Faulty TV 14 months after purchase from pixmania

masai_2

I bought a Toshiba 37" TV in March last year for £425 from pixmania, so its just over the 1 year manufacturer warranty. And as luck would have it, it wont turn on now!

So I called pixmania customer services on Monday 10th May and explained the situation. At first they said I will need to send it to them and they will send it to the manufacturer and then get back to me with a price for the repair. I wasn't happy with the prospect of paying a costly repair when the TV is just outside the 1 year warranty, so I started spouted some Sales of goods act stuff at them (Didn't know they were based in France at that point) and then I was told they will speak to head office and get back to me.

The next day, on Tuesday, I received an email with a couple of PDF's. One was a returns label and another an incident report. But I still unsure if it was a free repair and whether I had to ship it back to them at my own expense.

So I called again to query those 2 points and was told they will speak to head office again and get back to me.

The next day, Wednesday, I received another email with a pre-paid UPS label for the parcel but still know confirmation as to whether or not the repair was free or not. So I rang again and again I was told they will speak to head office and get back to me.

So yesterday, I had not received an email so I called again and was told YES YOUR REPAIR WILL BE FREE AND IF IT CANNOT BE REPAIRED YOU WILL RECEIVE A REFUND. She went' on to say make sure you include all accessories and packaging incase it cannot be repaired. Result! I thought, they are picking it up for free and fixing it for free or I'm getting a refund, can't say fairer than that.

So today (Friday 14th May 2010) the UPS man came to pick up the TV. About an hour later I received this email...

"Dear Mr. XXX,

we are unable to quote a price for the reparation of your product before we have the product in our warehouse. It will be sent to the manufacturer and then we will be able to establish the price. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Best regards,

Team Pixmania
Pixmania.com : Number 1 in Europe. Low prices guaranteed. Always in stock.
Pixmania is a Fotovista company."

What the hell?? So I called them again and explained that I was told I was getting a free repair or refund and that the TV was just picked up by the courier and is on route to you and then I received this email, whats going on?He told me there is no information about it being a free repair, after 1 year has passed it is chargeable. He is going to speak to head office and get back to me on Monday. I said to him that if it was not going to be a free repair, why would I send it all the way to France when I could get it repaired myself here in the UK.

So legally where do I stand? I take it that the sales of goods act is not relevant as pixmania are a French company? What about any EU laws that may be applicable? I just want to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible as reading all the comments about pixmania it seems Iv'e got a battle on my hands!

I paid for the TV using paypal, £80 was already in my paypal account and the rest was lifted from my MasterCard credit card if that makes any difference?

Thanks in advance for any help

superscaper

I posted a response here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/677665

OlliesDad

Section 75 won't cover you as the payment was done through PayPal.

You may have recourse under french law, but getting them to do anything may be difficult.

masai_2

superscaper wrote: »

I posted a response here

thanks, wasn't expecting such a quick response!

OlliesDad wrote: »

Section 75 won't cover you as the payment was done through PayPal.

You may have recourse under french law, but getting them to do anything may be difficult.

Damn, I thought because paypal took the money from my credit card I'd be doubly protected!

OlliesDad

masai wrote: »

Damn, I thought because paypal took the money from my credit card I'd be doubly protected!

Unfortunately there has to be a direct link between the credit card company and the retailer, but Paypal are a 3rd party.

masai_2

OlliesDad wrote: »

Unfortunately there has to be a direct link between the credit card company and the retailer, but Paypal are a 3rd party.

Good to know for any future purchases through paypal! Cheers

4743hudsonj

12. Guarantees and After-Sales Service
12.1 Legal guarantees

Independently of the contractual services provided in application of article 13 of the present general terms and conditions of sale, all products sold by us, no matter whether they are new or used, come with a legal guarantee concerning product conformity and latent defects, as outlined in the following legal clauses.

- Article L.211-4 (French Consumer Code): The seller is required to deliver a product that complies with the description given in the contract. The seller is also responsible for dealing with any conformity complaints regarding the product that may arise upon delivery. The seller is also responsible for conformity complaints that may arise from packaging, mounting instructions or installation, when this has been assigned to the seller in accordance with the contract or has been carried out by the seller.

- Article L.211-5 (French Consumer Code): To comply with the terms of the contract, the product must:

1° Be suitable for the purpose usually associated with such a product and, where appropriate:
- correspond to the description given by the seller and have the features that the seller presented to the buyer in the form of a sample or model
– have the features that a buyer might reasonably expect it to have considering the public statements made by the seller, the producer or their representative, including advertising and labelling;

2° Or have the features defined by a mutual agreement between the parties, or be suitable for any special requirements that the buyer may have, which were made known to the seller and which the latter had agreed to.

- Article L.211-12 (French Consumer Code): Any action resulting from non-conformities lapses two years after the product is delivered.

- Article 1641 (French Civil Code): The seller is responsible for latent defects in the product sold which render it unsuitable for its intended use, or which impair its capacity to be used so much so that the buyer would not have purchased it, or would only have paid a reduced price for it, had the buyer been aware of them.

- Article 1648 (French Civil Code): The buyer must take any action resulting from defects within a period of two years following the date on which the defect was discovered

Looks like France have adhered pretty close to the EU directive and not added much more protection but still gives you adequate protection by the looks of it.

masai_2

thanks for that, just found that info on pixmania's own site. Lets see how they react if I need to quote their own site!

cajef

I do not wish to frighten you but be prepared for a long battle, it took Pixmania 5 months to sort out a problem I had with an item that was still under warranty and that was after countless emails and phone calls, they are a rubbish company I would never purchase anything from them again.

masai_2

cajef wrote: »

I do not wish to frighten you but be prepared for a long battle, it took Pixmania 5 months to sort out a problem I had with an item that was still under warranty and that was after countless emails and phone calls, they are a rubbish company I would never purchase anything from them again.

More and more people are telling me the same! I really hope not, as I this is our main TV and what with the world cup around the corner the last thing I want is no telly! 5 months is taking the biscuit especially as your item was still under warranty.

custardy

this is why i wouldnt make a big purchase from pixmania
infact i went as far as to buy locally to avoid having to return a large TV via post