Comet Camera CATASTROPHY

^!£$&

Where Do I even begin the last two months dealing with comet has been a nightmare

I purchased a Nikon digital camera on 31 august 2005 from Comet and in july 06 is started to play up it turned itself off, froze when scrolling through photos on the camera, turned itself off with the shutter open & zoom left out & froze an image indented on the screen.


So off I went to Comet with my mom for moral support the guy i dealt with was very inexpeienced but agredd he felt there was a problem with the camera as is displayed faults when he took a look. So he told me it would need to be sent away and fixed by Nikon which would take up to 28days fine i Said


So around 28 days later I received an note in the post telling me "your unit was ready for collection" My mom picked it up for me as I was at work & went i got it home I realised it had come back without the batteries i out it in which were brand new and instead had dead nikon batteries in the camera also it didnt have its box, instruction leaflets, usb cable, or carry handle all of which it was ent in with!


So Rang customer services who spoke to store who said didnt have it would check with repair ppl to see if they ever received it! Then store rang back half an hour later and had found it out the back so had to make another trip to collect box & acessories (and its not exactly a short trip up there either from where i live)


Finally got home had family death so didnt check to see if worked til few days later and it didnt still had all same faults.
Got my mom to go back into the store who was told by staff nothing wrong with it its the batteries and sent her off packing and with 2 new batteries it did seem to work for a while.....


So we took the camera to our family funeral this thursday to take some pics of the family who we haven't seen in a while. And 5 mins after starting using it in the car on the way to the service all same faults reappeared camera turned itself off even though we used & brought 3 sets of brand new batteries with us by makes including sony & duracel.



So we now knew that no way was it the batteries that were at fault and I was sceptical whether it was the batteries at fault in the first place.


So my mother went back into Comet yesterday Spoke to nice young lad who saw camera and witnessed it playing up he agreed too that it was faulty he was so nice he even rang nikon to see if they would offer a replacement due to the fact it was supposed to be fixed and wasnt they said no on the grounds that when they had the camera in for repair they found no fault with it and sent it back to store without fixing it!! So they had it for 28days and did nothing with it!



So we asked to speak to the manager he is away on holiday so spoke to rude assistant manager by this time we didnt want it fixed, because they didnt even bother to do that last time the camera is 1yr 1 day old and they sauid no not their policy. My mother said she wanted a replacement or refund the assistand manager said no "it'll have to go away for repair" and to everything my mom said she kepy repeating that same sentence to my mother frustration who was in tears at this point with everyone in the store looking at her. My mother then asked if this assistant manager actually had any authority to conduct refunds of repalcements and she said no. To that mym mom said I dont want to talk to you anymore I'll come back when the manger if back ioff his holiday and in a very nasty tone she said "he'll only say exactly what I haveyou wont get a refund or replacement its not our policy"


So after nearly two months the camera still broken but has been sent away for repair but I dont hold out much hope for it being fixed:
Nikon wont help us
Comet arent really interested in helping us
This situation has had my mother in tears not least because we wanted to use the camera for a feuneral this weak and she was spoken to like dirt yesterday.


I dont hold out much hope that we will have a resolution to this situation esp as camera is now out of warranty since 1sep 06 but the fact of the matter is comet 12 months ago were happy enough to take my £140 but dont want to know now


My mom said she will buy me a new camera for christmas but this just makes me so mad because we cant really afford it she's a civil servant and I'm a uni student we shouldnt have to go out and buy another camera but no one seems to want to help us and its soo frustrating.


One thing I have learnt from this whole situation is I will never never ever in my life purchase anything from comet every again


I've decided I'm going to look into going to the small claims court if they dont acualy fix it or give me a replacement but Im not sure how Im going to go about this any advice in general would be great and thanks for anyone who read my rant Ive managed to release some anger!

Rex_Mundi

You need to contact your local Trading Standards. They will be able to explain to you exactly what your rights are, and if Comet muck you around, Trading Standards can take up your case for you. They will carry much more weight than just you complaining. They are free to use, and you should be able to find them in your local phone book.

C_Ronaldo

hope you get it sorted soon

kuohu

Clearly a sorry state of affairs and I hope you get it sorted soon. Just a few more thoughts...

Whilst it's not uncommon to see complaints about stores like Comet not being interested in you unless they're actually taking your money, I would have imagined that a company like Nikon have a higher standard of working. It seems unusual that they could find nothing wrong with it, and it would be interesting if you had a copy of their inspection report. Just as an example, it seems that the cameras problem may have something to do with the power/battery connection, so I'd wonder whether they used the camera's power socket (if there is one) instead when they did the tests? If you had the report it might shed some light on this.

Something else that springs to mind: can you Google the exact camera name and model number, to see if you find others with the same problem? If Google does happen to find other people with the same issue then that would point to a design flaw in the camera.

But I'm not an expert on the sale of goods act, though, so perhaps someone else reading this could add who to contact next (Comet or Nikon) if the camera does indeed turn out to have an inherent fault.

Please keep us updated on how you get on. And good luck.

^!£$&

Thanks Kuohu unfortunately comet wouldnt let us keep a copy of the repair paperwork and took it all off of us they said this was normal that they needed all the paperwork so I've been left with nothing.

But Ive just googled my model nikon coolpix 3200 and some ppl have exact same problem with it with power failing even with brand new batteries they too sent it back for repair and was sent back saying nothing wrong with it then it worked for a while until out of warranty then seized up again and they were quoted more than cost of camera to fix it out of warranty so its obviously a fault with the model/ power supply thats common Nikon obvious either dont recognise the fault or dont want to deal with it

kuohu

That's interesting to find out. I'd follow Rex-Mundi's good advice above and see trading standards.

taxiphil

Your legally binding contract under the Sale of Goods Act is with Comet and has absolutely nothing to do with Nikon.

I would definitely start a small claim in the County Court. It's very easy and you shouldn't feel intimidated by it. You can issue your claim online through the court service website: www.moneyclaim.gov.uk. Read their user guide first. And if you need more advice about using the county court, have a look at the forums on www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk.

The facts are stacked in your favour. You gave the retailer a reasonable opportunity to repair the item, and they failed. Hence I think you should sue for the cost of a replacement (i.e. an equivalent model at today's prices).

However, before you take any legal action, send Comet's head office a letter by recorded delivery informing them of your intention to sue if they don't give you a replacement camera within 14 days. It's highly likely that they'll settle out of court.

But you'll never get any luck from trying to thrash it out face to face with the muppets that work in these stores!

taxiphil

Rex_Mundi wrote:

You need to contact your local Trading Standards. They will be able to explain to you exactly what your rights are, and if Comet muck you around, Trading Standards can take up your case for you.

Hmmm... they'll certainly give you advice, but I don't think they'll take up your case for you, and certainly not if it gets to the stage where court action is required. If you need to sue, you have do it yourself - it's not in the remit of Trading Standards to sue on behalf of individuals.

^!£$&

Just wanted to say thanks for all your advice Its really given me a boost!
I am def going to follow your advice taxiphil and send a letter of my intentions to comet

Then file a claim at small claims court if they dont respond/ reach a satisfying result
Thanks again guys youve really cheered me up and have given me some hope when I was just feeling so upset about the whole debacle!

Rex_Mundi

The reason I think trading standards should be contacted is because they are legally required to monitor and enforce the Sale of Goods Act. They can not only advise the correct procedure to follow, they will often give you the advice you need for your next step, then, if the shop fails to act. They will contact the shop directly themselves. This is often enough for the shop to sort the situation out.

Ultimately, if the situation is not sorted. It would have to end up in the small claims court. Court action should only ever be taken as a last resort though. It would also strenthen your court case if you have already contacted Trading Standards and followed any advice they give.

This is a good checklist to follow from Trading Standards in the case of goods going wrong.

stiffnuts69

Rex_Mundi wrote:

The reason I think trading standards should be contacted is because they are legally required to monitor and enforce the Sale of Goods Act. They can not only advise the correct procedure to follow, they will often give you the advice you need for your next step, then, if the shop fails to act. They will contact the shop directly themselves. This is often enough for the shop to sort the situation out.

Ultimately, if the situation is not sorted. It would have to end up in the small claims court. Court action should only ever be taken as a last resort though. It would also strenthen your court case if you have already contacted Trading Standards and followed any advice they give.

This is a good checklist to follow from Trading Standards in the case of goods going wrong.

Hi Rex

I know you know your stuff but its not strictly true about the sale of goods act. There are certain bits of legislation both civil and criminal that fall in to 2 categories. Some trading standards by law have to enforce and others then can elect not to. It is up to the individual authority.

Civil advice and sale of goods act legislation is actually not something trading standards have to legally deal with.

Your quite right though Im sure the local trading standards will assist.

Please see link below

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/legislation/ewleg.rtf