leaflets about customers' rights on faulty goods - our shoppers couldn't find any when they visited the stores. The DTI publishes a leaflet Unsatisfactory goods: your rights as a consumer, which you can order from its hotline on 0870 150 2500. You can also get advice on its website - https://www.consumer.gov.uk