Quality Hifi kit faults - Sale of Goods claim or pay up?

goldnet

Dear All

Appreciate your thoughts and advice.

I bought new at a major appointed dealer an Audiolab amplifier and CD player. They cost about £600 each.

The CD player required the CD tray to be repaired a year ago as it wouldn't retract unless held slightly up - a £75 repair - and has now failed again.

At Easter weekend, the amp stopped working. It powers on (click after 3 secs) but the LEDs don't light and nothing more happens. Returned it to the dealer whose engineer says it needs £150 repair to replace the auxiliary power supplies.

OK, £150 in 4 years isn't the earth but I never expected a top-quality amp to require such major work. It's not heavily used, doesn't get moved about or maltreated or constantly run at top volume. I spoke with the manufacturer's service department who said this was a very unusual problem - the person I spoke to had never encountered it. I spoke with another engineer who specialises in Audiolabs - he said it was hard to venture an opinion without seeing the kit but thought at least 5 years use without problems was not unreasonable

My own previous Audiolab had lasted over 10 before requiring repair of a known design fault - this current problem doesn't appear to be widely experienced. Not sure if an unusual fault strengthens or weakens a case for a faulty product.

The Sale of Goods Act provides up to 6 years for a claim on the basis of quality and fitness for purpose - durability being a factor of the equation - presumably in relation to the price paid. Would it be unreasonable to expect a £600 amp to last 5 years or more? If so, is it worth pursuing a claim for the cost of the repair or replacement of the item?

I have put this possibility to the dealer who had initially suggested sending it to the manufacturer for a quote for repair (rather than the quote from their own engineer) rather than any recognition of possible consumer rights. When I pushed further, he said he couldn't authorise a free repair but would discuss this with his area manager and come back to me.

Am I being bloody-minded or just asserting my legal rights? If I go to Court and win, I gain a working amplifier; if I lose, I am in the position I am now and have to pay for the repair. As I said to the dealer, in the hope that they will do the repair to avoid it, neither of us wants the cost and hassle of a court action. Incidentally, do costs get awarded against the losing party in the Small Claims Court?

All comment appreciated - and that's not just the opportunity to shoot me down in flames ;-)

Thanks

4743hudsonj

if you lose in small claims they may be able to claim small costs of travel, and you will have lost your small fee to issue proceedings.

Your case does seem fair but if they dont recognise your request, you will need to pay for a report to be carried out to find if this is an inherent fault. If so your claim will be likely to be successful and you will get all costs paid back but you may only get a partial refund for the product.

Mankysteve

Legally wise you'll need to get a independent engineers report at your expense showing the fault is inherent with the item. If the report finds in your favour you can claim both the report back and either a repair or a refund minus 67% for 4 years use.

If the report is not in your favour you lose out.

elfen

Is there no way the dealer will split the cost of repair with you?

mc33033

I don't think the average man in the street would think that £600 amplifier should require multiple repairs and last only a few years when rarely used in a consumers home. Your indication of life of your previous amp is more like it.

Power supply failing should be easy enough to get a electronic engineer diagnose the fault as a manufacturers defect and therefore get the proof you need. I think if you got a couple of letters of to the trader outlining your potential claim/costs that may be incurred such as engineer reports and your repair costs then you should be able to get them to resolve it.

Don't make the mistake of thinking you can only claim for a % of 6 years if you go for a partial refund - you go for a % of the expected lifespan of the item. Get a MTBF figure from the manufacturer if they give this, as long as your figure is less than this you stand a reasonable chance.