What can I do about my broken TV from Comet?

Ben1985_2

I bought a TV from Comet in November on a 12 month payment plan of which I have about £80 left to pay. Over the last 2 months or so the TV has started to emit a high pitched whistle whenever it is switched on. At first it was only every now and then and dissappeared if I turned the TV off and back on again. However, in the last two weeks or so it has been a constant fixture, to the point where watching it has become unbearable because of the noise. When I rang Comet earlier today I was told that they will send an engineer out to try and fix it but that if they cannot find a fault they will charge me £30!! I am willing to let them try and fix it in the house but do not want to be left without the TV that I am paying for. What are my rights if they either cannot find a fault (even though there obviously is one!) or if they want to take it way to repair. Can I ask for my money back or a straight swap or do I have to let them try and repair it first?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks

mrs_baggins

I had this problem with comet as well. Mine was a brand new plasma screen (twice!) that was just 2 days out of the 30 day exchange. they said that if an engineer called i would be charged so held off for a while as the problem I had was very intermittant and knowing my luck would not be there when he called.in the end he called out and had to take the Tv away for repair. I argued with the management that as the tv was only a couple of weekd old that they should leave me with another tv but they didnt. Ultimately they exchanged the TV with another that also broke within 2 weeks and I then had a third which has been ok. My case was slightly different as it was practically new but at the time I read lots of very scathing reports about comets service and didnt let my hubby deal with them at all as he would have just ranted at them as that's his way. I went to the branch and very calmly stated my case and just kept phoning very politely and calmly. they got so fed up they referred my case to their head office in the end I had a good result. I think as your tv is a bit older than mine you have to let them repair it and cannot insist on a replacemt and also they do not have to leave you with a working tv set in its place. I took this all up with trading standards when mine went wrong. best of luck with them

tawnyowls

If you've got money left to pay on your payment plan, it's presumably less than a year old, thus should be within the warranty period - take it back and get a new one. You don't have to accept a repair - check the details on your warranty, find your receipt (which I presume you've kept!), and take it in to the shop.

WaveyDave_2

If you've taken it on a payment plan, raise the issue with the credit company. They could be liable as much as comet

Linky

Alan_M_2

tawnyowls wrote:

If you've got money left to pay on your payment plan, it's presumably less than a year old, thus should be within the warranty period - take it back and get a new one. You don't have to accept a repair - check the details on your warranty, find your receipt (which I presume you've kept!), and take it in to the shop.

Where does this idea come from that you're automatically entitled to a brand new replacement? I've always been of the understanding that the unit must be irreperable before this applies and the supplier must be given a reasonable opportunity to repair it before it's replaced. (Unless of course it's stated differently in the warranty).

Is there something in consumer rights that I've missed? If there is , what is it becuase I'd be genuinely interested to know.

tawnyowls

You've just answered your own question. Most electrical goods carrying a manufacturer's warranty will offer a refund or replacement if the goods fail within that time, and there is usually no requirement for the customer to accept one rather than the other. That's why I said to the OP to check their warranty details, because it all hinges on this. If those are the terms of the warranty, then the OP just needs to take it back to the shop, and the shop must honour the manufacturer's guarantee. Such a warranty is completely separate from 'statutory rights'. If the goods are outside this warranty period, then the Sale of Goods Act applies, and the customer may have to give an opportunity for repair. Clearly, therefore, the OP needs to act ASAP, before this warranty period runs out. A check on the manufacturer's website will usually confirm the warranty period.

Alan_M_2

It was the way you'd stated in your previous post that "You don't have to accept repair" I've read this on a few threads from various posters and I have to say most warranties I've had to exercise or have read express clearly that the manufacturer must be given the opportunity to repair first.

I was simply posing the question in case I was unaware of some rights outside of manufacturers warranties.

On a seperate note, Comet or Curry's or whever thie item was bought are a retailer, not a manufacturer, they buy a product and sell it on. Your beef (and ultimately guarantee) is really with the manufacturer not the retailer, if we're honest about it.

tawnyowls

Fair enough - I could have made it clearer.

Your beef may be, but your contract is with the seller, not the manufacturer. This comes up constantly in letter pages where a newspaper/magazine tries to sort out a consumer's problem, only to find that the consumer contacted the manufacturer and the manufacturer referred them back to the seller, but in the meantime the warranty's run out, and it all gets really messy. First port of call must be the seller.

The Office of Fair Trading have quite a good summary on their site: http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Your+Rights+When+Shopping/your+rights+buying+goods.htm

As you can see, even without a manufacturer's warranty, you may still be able to reject a repair and insist on a refund for faulty goods provided they're returned within a 'reasonable' time. Unfortunately, the government has never decided on what exactly is a 'reasonable' time, and it's likely to be a lot less for a kettle than a washing machine, for instance. In practice, if you're outside the manufacturer's warranty, you're unlikely to be considered as returning within a reasonable time period.

Alan_M_2

Agreed, although it seems to vary from appliance to appliance, with washing machines you get the direct to manufacturer route, same with computer components, with TV's taking it back to the retailer seems to be the done thing.