Product Recall? Plum climbing frames

sppsot

If you are not getting anywhere with the 0800 number on the letter try the following number to get through to the Stafford Argos Direct telephone system and guess at some extensions people who answer the phone are a little more surprised to get a phonecall.

01785-250000

neilmcl

sppsot wrote: »

I am sure neilmcl is not neutral Argos also told me that they are aware of these blogs on the phone yesterday before eagerly rushing off.

Well its funny that those here that have contacted consumer direct and others have been told the same thing regarding Argos being within their rights to offer a partial refund. Why is it when someone comes on with an opposing, and objective, opinion they get accused, usually by noobs, of having a vested interest. Get real guys.

neilmcl

blue_monkey wrote: »

Neil, let's say, for example, you bought a new car at a cost of £15,000 with a 5 year warranty from a company in the UK. 13 months on and the car deveops a fault and is recalled. The company you bought it from says 'the car is being collected, we'll give you 8k for it as you have used it for a year. Ah, ha, you have a 5 year warranty, you'll get it sorted on that. But then they tell you sorry, we are based in the US, tough, you have to take the 8k being offered.

Surely you bought the car expecting it to be more or less fault free for 5 years? Would this be acceptable??

The same applies, if you want a play set to last 2 years then you spend £100 on a cheap metal one. I spent £1,000 on my childrens one 18 months ago (thankfully NOT AP) and expect it to last the 10 years the warranty is for - I'd be furious if they told me that it was tough, the warranty does not apply because the company is based overseas and yes, I would be expecting a like for like replacement - that is what a warranty is for.

I would be writing to Plum and Argos and outlining what you want and failure of them to replace it like for like will result in Small Court actin - then it will be down to the judge to decide.

Strange analogy, as in reality an authorised car dealer would be expected to maintain a warranty, but yes in general terms it would be acceptable. What some here haven't quite grasped yet is that a seller isn't responsible for the warranty offered by the manufacturer, it has nothing to do with them. The retailer does, however, have certail legal obligations under statutory consumer legislation, such as the SOGA.

I repeat a manufacturer's warranty and a retailer's statutory obligations are two completely seperate issues.

sppsot

neilmcl wrote: »

Well its funny that those here that have contacted consumer direct and others have been told the same thing regarding Argos being within their rights to offer a partial refund. Why is it when someone comes on with an opposing, and objective, opinion they get accused, usually by noobs, of having a vested interest. Get real guys.

Very quick response for somebody without a vested interest either you have a very uninteresting job or work for Argos (well that could also be both that are true)

hammer194

neilmcl, what I was told by consumer direct was that the amount I was due was negotiable and if we couldn't agree on what was equitable the only person that can decide would be a judge.

Now outside what soga says (as we will not agree on this) answer me this neilmcl what do you think is fair: we bought products which were advertised as lasting for 12 years no one has had that product for more than 4 as far as I can make out and we are being offered 15% to 20% of the cost of what it would be to replace it. It will take a 1/2 a day to take down another day to replace it if we can afford it and in the meantime our children are looking out a something in the garden that they cannot play on. In a just world do you not think we deserve more than being told by argos how much we should get? And if it was you would you accept the first offer you got without a fight?

Stop trying to divert people from getting a better deal from themselves.

BTW have been on the adventure playsets web-site and if you are from canada or the US they will send you out the replacement parts. I got the same answers as others on the that they were aware of the uk issues and that the retailer here is sorting it. I have e-mailed them as well hope to get a better response!

neilmcl

hammer194 wrote: »

Stop trying to divert people from getting a better deal from themselves.

You have me all wrong if you think that's my intention. All I'm doing is giving what I believe is a realistic and objective viewpoint. By all means keep the pressure up on Argos, as I said in a previous post you may well get them to ultimately do what you want due to all the bad publicity. What I've been saying all along though is that I don't believe that Argos are the ones here that have let you down, it is after all the manufacturer/distributer who are not following up on their promises.

benjaminsmam

is it worth contacting Adventure Playsets? I dont even know what to do? [EMAIL="custservice@adventureplaysets.com"]custservice@adventureplaysets.com[/EMAIL]

Ch1mps

The other forum http://www.consumerforums.com/ also has a thread on this subject and the facebook group is,
Plum product playcentre - Argos ripped me off!

hammer194

benjaminsmam wrote: »

is it worth contacting Adventure Playsets? I dont even know what to do? [EMAIL="custservice@adventureplaysets.com"]custservice@adventureplaysets.com[/EMAIL]

I am speaking to argos to try and get a better offer from them! I have written to adventure playsets to try and get them to send me the new parts. Also go onto the watchdog web-site and fill out one of the forms there join the facebook group if you are on it the more publicity the better chance of us getting a better deal

Catherine_Bell

Spoke to someone from Argos at length who told me there was no room for negotiation, and that she could 'guarantee' me that their solicitors had been through this and we would have no viable claim in small claims. I did ask her if this was the same 'guarantee' that they offered me when I bought the pile of rotting wood, but unfortunately she was unable to comment. I also asked her if she though the offer was fair and if she would be happy with the same treatment, but again, she was unable to comment. She did tell me that they had sold 5000 of these rot infested items, and that it was all the fault of Plum Products. I asked her about the 12 year warranty and she told me that under SoGA they don't have to honour a manufacturers warranty and that I should take this up with the manufacturer.

Spoke to a solicitor afterwards who told me that everything she (from Argos) told me could be considered to be technically correct (except the small claims bit,) that they had set a position that would fulfill the minimum requirements of SoGA, but that SoGA was there to give a balance of rights to both retailer and customer. He thinks that they will argue

"The buyer must not require the seller to repair or, as the casemay be, replace the goods if that remedy is—
(a) impossible, or
(b) disproportionate in comparison to the other of those remedies, or
(c) disproportionate in comparison to an appropriate reduction in thepurchase price under paragraph (a), or rescission under paragraph (b),of section 48C(1) below."
( 48c(1) is more of the same jargon)

but that all of this applies to goods which became faulty at some time after purchase, and that he would be more than happy to represent the substantially different case where we were sold a defective product, which was not as described (12 year warranty against rot), not fit for purpose, and not of sufficient durability. He told me that the Argos offer could be construed to be in line with SoGA if the expected lifetime of the product was 6 years, and that was more than likely their basis for compensation (based on the SoGA 6 year rule) , but that with an advertised manufacturer warranty of 12 years that the offer was was wholly unreasonable. As a similar replacement would cost £800.00 we could reasonably expect to get the £800.00 less the use we have had, but with a sympathetic judge we could get a like for like replacement, funded in full.

He is more than happy to run with a claim which he thinks he has no chance of losing, but he did tell me to run it through small claims first as the costs will be minimal.

So thats it - If you buy something from Argos, they won't look after you as their customer. They will offer the least they think they can get away with. I have bought most of the contents of my house from Argos, (that sounds like I live in a caravan and tarmac drives for a living on the basis that they would always see me right.
A quick countback of the last three months shows a spend of about £1400.00. in Argos and Homebase. This is a bit higher than normal if you include Christmas, but probably a spend of 3k a year is realistic. I can honestly say now, that if I don't get fair settlement from Argos on this, I will never spend another penny there or Homebase. I am 38. That is £100,000.00 in lost revenue by the time I retire. When I win the case you can make that £100,600.00. Looks like no difference really. The only way Argos can win is by treating their customers fairly!!!!!!




Come on Argos (and Neil) - I know you are reading - Do you want to do the right thing or the thing you think you might get away with???