2nd hand damaged phone

jamaicanrum

i bought a 2nd hand nokia n96 unboxed on thursday, today the joypad bit on the middle has fell off. i've took it back to the shop and they are saying it has not been caused by wear and tear but has actually been broken off. They are saying i've got to pay £20 to get it fixed.
I asked if i berudgingly pay to have it fixed if i can have a refund and they
are saying no. I'm so annoyed as i've alreaddy paid £190. I've told them i'm going to citizens advice on tuesday and they arn't bothered in the slightest. does anyone know where i stand on this matter.

the_insider

Which shop was it? Is it a high street store sellling re-conditioned phones or an independent retailer?

pulliptears

the_insider wrote: »

Which shop was it? Is it a high street store sellling re-conditioned phones or an independent retailer?

I directed Jamaicanrum here, so I can tell you in her absence she purchased the phone from a local indoor market.

4743hudsonj

the_insider wrote: »

Which shop was it? Is it a high street store sellling re-conditioned phones or an independent retailer?

What relevance does this have?

OP your rights under the Sale of goods act apply providing they were acting as a business (not a car boot or something). This allows you to reject the goods within a reasonable time for a full refund. If the trader wishes to dispute this they must prove that the fault was not an inherent fault and was caused by misuse, not the other way round! They wont be able to do this.

Speak to consumer direct for more info and print outs of the law etc, draft letters too.

If they dont comply then you will need to go through small claims court for a small fee which you can claim off of them. Consumer direct can tell you more about this when and if you need it though.

esuhl

4743hudsonj wrote: »

OP your rights under the Sale of goods act apply providing they were acting as a business (not a car boot or something). This allows you to reject the goods within a reasonable time for a full refund.

I'm pretty sure you don't have any blanket rights to reject goods under the Sale of Goods Act (SoGA). Are you thinking of the Distance Selling Regulations? They allow you several days to reject goods if they are ordered by post/Internet, but wouldn't apply if the phone was bought in person.

The SoGA does cover you for purchases made from a business (as a market trader would be). However the reduced price of second-hand goods would be expected to reflect the higher risks of an item breaking or needing repairs sooner than a new item. Since you bought the phone so recently, that should give you a better chance of getting a refund or having the phone repaired.

I found this page about how the SoGA applies to second-hand goods, which may help:

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/second-hand/

4743hudsonj

esuhl wrote: »

I'm pretty sure you don't have any blanket rights to reject goods under the Sale of Goods Act (SoGA). Are you thinking of the Distance Selling Regulations? They allow you several days to reject goods if they are ordered by post/Internet, but wouldn't apply if the phone was bought in person.

No soga does have separate rights to rejection which are different from the normal repair/refund/replace remedies. The right to rejection is only open for a "reasonable time" after purchase which is defined by the time a reasonable person would take to find a fault of this nature in the given circumstances.

So if you have a faulty product that you find as soon as you have bought the product, you dont have to accept a repair. Soga allows you to flat out demand a refund (or replacement if you wish and they can provide it)

esuhl

Ah, yes - good point! I've just had another look at the SoGA and you should have a reasonable time to reject goods. I imagine that the sooner you indicate that you are excercising your right to reject them, the stronger your case would be.

4743hudsonj

esuhl wrote: »

Ah, yes - good point! I've just had another look at the SoGA and you should have a reasonable time to reject goods. I imagine that the sooner you indicate that you are excercising your right to reject them, the stronger your case would be.

Yes, like everything else its very grey as what reasonable is.

The best way to look at it is, have i accepted the goods in the condition i bought them?

Ie was everything ok and i was happy until something developed.

If you turn on a camera, and find its usb is broken a week later, that would be deemed as rejections as you had not yet accepted the camera in full working order as you hadnt tested all its features yet.

somethingcorporate

4743hudsonj wrote: »

If you turn on a camera, and find its usb is broken a week later, that would be deemed as rejections as you had not yet accepted the camera in full working order as you hadnt tested all its features yet.

Just to clarify it's not about ACTUALLY testing the features here, simply having the time to. Whether you do or not is your lookout. If you do not use a camera for a year (or a certain feature of) that later turns out to be faulty you cannot rely on the outright rejection as the time passed would be reasonable in which to inspect the goods.

Good info though Hudson, as always. You're a credit to the CR forum.