fix/ replace out of warranty?

Judith_W

I bought a Hitachi hard disk TV recorder over a year ago and stupid me ignored a fault with it where it would frequently freeze and sometimes skip channels without me even touching the remote. This is because the one I have was a replacement for an even worse one and I thought I could live with it but its driving me up the wall.

Do I have any chance of getting Hitachi to fix/ replace? I know it is over 6 months so I have to prove the fault was there when I bought it which I can't do, and it is out of warranty, but I thought the manufacturer has a responsibility for the item to last a reasonable amount of time, which is hasn't, even if the faults were new.

Any ideas are welcome

Thanks

Bamber19

it's the retailer you bought it from who has the responsibility, not the manufacturer.

Judith_W

OK thats good to know, in your opinion do you think Argos would consider a refund/ replace/ repair? I can prove its faulty now, just not at the time I bought it and it should surely last more than 18 months

Thanks

dancingsammyt

I would get in touch with your local Citizens Advice bureau. I bought a tumble dryer a few months ago and remember hearing that although warranties and guarantees last for a certain length of time, you actually have up to 6 years to get something repaired or exchanged if it goes wrong, subject to a reasonable level of wear and tear. I'm sorry I can't remember the exact details (as in the name of the legislation - but 'sale of goods act' sounds familiar?) but your local citizens advice will be able to advise you.

Judith_W

brilliant, thanks

moonrakerz

dancingsammyt wrote: »

I would get in touch with your local Citizens Advice bureau. I bought a tumble dryer a few months ago and remember hearing that although warranties and guarantees last for a certain length of time, you actually have up to 6 years to get something repaired or exchanged if it goes wrong, subject to a reasonable level of wear and tear. I'm sorry I can't remember the exact details (as in the name of the legislation - but 'sale of goods act' sounds familiar?) but your local citizens advice will be able to advise you.

Please, please, please, why do people keep posting this thing about 6 years ?

The Sale of Goods Act, strictly speaking, says that an item should last for 6 months - it goes on to say that you can take action against a supplier if an item is defective within 6 years. This DOES NOT mean that any item should last for 6 years, 3 years or even 1 year !

It is generally accepted that most items carry a 1 year warranty and most retailers honour this without too much bother. If you get a longer warranty than this - fine (just got 5yrs on my new TV !)

Generally speaking if something goes wrong after 12 months there isn't much you can do about it. The retailer is responsible, NOT the manufacturer, anyway !
If you believe that your item failed because of faulty design or faulty manufacture you can take action through the courts within 6 years of obtaining the item - BUT, you will have to prove this in Court. You will probably be asked to prove that you used it only in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Very, very difficult !

lolarentt

You'll find Argos pretty intransigent if it's out of warranty!!

dancingsammyt

Sorry, didn't mean to get anyone's back up...
I just posted that because that's what I'd been advised when I was in a similar situation when I phoned a government-funded helpline. And as for the 6 months thing...surely that depends on what you've bought? I wouldn't expect a hard disk TV recorder to only work for 6 months?!
Also the other thing is that if you approach the retailer and you know (or appear to know!) your rights then you may get treated with a bit more respect than someone who is a bit clueless about it.
I do appreciate that it may be very difficult to go through with this the legal way with having to prove different things, but there's no problem with knowing what your rights are...even if they aren't particularly helpful in every single case.

moonrakerz

dancingsammyt wrote: »

Sorry, didn't mean to get anyone's back up...

Don't worry, you didn't "get my back up" - it's just that this keeps cropping up and people are either given the wrong info or draw the wrong conclusion from it.

The 6 month thing is actually what the Law says !
Another problem is that people don't understand the mathematics of equipment failures.
If the "average" life of a HDD recorder is (say) 7 years, that doesn't mean they will all last for at least 7 years. Some will last a month, others will last 15 years, most will fall (fail ?) in between.
Have a read all about the "bathtub curve":-
http://www.weibull.com/hotwire/issue21/hottopics21.htm
You will notice that there is no timescale shown on the curve, this is because the timescale will vary enormously with the item. A freezer sitting in the corner of your kitchen will last much longer that your car doing 30,000 miles a year. Why should a fairly complex thing such as an HDD recorder be expected to last as as long as a battery powered clock ? That is why the Law is the way it is.

The trouble is with approaching the retailer and "knowing your rights" - many people DON'T know their rights - they think, 'cos they've seen it on a website, that everything has a 6 year warranty. Guaranteed to get up the shop keeper's nose when someone turns up with a five year old dead TV and demands that the shop HAS to repair it for free !

It's sad to see a government-funded helpline doling out not very helpful information.

Chutzpah

moonrakerz wrote: »

Generally speaking if something goes wrong after 12 months there isn't much you can do about it. The retailer is responsible, NOT the manufacturer, anyway !
If you believe that your item failed because of faulty design or faulty manufacture you can take action through the courts within 6 years of obtaining the item - BUT, you will have to prove this in Court. You will probably be asked to prove that you used it only in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Very, very difficult !

Wrong.

You can do a lot about it. And the onus is on the retailer to prove that it's wear and tear.

stugib

Chutzpah wrote: »

Wrong.

You can do a lot about it. And the onus is on the retailer to prove that it's wear and tear.

Only within the first 6 months, then burden of proof returns to the consumer.