question re repairs to staff?

cathys1_2

Not sure if you can help me, or if I need to go straight to head office?

When my daughter was a few months old we bought a camcorder. It may have been an RO - I really can't remember. The staff in the store were with us for ages - really helpful getting loads out for us to view. She has just turned three - most of the time it is used for her birthday party and Christmas morning, and maybe twice more in a year.(Like most people????) Anyway, it has gone wrong.
I know I can ask for it to be sent away for repair - but under the sale of goods act, am I expected to pay the full cost of repair? I looked up stuff earlier on this site, and I think that if I pay it myself, I can then claim for damages through the small claims court - is this right? Obviously, I'd rather just deal it straight to one of the lovely store managers, and deal with it straight off. I'm particulary upset, as we could not film her third party - (the best yet!)

Thanks in advance for your help.

jennybear

Couple of things...do you have the receipt or any proof of purchase for it? Pretty much most of the goods sold in Argos, unless otherwise stated come with a one year manufacturers guarantee (hence if you had the receipt proving when it was bought - some models do have a longer guarantee period). Its worth taking it into the store and asking for it to be sent back to the manufacturers to be repaired or to estimate a cost for repair before you decide if you want to go ahead with it. Considering you have had it for nearly three years though Im pretty sure you would have to pay for a repair.

Bossyboots

I'm a bit confused as to why you think the repair should not be down to you, unless it had a three year warranty.

I think you are going to be hard pushed to prove you have hardly used it in all this time. I really cannot see that you have any claims at all here, either in the shop or in the courts.

FloFlo

I think that despite the length of the warranty consumer law states that a product should have a life expectancy reasonable to the type of product that it is. You need to find out what is a reasonable life expectancy for a camcorder if its more than 3 years then you could pursue it regardless of it only having a 12mth warranty.

Zaphod_Beblebrocks

Have had success using sale of goods act to get a washing machine replaced after 14 months,as trading standards explained it to me it had to be a major fault,i.e mine had a weld that had not been done correctly when manufactured, if it had been say the motor brushes due to heavy use I would have been unsuccessful,the fact that in my case the repair would have probably cost more than a replacement helped,however be warned even in my case it was hard work,lots of phone calls and customer services refusing and telling me I should have bought the warranty, it was ironically the store manager who helped most.

mhendo

Also one thing to remember if it was RO stock, then the camcorder could have been sitting on the shelf for 6 months to a year before you bought it.

Which could turn out uneconominal to repair if its an old model....