Argos don't comply with EU consumer law

wirralmum

Does anyone know why Argos don't comply with EU directive which says that all consumer goods have a 2 year guarantee ? My TV which is just under 2 years old developed a fault and they would have none of any EU law

woody01

If you had any idea what the EU Regualtions were, rather than picking bits out, you would see that the SOGA actually surpasses anything the EU Directive states.

NotQuiteNorbert

Doesn't apply here. We have the Sale of Goods Act which is better. (or so I gather from reading the responses on similar posts to yours) Someone more knowledgeable than I will no doubt be along at some point to advise you further.

... except I'm too slow and someone's already here!

Meepster

At least it wasn't desrfibed as the "secret EU law" again...

NotQuiteNorbert

mwilletts wrote: »

At least it wasn't desrfibed as the "secret EU law" again...

That's always something I guess!

olly300

wirralmum wrote: »

Does anyone know why Argos don't comply with EU directive which says that all consumer goods have a 2 year guarantee ? My TV which is just under 2 years old developed a fault and they would have none of any EU law

Write a letter to Argos' head office sending it by special delivery.

Give the letter the title "Formal Complaint" in it quote the sale of goods act - get a template letter from the consumer direct website. Add to the letter that TVs are suppose to last longer than 2 years and what the fault is. Also state what you want to happen i.e. you want permission to take it to the store you brought it from and collect a replacement and you have enclosed a photocopy of your receipt. (Then enclose a photocopy.)

Ask them to reply within 21 days and state that you will contact trading standards and take court action if they do not.

After 21 days:
1. Report them to trading standards via www.tradingstandards.gov.uk
2. write another letter to them with the title "Letter Before Action" send this by recorded delivery stating that you have reported them to trading standards and after 14 days you will start court action to recover the money for the tv plus costs and state the exact amount you will claim.

I had to do this to Argos with a microwave. And they only responded when I had reported them to Trading Standards and threatened to start court action. They actually pretended to answer my original letter not the "Letter Before Action" which I knew they got.

I was actually told that I needed to write 3 letters before taking them to court by Trading Standards but I know from previous legal actions that if you send letters by special next day delivery then recorded delivery with a reasonable time frame (which is more than 7 days) they can't argue that they didn't receive the letters and didn't have enough notice.

(Also it may be worth contacting Watchdog with the issue i.e.Argos hides behind their one year warranty ignoring both the various UK and EU laws.)

OlliesDad

olly300 wrote: »

Write a letter to Argos' head office sending it by special delivery.

Give the letter the title "Formal Complaint" in it quote the sale of goods act - get a template letter from the consumer direct website. Add to the letter that TVs are suppose to last longer than 2 years and what the fault is. Also state what you want to happen i.e. you want permission to take it to the store you brought it from and collect a replacement and you have enclosed a photocopy of your receipt. (Then enclose a photocopy.)

Ask them to reply within 21 days and state that you will contact trading standards and take court action if they do not.

After 21 days:
1. Report them to trading standards via www.tradingstandards.gov.uk
2. write another letter to them with the title "Letter Before Action" send this by recorded delivery stating that you have reported them to trading standards and after 14 days you will start court action to recover the money for the tv plus costs and state the exact amount you will claim.

I had to do this to Argos with a microwave. And they only responded when I had reported them to Trading Standards and threatened to start court action. They actually pretended to answer my original letter not the "Letter Before Action" which I knew they got.

I was actually told that I needed to write 3 letters before taking them to court by Trading Standards but I know from previous legal actions that if you send letters by special next day delivery then recorded delivery with a reasonable time frame (which is more than 7 days) they can't argue that they didn't receive the letters and didn't have enough notice.

(Also it may be worth contacting Watchdog with the issue i.e.Argos hides behind their one year warranty ignoring both the various UK and EU laws.)

olly300 wrote: »

Also it may be worth contacting Watchdog with the issue i.e.Argos hides behind their one year warranty ignoring both the various UK and EU laws.

Is it really fair to single out Argos when there are so many businesses who do this.

It is perfectly acceptable to advise a 1 year warranty as this is in addition to statutory rights.

You also forgot to mention that you need to prove that this is an inherent fault if it is over 6 months (usually by getting an independant report).

Tozer

olly300 wrote: »

I was actually told that I needed to write 3 letters before taking them to court by Trading Standards but I know from previous legal actions that if you send letters by special next day delivery then recorded delivery with a reasonable time frame (which is more than 7 days) they can't argue that they didn't receive the letters and didn't have enough notice.

Just on this point, there is no requirement to write 3 letters. If the claim is relatively small and will be dealt with in the small claims court, you do not, theoretically, need to give any notice (although good practice to do so) as there are no legal costs consequences.

Even if it is above the small claims threshold, then there is nothing requiring a minimum of 3 letters.

Mankysteve

Ignore Olly300. If you report this to tradeing standards they'll tell you what Ollie has said and I are about to say you first need to get a inderpendent engneering to get you a report stateing that the fault is result of manufactering fault, Once you have said report contact Argos.

Then if they ignore this then write a formal complait and contact trading standards.

You can't do anything untill you get a engneers report and the law states that after 6mounths it up to you the customer to prove that the fault with the item is due to a manufactering fault. I would suspect that it is and the engneers report should show this.

A court/trading standards won't do anything till you get said report.

biscit

NotQuiteNorbert wrote: »

Doesn't apply here. We have the Sale of Goods Act which is better. (or so I gather from reading the responses on similar posts to yours) Someone more knowledgeable than I will no doubt be along at some point to advise you further.

... except I'm too slow and someone's already here!

I think EU directives don't have any weight in themselves, they have to be implemented in the country's own laws. There's nothing stopping us implementing something better than the directive, just that we can't do worse.

4743hudsonj

biscit wrote: »

I think EU directives don't have any weight in themselves, they have to be implemented in the country's own laws. There's nothing stopping us implementing something better than the directive, just that we can't do worse.

you would be right, directives are "guidelines" SOGA was amended to fit into this more exactly but as said, it is far superior to the eu directive even if it did have horizontal direct affect rather than vertical