Warranties on items bought on ebay

rachel123_2

I bought a Sony TV in March from a seller on ebay. The box was un-opened and we registered the warranty with Sony soon after. Recently the screen went faulty so we contacted Sony to fix it under the warranty. The TV was taken away to get repaired. It needed a new screen which would cost £1000 (the TV cost £1289). The engineer dealing with it said that there could be problems claiming under the warranty because we bought it from a private seller and not a retailor. How does this work?! Surely thousands of goods are sold privately with warranties. The TV is only 5 months old! Should Sony honour the warranty? I just can't see the problem. I have even passed on the address of the person we bought it from. The TV has now been returned to us (fixed) and we are awaiting to hear the outcome. Can anyone advise me please!??

deanos

You will need a receipt from a VAT registed retailer or wholesaler for the warranty to be valid, you might be covered if the manafactuer checks the serial number and it has been made less than 12 months ago.

mad_bad_spender

i would not have allowed them to fix the telly till this was resolved, i dont know where you stand but would advice you to contact citizens advice if they come back and ask you to pay. Saying that i doubt they would fix it at such a cost and give you it back and then ask you to pay! seems strange.
I would think that they may cover it as a gesture of goodwill if you are lucky!

rachel123_2

Thanks for your reply. When we registered for the warranty with Sony we entered all the details and it was accepted fine. The warranty form asked for all the serial number, manufacturing date etc which we entered as these are found on the back of the TV. The TV was made in Feb 2006 so it's all ok in terms of date. If you buy privately, you don't usually get a VAT receipt. And we were told 'ebay isn't good enough to put down as the retailer.' If we were the first person to have the TV and open the box, surely we are the benificiary of the manufacturer's warrenty? What if you won the TV in a competition? You wouldn't get a receipt then, surely your warrenty should still be valid. My dad bought a car in an auction, but it still had a valid warranty until it expired.

Contains_Mild_Peril

I don't think "eBay" is a valid "retailer" because it is not eBay itself which sold you the TV set, but the specific seller from whom you purchased it. VAT receipts shouldn't come into it: there are plenty of small traders who don't have sufficient turnover to require VAT registration. Check the small print carefully - it may say something like "not transferable", which Sony may think invalidates the guarantee in the event of a private sale, but since the TV is still fairly new, it would be reasonable to presume that it was substandard when sold.

mad_bad_spender

If it says it was manufactured in 06 then i would think they have an obligation to fix it and dont think you will have a problem with that, i wouldnt worry about it just now just wait and see what they say but if they try to be t*ts they i would fight it all the way

mclaren_2

They still have to have a receipt to know the exact date it was sold - so the shop on ebay should have gave you a receipt. If they did not, contact them and ask for one as you have had problems with the tv.

If they do not provide one (they do not legally have to as it is after 28 days) then im afraid you are stuck in lumber.

Basicly, without a receipt, even although it says made in 2006, there is no date of when it was made, only a year, and even although this is within the same year it says, there has to still be a paper receipt so they can get all the details.

This is why i would never attempt to save £100 or so buying a tv from ebay - esp when the value is well over £1000 - plasmas are not easy to fix and will be replaced - ive had that before, had a philips, had screenburn and it got changed so got another 42" plasma - and its been brilliant but i got a newer model, different make, and its HD before wasnt.... same price basicly - from comet.

I hope when you email, they do give you the invoice receipt though

zappahey

What people don't realise is that manufacturer's warranties are often only valid when the item is sold by an authorised retailer, which obviously excludes most ebay sellers.

The manufacturers warranty is in addition to your rights in law but there is no compulsion on the manufacturer to offer any sort of warranty.

In the event of a fault your first recourse is actually the retailer rather then the maker, so Sony could quite legitimately refuse to repair the TV under warranty. Many ebay sellers don't realise their responsibilities here.

mclaren_2

zappahey wrote:

What people don't realise is that manufacturer's warranties are often only valid when the item is sold by an authorised retailer, which obviously excludes most ebay sellers.

The manufacturers warranty is in addition to your rights in law but there is no compulsion on the manufacturer to offer any sort of warranty.

In the event of a fault your first recourse is actually the retailer rather then the maker, so Sony could quite legitimately refuse to repair the TV under warranty. Many ebay sellers don't realise their responsibilities here.

unless it was sold from a retailer who has an ebay shop - in this case (which i think is the case with this member as no single person would stock so many plasma tv's) would still be covered.