Please help!

debno2

Hello! I finally joined the forums after being on the money saving tips email list since last year as I am seething today :mad: I purchased a new watch for hubby for Christmas which he loved but just last month he noticed the glass had steamed up and even though it was supposed to be waterproof the closest it has been to water was when he washes his hands!! so took it back to argos where it was purchased and they sent it to rotary to get it repaired. today we had a phone call from argos saying that rotary want us to pay £75 for it to be repaired as the damage has been 'customer induced!!!' would love to know what they think we have done to it when hubbies last watch (an accurist) lasted 16 years!!:mad: now what I need to know is who do i now take this small matter up with? trying hard to keep my cool but do i demand argos replace the watch or that rotary do it as, as argos said 'rotary are the experts' so they would know how the fault occured! am so angry that they would say its our fault to get out of replacing or repairing I dont know where to start!!!!

paddyrg

What is the allegation that you have done to the watch? Is that model certified splashproof/watertight but has had the seals broken or something?

debno2

rotary are insinuating that hubby has tampered with the seals!!! it has waterproof stamped on the back but he has never taken any of his watches into the shower/pools etc which may be why it took a couple of months for the fault to show up? but its their word against ours

wealdroam

debno2 wrote: »

Hello! I finally joined the forums after being on the money saving tips email list since last year as I am seething today :mad: I purchased a new watch for hubby for Christmas which he loved but just last month he noticed the glass had steamed up and even though it was supposed to be waterproof the closest it has been to water was when he washes his hands!! so took it back to argos where it was purchased and they sent it to rotary to get it repaired. today we had a phone call from argos saying that rotary want us to pay £75 for it to be repaired as the damage has been 'customer induced!!!' would love to know what they think we have done to it when hubbies last watch (an accurist) lasted 16 years!!:mad: now what I need to know is who do i now take this small matter up with? trying hard to keep my cool but do i demand argos replace the watch or that rotary do it as, as argos said 'rotary are the experts' so they would know how the fault occured! am so angry that they would say its our fault to get out of replacing or repairing I dont know where to start!!!!

Firstly, welcome to the forums.

For the first six months following purchase, any fault that appears, can be assumed to have been there at the time of sale.
It is for the retailer to prove otherwise.
In this case the retailer has had the thing inspected by 'the experts' and appear to have 'proved' that the fault is down to 'user error'... i.e. the fault is not inherent.

If you wish to dispute this, I think you will have to get the thing inspected by your expert, with the hope that your expert will confirm that moisture got inside because of a manufacturing fault.
You will need to pay for this expert.
Of course there is a risk that your expert will agree with the retailer's expert.

Even if the two reports differ, that does not mean that the retailer will automatically pay up.
You may need to go to court to get satisfaction, and if you win all your costs will be paid by the retailer.
But will you win?
Who knows?

paddyrg

In that case, I would say your case is against Argos for supplying defective goods (if the manufacturer say the seals were faulty and you didn't open them, then the seals must have been faulty at sale time). Just checking, nobody changed the battery at your request, did they? I'm thinking maybe Lizzie Duke saw it had stopped ticking and stuck a new battery in to sell it - but that damaged the seals or something?

debno2

thank you for your replies! the only thing that was done at our request was to have a couple of links removed so it fit hubbies wrist! but as argos left a message on our home phone whilst we were at work i will be going into the store tomorrow to take this up with them first thought rotary were a prestige company and never expected to have problems like this just 4 and a half months after purchase ??? Argos said they had to send it to manufacturer for repair as it was over 28 days old and they could no longer exchange or refund so it was a very big shock to recieve this phone call and rotary still have hubbies watch and his christmas present is now ruined

visidigi

What sort of winder mechanism is on the watch? Does the winder screw in to the body to make a seal? It might be the winder that was open to cause the steam to get in - common human error.

Otherwise you can always ask Rotary to provide photographic proof of the damage they claim you caused...

fluffnutter

visidigi wrote: »

What sort of winder mechanism is on the watch? Does the winder screw in to the body to make a seal? It might be the winder that was open to cause the steam to get in - common human error.

Unless the winder itself was faulty and kept popping out...

visidigi

possibly, but then again, when you put the clocks forward and back and all that (which just so happens to tie in with the 'about a month ago' in the OP...apart from the bracelet the winder is the most open and closed item on a watch...

fluffnutter

I agree it's unlikely to be caused by a broken winder.. but I was adding my comment for completeness.

debno2

well i went into argos today who showed me the report from rotary! they are saying that when they recieved the watch the side winder was out and this is a big no no as this will stop it being waterproof!!!! hubby said that when he handed the watch over the winder was not out and the watch has never been exposed to water even if it had popped out? so it is our word against theirs and of course they are bigger than us and hubby now has no Christmas present as we refuse to pay another £75 on top of the original cost of the watch :O( i will never purchase from argos again or buy a rotary watch! in future we will stick to accurist who are able to make watches that last in excess of 16 years with no trouble