Bought faulty scooter, company bust, now what?

mazza1985

Hi all!

In August 2008 I bought a Sym Jet Euro X 100 cc from my local dealer.

After 2 weeks the electtric start stopped working, and the battery died. They believed it was due to the light bulbs being faulty (too powerful - it was a known manufacturing fault), and they sorted it for a while.

4 weeks later, the electric start stopped working and the battery died again. Also, one of the brake levers(left one), was becoming loose, and the wing mirror was wobbly. I took it back again, and was told that they couldnt do anything until it wouldnt start full stop. They said they were closing for refurbishment, and would be open at the beginning of December. I have since found out the company has gone bust!

I e-mailed the company that makes Sym in the UK, asking for them to look at it under warrenty. They hav said that my contractof purchase is with the garage and not them, but I can take it to another garage who will fix it under warrenty for me.

The problem is I am too scared to ride it! I keep thinking the brake and wing mirror is going to fall off! I just want Sym to arrange a garage to come and collect and fix it, am I being unreasonable? I feel like I have been cheated, I should have just demanded a replacement at the 2 week stage shouldnt I? :-( I dont know where to go from here! Also, even worse is that I took a bank loan out to pay for it, Im paying back £2200 for a £1500 scooter which isn't workth that because of the faults with it!

What should I do?

re-rewind

I don't think a company have to offer anymore than to repay/replace for the parts that have gone wrong, so you should count you're blessings they are actually offering you this and you don;t have to fight for it.

What i'm saying is i dont think they are legally obliged to come pick it up/return it to you or anything like that, in most cases it just happens through goodwill from manufacturers because they want repeat custom and recommendation but in this case company have gone out of business so havent got anything to lose.

if this doesn't help you out you could try citizens advice or office of fair trading for your rights of what you're entitled to.


best of luck!

derrick

You are protected under the Sale of Goods Act, (SoGA), and if you purchased it less than 6 months ago then it is up to the retailer to prove that there was not a fault at time of purchase, if over 6 months then the onus is on you.
It sounds like the machine is "not fit for purpose" and "not of merchantable quality".

It sounds like you are entitled to your money back, as the company has "gone bust" you are at liberty and within your rights to claim from the bank that supplied the loan, as under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, they are "equally and severally liable" as the supplier of credit.