Advice on what to do regarding faulty Nintendo DS through Play.com

re-rewind

Hi, I bought a Nintendo DS to put aside for my sons birthday because we happened to have the money and it looked like a good deal. To start with the DS didn't charge properly, the little charging light went out within minutes dand even though it was left on charge for about 16 hours the battery lasted about 3 minutes and died, after contacting the seller he sent out a new battery, after trying this new battery, charging light still doesn't work properly but after charging battery seems to be holding out alright. But now the sound stopped working and come on crackly and went off very quickly every now and then, the sound would stay on if you pushed the volume control in a little.

I may have taken the wrong steps but Im hoping someone can point me in the right direction as to where I should be heading towards, here is a copy of all the emails sent so far:


Dear ATECH1494,

A customer has sent you the following question about an item you have sold on PlayTrade. Please respond directly to the Buyer.

Buyer's Email Address:


Buyer's Nickname:


Item:
Nintendo DS Lite Console - White (Nintendo DS)

Subject:
Battery Faulty?

Message:
Hi,

We bought the DS a short while ago for our sons birthday which was yesterday, we charged it up the night before and when he came to use it, the battery lasted all of about 3-4 minutes when not plugged in, it works fine when it is plugged in though which makes me think there is something wrong with the battery?


Many Thanks

Alex

Kind Regards,
PlayTrade



Hi,this item was bought more than 3months ago and it's taking too long. what will you want me to do? pls advice. thanks


I'd like you to replace the battery please as that is what I believe is faulty, I may have bought it 3 months ago but under distance selling regulations it is up to you to sort it out, it is not a long time and upon first use I would expect it to work as it should, this is not an unreasonable request. Please could you provide an address for me to send the battery pack to please and what details to include and I will send it via recorded post.

Many Thanks


Alex



Hi, at present we do not have ds batteries. i will have to place an order with my supplier and this will take up to a forthnight. If you're ready to wait, pls let me know. i will advice you keep the battery for now so that you can have one to use for your console.
just in case you need to speak to someone, pls call ************.
thanks


Hi,

Just wondering if there is any update on the battery as I havent heard anything from you and it has now been a fortnight?

Many Thanks

Alex


Hi, we've been having serious delays with regards to delivery of stock because of the Icelandic volcano. I will definitely let you as soon as the battery is available.
We appreciate your patience.
Thanks


Hello, received the battery and seems to work alright despite the light on the DS going out very quickly when charging. Im afriad though that the sound has now started playing up and will only work when the volume button is pressed and held in, sometimes when its on it comes on very quickoly and the goers away again so Im almost certain its a fault. Im sorry for the inconvenience but it appears this DS does not seem to be a brand new item as we believed it to be. I would like to return for a refund please.

The only problme ourend is that unfortunately our son has broken the charger plug so either we can pay for one to replace it or we can source an original replacement to send back with it. sorry for the inconvenience to you.

Cheers

Alex


Hi,we are able to replace the item at this moment but not a refund. pls send back the ds console so that we can examine it and take necessary action with our supplier. we had never had such complain before and therefore we have to take serious action to sort out the problem.
send item to *********************************** .
sorry for the inconvenience caused.
thanks


Hi,

As a customer Im afraid I have the rights to ask this of a Business selling a supposedly new product that is faulty and has not worked, bearing in mind that although the order was placed some months ago, this is its 2nd or 3rd use, the item is faulty and I expect a refund.

If you still decide that a refund is not possible, I shall be contacting the Office of Fair Trading to report your business and send them a copy of the emails you have been sending me.

I hope we can sort this out without having to go that far.

Many thanks and sorry for the inconvenience to you.

Alex

dreamypuma

The sellers is being entirely reasonable about a replacement, and is well within his rights to offer this as remedy.

It's not the sellers problem if you chose not to use the DS for three months. You also seem to quoting your "rights" from a "Ladybird" book.

re-rewind

Im not sure what you mean regarding the Ladybird book comment but the information was sourced through looking and reading through the actual distance selling regulations and not made up or given off the top of my head.

Im not being unreasonable expecting this product to work upon first use and from what i believe, I thought I had a right to a refund should a product be faulty? It was described as new

Proc

No right to refund. Although the service appears slow, (but they did mention this was due to volcano) they have asked what you want as a resolution and offered to fix it.

With regards to the "Ladybird" book comment, it's because you don't word things very well. "Under distance selling regulations it is up to you to sort it out". Consumer rights for Dummies?

By the looks of things they've offered a full replacement. I reckon that's reasonable service because many would only offer a repair.

dreamypuma

re-rewind wrote: »

Im not sure what you mean regarding the Ladybird book comment but the information was sourced through looking and reading through the actual distance selling regulations and not made up or given off the top of my head.

Im not being unreasonable expecting this product to work upon first use and from what i believe, I thought I had a right to a refund should a product be faulty? It was described as new

You'll have to quote the section of DSR which gives you a refund after three months for us.

During the first three months of ownership, you had plenty of opportunity to inspect the goods. The fact that you chose not to (for whatever reason) is not the sellers problem

The seller has an obligation to demonstrate that the goods were not sold to you with an inherent manufacturing fault which led to the products failure. However by way of remedy they have no obligation to offer a refund, and are quite within their rights to offer a replacement or repair.

re-rewind

This is what I was referring to when I said about the refund, I realsie I may have misused this information, but looking through the document I cannot see where it should apply to my case?

After the deadline for cancellation has passed, a consumer
claims that goods are faulty or services do not conform to
the contract. Do I have to refund the consumer’s money?
3.67 In general the DSRs do not affect the consumer’s rights under other
legislation, for example the Sale of Goods Act 1979 or the Supply
of Goods and Services Act 1982. If the goods or services do not
conform to the contract and consumers exercise their rights to reject
them, you will have to refund their money.
3.68 If goods develop a fault within the first six months of being sold,
the law presumes that the fault was there when you sold the goods –
unless you can show otherwise. You should not charge return costs
for goods that have been rejected because they are faulty.
3.69 If you offer a replacement for faulty goods that have been returned
by the consumer, the cancellation rights under the DSRs will run for
seven working days from the day after the day the consumer
receives the replacement goods, provided you have previously
complied with the information giving provisions in the DSRs –
see paragraph 3.10 for more information’.

Because I realise now that this is talking about a contractual period, when reading this before, i was probably rushed and irritated that my son got a faulty product on his birthday that couldn't be used properly. I was also referring to the Sale of Goods Act where it states this:

Six months...and counting

If your claim is about a problem that arises within six months of buying the product, it's up to the retailer to prove that the goods were fit for purpose – or 'as described' – when it sold them. It is also responsible for proving that the problem was caused by you (for example, because you had an accident with the item that damaged it). Beyond six months, it's up to you to prove that the problem was the retailer's.
So you may need to prove that the fault was not down to wear and tear or damage you caused, and that the product (or a component) should have lasted longer than it did. To do this you may need an expert's report, for example from an engineer or mechanic.

Apologies If I have been mislead, but reading through all these regulations and everything is not that easy when your in the middle of academic studies and have a family with two children.

rogue_element

Just wondering a few things..was this item sold as brand new? What sort of packaging did it come with? Was there a manual and a box?

I bought a batch of "refurbished" DS lites from a seller in the past to resell and they turned out to be chinese fake/broken rubbish. They had similar problems as you are describing - sound cracking, not charging. Also, they generally dont quite look right - like the case doesnt quite fit or close properly. Perhaps you could drop me a PM with some photos and I could tell you if my suspicions are correct.

If the seller is sending you dodgy chinese copies/refurbs you should request an immediate and full refund regardless of whether it works as they are "not as described" - not by Nintendo, not new and also "unfit for purpose" & possibly unsafe due to non CE approved chargers.

re-rewind

that did double cross my mind yesterday that I may not have read the description fully, but I went back over my past orders on play.com and it is described as new and it did come in a box with manuals

peachyprice

re-rewind wrote: »

Dear ATECH1494,

A customer has sent you the following question about an item you have sold on PlayTrade. Please respond directly to the Buyer.

I notice that you bought this through Playtrade not Play, which is no different from buying on ebay. If Atec1494 is a private seller do DSR apply?

Print_Screen

peachyprice wrote: »

I notice that you bought this through Playtrade not Play, which is no different from buying on ebay. If Atec1494 is a private seller do DSR apply?

Also are Play.com themselves not based in Jersey?
So UK DSR would not apply anyway, although I do believe that Jersey has an equivalent.

4743hudsonj

Print_Screen wrote: »

Also are Play.com themselves not based in Jersey?
So UK DSR would not apply anyway, although I do believe that Jersey has an equivalent.

Yes they have an almost word for word equivalent of DSR and SOGA and all the important bits are the same.

First Op as said DSR has nothing to do with this, its only important upto 7 working days after delivery. Your dealing with SOGA and SOGA as the goods are not "of satisfactory quality" or " free from defects".

It seems like the seller is a business as they are talking about suppliers etc.

Anyways, as also mentioned, the seller is being reasonable in their approach and you are not. Under SOGA they are perfectly entitled to offer a replacement an indefinite number of times. You could counter this and ask for a refund and take it to the courts but you have very little chance of getting it over a replacement and with all the cost and time involved in getting this, its just better to accept the replacement.