HiFi Speakers broke, out of warranty. Advice please

peterr_ibg

Wondered if anyone could give advice regarding a problem I have with a product which has developed a fault, outside of its warranty period, and what should do next?

In Jan 2006 I bought a set of Home Cinema Speakers from a specialist HiFi shop. I have had them installed in my living room ever since without a problem until last week, when the sub-woofer began to make some strange noises.

Using the old technical trick of switching it off and then back on again I got rid of the noises, but now I have no sound coming from the speaker at all, despite the power light being on, indicating it has mains supply.

I contacted the retailer who supplied the speakers and they told me that the speaker came with a two year warranty only and that they would contact the manufacturer regarding how to get a repair.

I got a call back earlier this week and they tell me that the manufacturer want £100, to ‘inspect’ the speaker and then an average repair would cost between £2-300!

The cost for a new item is £850 so the total repair bill could be almost 50% of the original purchase cost. Now considering that I haven’t used the system other than to watch the occasional movie, (in other words It’s had only light use) I wouldn’t have expected the unit to fail after only three years. And I certainly didn’t expect such a high estimate of the cost of repair

The retailer suggested I contact the manufacturer direct when I said I was not happy to pay such a large sum to have a repair and see if they could improve on their repair offer.

Any suggestions as to what to do next?

Should I contact the manufacturer and see if they can improve on the repair cost, or, should I push the retailer by saying that I shouldn’t be expected to pay such a high price for a service bill to fix a fault?

I’ve read on the Forum that you have up to 6 years to claim against a retailer for products that don’t last as they should. Should I immediately go back to the retailer and try to take this line with them, or, take the repair bill on the chin and try to negotiate to have the cost reduced?

Any advice will be welcome, thanks for reading

bitsandpieces

I'd politely point out to the retailer that this type of equipment should be expected to last more than a couple of years, mention the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act, and see what they suggest...