Is the shop assistant correct?

DonkeyBoy

First time poster (long time reader of the site): hello everybody.

I have just come back from curries and I would like your guys advice about what I was told by the "customer services" guy.

Background: I bought a Liteon DVD + HDD recorder in November 2005 from Curries. It has recently stopped recording DVDs. I have called Liteon support who said it would need to be repaired - they also suggested that I take it back to Curries to see if they would replace it. [A replacement would be preferable since I don't want to be without the box for a month or so.]

So I asked the guy behind the customer services desk and he said that before he could replace it he would need an "EA" or replacement authorisation number from Liteon (by the sound of it this means that Liteon accepts that the good was faulty and lets Curries replace it).

Anyway, being a bank holiday, Liteon support was closed and the assistant basically said "that's all I can do". I was not having this and asked about what are my statutory rights to demand a refund because the goods are now faulty. The story that the guy said was that after 30 days, I have the manufacturers warrantee only: Curries have no obligation to reimburse me. I didn't like the sound of that and got the manager but he was singing from the same hymn sheet.

Is what he said correct or is he just fobbing me off?

I have had a quick look at the Sale of Goods act but it seems a bit grey about faults that arise after 6 months of purchase.

Current state of play is that my box is at Curries and they will contact Liteon tomorrow but I would still prefer a replacement rather that repair.

Can you guys offer any advice?

Kilty_2

That's lies, your contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer and the Sale of Goods Act states that goods must be of merchantable quality and last a reasonable amount of time.

stugib

- Faulty within the time you have to inspect the goods and reject them if faulty (typically a few days but depends on goods) = full refund.
- Faulty within first 6 months = assumed faulty at time of purchase. Replacement or repair (doesn't say who decides which). Some say that 'assumed faulty at time of purchase'='not fit for purpose'=full refund but never seen anything to support this.
- Faulty after 6 months, up to 6 years depending on product = you'll have to prove it was faulty at time of purchase/hasn't lasted as long as reasonably expected etc etc. Replacement of repair.

If repair or replacement uneconomical or causes unreasonable inconvenience then can get refund, may not be full refund, depends on how long you had it. In either case on refund/repair they'll be entitled to check it out to make sure it is faulty and it's not something caused by misuse.

DonkeyBoy wrote:

The story that the guy said was that after 30 days, I have the manufacturers warrantee only

Cr'ap! Your contract is with Currys, not Liteon. You don't need to deal with Liteon at all (though in some instances it may turn out quicker to do so).

davsidipp

contract is with the retailer you should go back and quote the sale of goods act they should replace it straight away or phone trading standards who will tell you the same.

davsidipp

forgot to say within 12 month guarantee

hollydays

Currys are always doing this sort of thing.

trisontana

I had the same thing happen with a £15 Casio watch at H.Samuel. It stopped working after six months, so I tool in back to the shop expecting an immediate replacement, and even quoted the Sale of Goods Act to them. They would not have it but insisted sending the watch back to Casio for a "report". This took 8 weeks before they finally decided the watch was faulty and they gave me a new one. It must have cost them more that £15 to go through all that palava of sending it back to Casio.

woohoo_postingid

To be honest, bank holidays are a bit of a nightmare for shop staff as a large number of support phone lines are closed as are Head Office and anyone who would be able to authorise this sort of thing won't be working either. Your best bet is to take it in on a normal working day.

As has been said, it is probably quicker for the store to deal with the manufacturer as they may authorise an immediate exchange which would be the best course of action.

Some suppliers won't let retailers repair their products and prefer to deal with warranty claims themselves. Either the retailer's repair guys aren't accredited to repair the product or it is from a customer service point of view.

See what the store comes back with, they may get a replacement authorisation and you will be happy.

But as I said, bank holidays are a nightmare.

DonkeyBoy

Yeah I completely sympathise about bank holidays.

Hopefully they can call Liteon tomorrow and they (hopefully) will agree a replacement can be made. But if that is not the case I wanted to know where I stood as regards to not accepting a repair and getting a refund / replacement. Otherwise I stands to miss a lot of TV - which in my books is a pretty bad thing.

lemmings999

what you'll proberbly find is that trading standards say that unless YOU can PROVE the goods were faulty at time of sale (as the item is over 6 months old so reverse burdon of proof no longer applies) currys are within the law to repair the item.
that is what trading standards have said on every issue i have had,
i have rung them so many time the woman working at the local office knows me by voice

davsidipp

i had faulty straightners from ghd that sparked at the end went back to hairdressers were i bought them she said send them back to ghd.spoke to trading standards who told me to quote the sale of goods act 1984 as the straightners were 11 months old hairdresser replaced them straight away.dont take no old crap from currys stand your ground you are entitled to a replacement.