Two pin plug

djohn2002uk

If they are not fit to use in this country you are entitled to your money back without question.
As for the 2 pin plug though, there is nothing wrong there if the equipment is double insulated and therefore doesn't need an earth connection. Shavers come with 2 pin plugs and are not supplied with an adapter.

bugbod

I know they will give the money back without any problem. I just wondered if they were obliged to replace with a slightly better spec if they can't supply one the same, or do I have to accept a refund.

bugbod

The pins on the plug are too narrow to fit a shaver socket - I tried!

innovate

Of course it's mildly stupid for Curry's to sell something with a plug that doesn't readily go into a UK socket...probably the result of an overzealous Curry's procurement guy, trying to make hay from volume discount prices in a market that is several times the size of the UK market and therefore affords lower prices than the UK market could attract.....

However.

I can't see anything that would stop anyone from using the scanner (or any other device with a european two pin plug, for that matter) with a £2.95 (or so) adapter - one of the thingies that is readily available in electrical shops and even supermarkets to tourists and others who have brought their appliances from other parts of Europe.

Whoever suggested that the scanner is "incompatible" might want to elaborate on the nature of the incompatibility - I couldn't think of any.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people use european two-pin plug devices in the UK every day, there is absolutely no difference in the performance of the gadgets attached to the two pin plug whether you use them in the UK or other parts of Europe.

There's also hundreds if not thousands of people who use UK three-pin plug gadgets in other parts of Europe every day, again with no difference in performance of the gadgets.

What matters is the voltage of the gadget - as long as it operates at 220V (or in a voltage range very close to it) as opposed to 110V (America, mainly) there is no true issue other than the inconvenience of a cheap adapter. But I agree, Curry's should not sell gadgets with two-pin plugs in the UK.

djohn2002uk

bugbod wrote:

I know they will give the money back without any problem. I just wondered if they were obliged to replace with a slightly better spec if they can't supply one the same, or do I have to accept a refund.

In law the best that you are entitled to is a complete refund, full stop.
Unless there are other circumstances, for example, you have been injured by using the appliance. But then you would be into the realms of a court case.
In this case it is simply a case of returning the product as unfit for use and being refunded what you paid. Not even your petrol or bus fare can be claimed and to expect a better scanner or some other advantage is beyond me.

innovate

djohn2002uk wrote:

In law the best that you are entitled to is a complete refund, full stop.
Unless there are other circumstances, for example, you have been injured by using the appliance. But then you would be into the realms of a court case.
In this case it is simply a case of returning the product as unfit for use and being refunded what you paid. Not even your petrol or bus fare can be claimed and to expect a better scanner or some other advantage is beyond me.

Don't think you'd even be able to make a case for "unfit for use" - because it will work with an adapter (unless it didn't work in the first instance)

There's no legal recourse for anyone - only thing people can do is to express their amazement to Curry's and ask them to replace the scanner with one that can readily be plugged into a UK socket. Curry's can do this by several means - another scanner, the same scanner with a UK plug replacing the two pin plug, or a free adapter.

If it was me, however, I'd ask Curry's for my money back and not shop there any more (in fact, I haven't bought anything from Curry's for donkey years because I found you can always get better value for money, and significantly less aggro, elsewhere)

bugbod

I've had no aggro at all. Just the opposite. Thanks for explaining the legal stuff, which is more or less what I thought. PERSONALLY, I'd rather have another scanner than my money back. What I'm really asking and not at all clearly, is, if they offer another scanner, will I have to have one around the same price as this one, or can I ask for one to more or less the same spec? Sorry, i shouldn't have implied that I wanted a better scanner. It was on special offer (not because of the plug ) and I doubt if I could get such good value again.

djohn2002uk

Inovate.
I think you ought to read all the posts again and you'll see that Currys said they shouldn't have sold them.

"Well we went back to Currys today to have a word and apparently they have had a delivery of 10,000 of these very same scanners, all with two pin plugs and all totally unusable as the scanners themselves are also built to European standards and not suitable to be used in the UK."

bugbod

Been to Currys. Scanner replaced with one of much the same spec, but £10 dearer, at no charge. Not sure what would have happened if I'd picked one that was a lot more expensive, though!

Millie_2

Bugbod sounds like you had the same scanner as me, the xerox....lol
Sounds like you have got a good exchange though, well done. :T

The prob we have is that the scanner was half price, OH who likes a good deal paid £35 instead of the original £70.

Now the option given to us was that if we wait for a three pin exchange then we get that at no extra cost of course, but if we do a swop for an alternative then the extra cos has to be paid by us and as the scanner looks idiot proof, OH decided it was best to wait ...oh what faith that man has in my technology skills :snow_laug

So for now we will sit it out in the hope of a complete exchange at a later date.