Length of warranty 3 months!

esuhl

yummymummy79 wrote: »

For the love of God please don't! The sooner that crawls back under the rock that the Daily Mail found it under the better. Pain in the bum doesn't even start to cover it!

I realise that it might have been better to use the Sale of Goods Act in this case (were it not for the fact that it sounds like valves are considered perishable/consumable/whatever-the-term-is), but can I ask why the EU Directive is a "pain in the bum"?

Is it because UK courts aren't familiar with EU law, is it problematic in the way that it integrates with UK-specific law, or does it just provide insufficient protection? I'm genuinely curious!

OlliesDad

esuhl wrote: »

I realise that it might have been better to use the Sale of Goods Act in this case (were it not for the fact that it sounds like valves are considered perishable/consumable/whatever-the-term-is), but can I ask why the EU Directive is a "pain in the bum"?

Is it because UK courts aren't familiar with EU law, is it problematic in the way that it integrates with UK-specific law, or does it just provide insufficient protection? I'm genuinely curious!

The Directive is not a law, just advice for governments on how much protection a consumer should have. Basically this directive suggests that consumers should have up to 2 years to be able to have recompense with a retailer.

The Sales of Goods Act already gives protection way above this act as it provides protection for up to 6 years (as long as it is reasonable).

esuhl

OlliesDad wrote: »

The Directive is not a law, just advice for governments on how much protection a consumer should have.

Ahhh... I see. Thanks for the clarification.

wuckfit

RadoJo wrote: »

OP - Think of amp valves like guitar strings - you wouldn't expect them to last forever, and replacing them is pretty much standard practice when using them over a long period of time. It might be worth your son learning basic amp maintenance as then he would be better placed to know whether something is actually broken or whether it just needs a component replacing - I'm guessing if he could have identified the problem and replaced the valves himself, then it wouldn't have cost as much as it did.

Replacing valves is all very well if you know what you're doing. Some circuits require re-biasing when new valves are fitted. I'm not sure if the fender circuit is auto-biasing (which does not require re-biasing) or not.
BE WARNED: Valve Amplifiers contain Lethal voltages. (even for a few minutes after you switch them off ) I'd expect a minimum of 350v dc to be present. only tackle it if you know exactly what you're doing.
better to let someone else do it if you're unsure. it might cost you. but it's better than being dead.

Nukumai

simoncurtis wrote: »

Hi. My son has a Fender guitar amplifier which is now a year old. It is now back with a bill of £120 for repairs and replacement of the valves.

Geez. I was a professional musician many years ago and owned one amp whose tubes (valves) were over 20 years old and another whose tubes were 10 years old. In fact...I only remember ever having to replace one set of tubes on any of my amps, and that was after the unit was dropped. Other than that they never needed any work doing.

They sure don't make them like they used to!

yummymummy79

The EU 2 year thing is the most wrongly-quoted thing in consumer law, as it was originally misreported in the media. I lost track of how long I took in having to explain it to people who kept calling in about it when it originally hit the fan.

RadoJo

wuckfit wrote: »

Replacing valves is all very well if you know what you're doing. Some circuits require re-biasing when new valves are fitted. I'm not sure if the fender circuit is auto-biasing (which does not require re-biasing) or not.
BE WARNED: Valve Amplifiers contain Lethal voltages. (even for a few minutes after you switch them off ) I'd expect a minimum of 350v dc to be present. only tackle it if you know exactly what you're doing.
better to let someone else do it if you're unsure. it might cost you. but it's better than being dead.

Quite right - I was thinking more that being able to identify the cause of the problem is half the battle, but I did neglect to mention the safety aspect and it's much better to be safe than sorry!

roger196

OlliesDad wrote: »

The Directive is not a law, just advice for governments on how much protection a consumer should have. Basically this directive suggests that consumers should have up to 2 years to be able to have recompense with a retailer.

The Sales of Goods Act already gives protection way above this act as it provides protection for up to 6 years (as long as it is reasonable).

I cannot find any mention of 6 years in my copy of the Sale of Goods Act. It would be most helpful if you would direct me to the section number that I have missed.

A directive is not a suggestion as can be seen from:-
Article 288 of the Treaty of the European Union
A directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods.
.

yummymummy79

The 6 years isn't specifically mentioned in SOGA as far as I know, but it's in the Limitation Act (1980?) which sets the amount of time in which you can make a claim.

We didn't adopt that EU thing cos we had better than that already so it would have been pointless.

roger196

yummymummy79 wrote: »

The 6 years isn't specifically mentioned in SOGA as far as I know, but it's in the Limitation Act (1980?) which sets the amount of time in which you can make a claim.

We didn't adopt that EU thing cos we had better than that already so it would have been pointless.

I think you are confusing the time limit for making a claim and the warranty period. Most white goods shops / manufacturers try to limit their warranty period to one year. It is because the SOGA is open to interpretation as to what length the warranty should be that the EU Directive is so important. It establishes that you can have a minimum 2 year warranty whatever the shop tries to tell you otherwise.