Help needed regarding my rights as a buyer, ps long and boring sorry

Bboy_Rusty

Hi everyone,
Well i'm aware of the Sale of gods act and the buyers right to a certain degree.

I will explain my situation and also post message sent between myself and the buyer and would appreciate if someone could let me know where I stand legaly.

I purchased a SciPhone on ebay 4 months ago today it was on a buy it now or nearest offer, not long after having the phone (approx a month) it was no longer being recognised by the pc which was one of the ways for it to be charged; the charger that came with it also broke within the first two weeks due to this I emailed the seller and he said send it back and we will look at it.

Upon inspection he said it was damaged and nedeed a replacement in the phone where the lead is attached he then mentioned a charge but said if I believe I haven't been forcefull it would be waivered. Due to connecting and disconnecting I refuted my inability to plugging a lead in and out. In my opinion the item was unfit for purpose!

Not long after recieving the repaired phone the touch screen stopped responding and due to the pressure i alpplied the screen cracked, it is evedent that this was so due to the nature of the crack on the screen. Here are the mails sent between myself and the seller.



Buyer (Me)

Hello, since purchasing this phone from you I have had a couple of problems. Firstly when I opened the back to insert a batterry a screw fell out, this I overlooked. The next thing to go wrong was I cannot get the phone to be recognised on my pc. Is there any way this can be resolved? thank you.

Seller
Hi there sometimes you need drivers depending on
operating system you have please visit
for help if no joy please come
back.

Hi there the power surge doesn't sound good but I
would suggest trying the xp drivers
failing that we can swap for another
thanks.

OK. send it back to us and we will look at it.

Hi there received phone thanks after looking it
seems the the connector has been damaged (this is
usually due to be inserted incorrectly) we would
normally charge £15 for the repair of this unless
you feel you have used the item carefully?
Many thanks

Hi its ok will pop a new one in the post tomorrow
for you.

All the above are responses from the seller after the first time the phone broke.

Buyer
Hello again, If you read my last message to you, I mentioned cutting my losses as I personaly did not feel the phone was worth what money I had already paid for it before having to send it back the first time. As well as the problems you are aware of people told me that communication was distorted and hard to hear, as well as this the connection between phone and lead was very tempramental. I also beleive it is self evident that the screen was cracked due to its poor touch screen response. Aside all these problems my last response from you was, "It would seem you have had a rogue phone and if you send it back we will replace it free of charge." I would say if you are serious about there being a charge you have been very misleading! I hope this issue can be resolved. Thank you,


I am well aware of The Sale of Goods act 1979 and know that I have statutory rights and there are also obligations on you as a seller.

The item I purchased was not fit for purpose, whether this be due to the poor quality of the item and its lack of durability or as you stated a possible "rouge phone", I am not a heavy handed person and used the phone how it should be used and only for the purpose it was designed for; nothing more. Hence it was not of satisfactory quality

Seller
I suggest you send it back so we are able to look at it. We can then discuss a solution with you.

It would seem you have had a rogue phone and if you send it back we will replace it free of charge.

Hi there received phone thanks we can replace the
phone as suggested but there will be a price for
the cracked screen repair of £15 how would you
like to pay it? Thanks


OK, thankyou for sending the information. We will look into the matter again and get back to you.

Hi there after looking at the various emails to and from yourself it seems this was already the second phone you had off us as the 1st one was had a damaged usb connector which we replaced for free (normally £15 as it was damaged by customer)

Also yes you are correct we did say we would replace the phone for free again but that was a mistake on our behalf as we only will replace items that are faulty, also if you were having problems with the phone you should have mentioned this before the item was damaged
With all this in mind we are willing to replace the item with a fully working reconditioned unit but this will come with no warranty
many thanks

Ok I imagine many people may look at this thread and turn away as there is too much info and maybe not so clearly set out in the way i've pasted the messages! If anyone doesnt find this to be the case and can tell me if I am within my rights to demand a refund and how to go about it, your help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Andy

lindseykim13

imho from whats posted it seems the seller has been more than fair, don't know if others agree but not a lot you can do after 4 months.
It just seems to me that you don't like/broke the phone and now want a refund.
They have offered you another phone which i believe they don't have to so i would take it.

jennypdolphin

Bboy_Rusty wrote: »

Not long after recieving the repaired phone the touch screen stopped responding and due to the pressure i alpplied the screen cracked, it is evedent that this was so due to the nature of the crack on the screen.

Sorry but you have stated that you cracked the screen by pressing too hard. If you had communicated the lack of response to the seller before this had happened then they may have been more accomodating.

As I can see it they have helped you all they can, you have admitted to breaking the screen, why should they fix something you broke?

pinkshoes

Tell them you don't want a replacement, but want a refund. I would accept the cost of £15 deducted, as you have admitted to breaking it.

I presume it was a business seller?

emlou2009

You cracked the screen and broke the charging port, I think he has been very fair in what he has done so far. I used to sell mobile phones in a shop and all we could have done was to send the handset away to the manufacturer to be checked, and usually the manufacturer would say that it had been damaged and the owner would have to pay for a repair. So it would seem that he has provided you with better customer service than you would have got on the high street!

Bboy_Rusty

I understand and agree what everyone is saying the buyer has been nothing but fair!

My reason for asking for clarity is that under the sale of goods act with rights and responsibilities an item should be durable and fit for purpose, I have never had any problems with other phones or electrical items due to heavy handedness. Which indicated to me that this was a very poorly made item. If I have had nothing but problem after problem with an item to its poor quality then why should the consumer have to suffer. At one point he did say sounds like a rouge phone! I take into account that was possible.I have also read that within a six month period there is something that may be done. I believe the best option suggested would be to ask for a part refund and emitt the cost of the new screen. Thanks again, Andy

George666

Hi OP it does not matter where or who you bought this phone from under the sale of goods act relating to the rules for electrical goods you would only be covered if the fault was present with the item when you first bought it for example there was a slight crack in the screen that then expanded.
If there had been a slight crack in the screen when you first recieved the phone or any other visable fault you should have returned it to the seller straight away to be covered by the sale of goods act, the fact you kept the phone means that you were happy with the overall quality of the phone when you first recieved it so now you are not covered.
For any electrical goods you buy you must return them within a reasonable time to be covered by the sale of goods act this is dependant on what the fault is and if the fault is visable.
I would say a couple of months is not a reasonable time period for a touch screen phone with a cracked screen as a slight drop can crack the screen quite easily.
I suggest that before you send the seller any more messages go down to your local Argos or other electrical retailer and ask them if they would accept the return of a touch screen phone with a cracked screen when you bought the phone a couple of months ago.
I bet even if you have the recipt the answer will be no we will not but we can get it repaired and we will have to charge you for this.
I am not saying that you damaged the phone in anyway I am just stating what you are and what you are not covered for under the sale of goods act in relation to electrical goods.
And think about this from the sellers point of view the seller has no way of knowing what you have done with the phone over the last couple of months or how it has been used, all he knows is that after a couple of months you are returning it with a cracked screen if you sold a phone and this happened to you would you refund the buyer anything I would not refund the buyer a penny and I would never have offered you a working reconditioned phone not after this length of time had passed.
This seller has offered you more than he needed to now, and if you ask for a partial refund do not be suprised if you get a request from the seller for the postage to send your broken phone back to you with no repairs made to it.