Faulty Walkman just out of warranty

Dave_Mac

I bought my wife a Sony Walkman (£78) online June 2009 - was only used in car occassionaly, but "died" in July (just out of warranty). Followed Sony website troubleshooting recommendations without success. Complained to supplier requesting a repair under Sale of Goods act & received following reply:

"I would like to inform you that a consumer is granted recourse against a seller of goods if those goods were defective at the time of purchase. This may include, in certain circumstances, repair, refund or replacement but only to the extent that doing so is not disproportionate to the value of the goods, having regard to the use the customer has already had of the goods and the nature of the goods.

Your item was dispatched to you on June 23, 2009 and, until recently, you have used it successfully and reported no fault with the product. As you used the product satisfactorily for a period of time which exceeded the manufacturer's warranty period it is not established that the product did not conform to the contract (i.e. was defective) at the time of purchase.

Given our obligations to you under the Sale of Goods Act and,] taking into consideration that you have used this product, without experiencing problems (to our knowledge), for a substantial period of time we will not be offering you a repair, full refund or replacement.

However, although we do not have an obligation to do so under the Sale of Goods Act or otherwise, as a gesture of goodwill we can offer you £11.73 towards the cost of repairs or alternatively an ****** Gift Certificate of a value of £15.65 of purchase price towards your next ******.co.uk purchase. Please confirm if you wish to accept either of these offers as a full and final settlement in this matter and I will make the appropriate arrangements."


I am not at all impressed by the offer & gut reaction is to reject it, however as I am lacking experience in this sphere & would appreciate a second opinion or guidance. Can anyone help??

Chimpofdoom

Well hate to say it, they are acting within accordance of the SOGA.

The SOGA is good for protection for up to 5 years, however within the first 6 months if a fault occurs the retailer has to prove the fault was not inherent from manufacture. After that 6 months the onus is on you to prove it was a manufacturing fault.

So if you wanted to prove that it was a manufacturing fault, you would have to obtain an engineers report.. which would probably cost you £35...

Anyway, your entitled to a repair/refund/replacement.. however the retailer usually has the right to choose which. However.. If repair and replacement are not possible or too costly, then the consumer can seek a partial refund, if they have had some benefit from the good, or a full refund if the fault/s have meant they have enjoyed no benefit.

neilmcl

After 6 months of ownership the onus is now on you to proof that the product did not conform to contract, so in order to get any remedy, other than what's already on offer, you will need an independant report of the fault.

Esqui

As with above, you've got to prove it first.

But, if you don't fancy the hassle, see if they'll raise their offer, and then go for it.

Dave_Mac

Chimpofdoom wrote: »

Well hate to say it, they are acting within accordance of the SOGA.

The SOGA is good for protection for up to 5 years, however within the first 6 months if a fault occurs the retailer has to prove the fault was not inherent from manufacture. After that 6 months the onus is on you to prove it was a manufacturing fault.

So if you wanted to prove that it was a manufacturing fault, you would have to obtain an engineers report.. which would probably cost you £35...

Anyway, your entitled to a repair/refund/replacement.. however the retailer usually has the right to choose which. However.. If repair and replacement are not possible or too costly, then the consumer can seek a partial refund, if they have had some benefit from the good, or a full refund if the fault/s have meant they have enjoyed no benefit.

Thank you for your response. Would you recommend acceptance of their offer? Or would there be any mileage trying to negotiate, considering it is their "full & final settlement". You say SOGA is good for 5 years, would that suggest that 5 years would be a reasonable amount of time I should expect the goods to operate?

robpw2

i would accept there offer

Chimpofdoom

Dave_Mac wrote: »

Thank you for your response. Would you recommend acceptance of their offer? Or would there be any mileage trying to negotiate, considering it is their "full & final settlement". You say SOGA is good for 5 years, would that suggest that 5 years would be a reasonable amount of time I should expect the goods to operate?

Well in this instance I probably would accept the offer.

For some consumer goods, I generally don't expect things to last long. Walkmans/ipods being one of them. I bought a sony walkman mp3 player when I started uni and it lasted 8 months.. in the end I chucked it and bought another brand.

Also I wouldn't expect a walkman/mp3 player to last 5 years, unless you've never removed it from the box after you bought it

unholyangel

Dave_Mac wrote: »

Thank you for your response. Would you recommend acceptance of their offer? Or would there be any mileage trying to negotiate, considering it is their "full & final settlement". You say SOGA is good for 5 years, would that suggest that 5 years would be a reasonable amount of time I should expect the goods to operate?

The length of time a item should last depends on a lot of factors. One of which being price paid. Of course a top of the range model would be expected to be more durable than a lower end of the range model.

Based on their "offer".......it seems they only expect the item to last 16-17 months. Which imo isnt a reasonable time for a £78 walkman.

It all really depends on the fault. Is it an inherent fault? Or has it been caused by wear n tear or misuse? How much would it cost to have it repaired? Would the repairman be able to tell you what is wrong with it and how it likely happened (ie defect or user error)?

unholyangel

Chimpofdoom wrote: »

Well in this instance I probably would accept the offer.

For some consumer goods, I generally don't expect things to last long. Walkmans/ipods being one of them. I bought a sony walkman mp3 player when I started uni and it lasted 8 months.. in the end I chucked it and bought another brand.

Also I wouldn't expect a walkman/mp3 player to last 5 years, unless you've never removed it from the box after you bought it

While i wouldnt expect a cheapy to last more than a year. Personally i'd expect a good one to last 2-3 years at least! Providing its given proper care and not mistreated of course.

I actually have several MP3 players that are over that in age and still work.

But i do agree 5 years is a bit much.

Dave_Mac

unholyangel wrote: »

While i wouldnt expect a cheapy to last more than a year. Personally i'd expect a good one to last 2-3 years at least! Providing its given proper care and not mistreated of course.

I actually have several MP3 players that are over that in age and still work.

But i do agree 5 years is a bit much.

Looks like I need to bit the bullet & get on with life.
I guess I must have been fairly lucky with my purchases, got an old Zen Micro (donkeys years old) which still works & 4 year old Sony Ericcson mobile to name a few. However still pretty miffed that the A series walkman only lasted just over a year & was in no way mishandled or abused- just would not recharge from the USB port of PC nor from an AC charger which I bought after my visit to the Sony Support website.
Thanks v much for all your comments & advise.