Orange, defective goods and SOGASA1982

NFH

I bought my iPhone 4 from an Orange shop on the day the iPhone 4 was launched and its hands-free has developed a fault just over a year later, whereby one of the earphones has distorted sound. I returned to the Orange shop where I bought it but it has become a sandwich shop. I immediately phoned Orange customer services and got through to someone in a foreign call centre who seemed to think that Orange was not liable for faults with the hands-free as it was subject to normal wear and tear. I replied that it was not a consumable item and that I required Orange to replace the item in accordance with its obligations under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. I therefore went to the nearest Orange shop and asked them to replace the hands-free. The response was that Apple's warranty is only one year and that Apple does not cover accessories anyway. I replied that I am not claiming under a warranty but under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 of which I gave the guy a copy and drew his attention to Section 4(2) and Section 18(3)(e). He said he would e-mail his support people and phone me within 48 hours, but I have since heard nothing.

Why are Orange employees not properly trained to honour Orange's obligations under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982? One can't expect them to understand the intricacies of the law, but at least to understand that Orange is obliged to replace defective goods if they do not last a reasonable time (i.e. at least the length of the contract for service under which the goods were supplied). It seems that Orange has no process for replacing or repairing defective goods unless under warranty or insurance, which is a shocking state of affairs for such a large company that should know better. What's the easiest route to getting Orange to honour its legal obligations?

grumbler

I think nobody, including the court, will agree with you that it is reasonable to expect from a wired hands-free set to last more than a year.

NFH

grumbler wrote: »

I think nobody, including the court, will agree with you that it is reasonable to expect from a wired hands-free set to last more than a year.

Why on earth not? It is not a consumable item. They're not cheap either, as Apple charges £26 for them on its web site.

gjchester

NFH wrote: »

I bought my iPhone 4 from an Orange shop on the day the iPhone 4 was launched and its hands-free has developed a fault just over a year later, whereby one of the earphones has distorted sound. I returned to the Orange shop where I bought it but it has become a sandwich shop. I immediately phoned Orange customer services and got through to someone in a foreign call centre who seemed to think that Orange was not liable for faults with the hands-free as it was subject to normal wear and tear. I replied that it was not a consumable item and that I required Orange to replace the item in accordance with its obligations under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. I therefore went to the nearest Orange shop and asked them to replace the hands-free. The response was that Apple's warranty is only one year and that Apple does not cover accessories anyway. I replied that I am not claiming under a warranty but under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 of which I gave the guy a copy and drew his attention to Section 4(2) and Section 18(3)(e). He said he would e-mail his support people and phone me within 48 hours, but I have since heard nothing.

Why are Orange employees not properly trained to honour Orange's obligations under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982? One can't expect them to understand the intricacies of the law, but at least to understand that Orange is obliged to replace defective goods if they do not last a reasonable time (i.e. at least the length of the contract for service under which the goods were supplied). It seems that Orange has no process for replacing or repairing defective goods unless under warranty or insurance, which is a shocking state of affairs for such a large company that should know better. What's the easiest route to getting Orange to honour its legal obligations?

First the length of your contract is irrelevent to the warranty, The supply of the phone is a seperate legal contract to the airtime contract.


In the first six months the emphasis would be on the maker to show they were not faulty at manufacture time. After that the emphasis is on you to show they were. If they have been working for 12 months and have now failed then the most likely cause is user related damage, (volume too high, plugged into something else and blown, something has worked its way into the into the earpiece from all the time it's sat in a pocket, damage from pulling the cable etc).

Now this may not be the case here, in that you may not have damaged them, but the emphasis is on you to show that they were faulty at time of manufacture.

Apple also take on all support for the iPhone. Even if you asked Orange to make a repair they would just send it to Apple.

As you state Apple only have a 1 year warranty on anything they sell, unless you take on AppleCare and something like a headphone would be expected to be subject to more wear and tear than the phone itself. The sale of goods act says an item has to last a reasonable time, but does not define that. It would be unreasonable for the phone to break in a year but not the headphones as they will be pulled, moved, stuffed in pockets and genereally not treated as well.

You can try the Orange Executive Office who may be able to authorise a goodwill replacment, or try an Apple store (book a genius appontment and take them in) but given the Phone is out of warranty, and headphones will have a hard life I suspect you really will get no luck with this.

Good Luck

grumbler

NFH wrote: »

Why on earth not? It is not a consumable item. They're not cheap either, as Apple charges £26 for them on its web site.

Because of the wires. If used extensively I'd expect it not to last more than 6 months.
The price is absolutely irrelevant and Apple are notorious for overcharging for everything.

NFH

grumbler wrote: »

The price is absolutely irrelevant

You're wrong. See Section 4(2A) of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 which states "For the purposes of this section and section 5 below, goods are of satisfactory quality if they meet the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking account of any description of the goods, the price (if relevant) and all the other relevant circumstances".

NFH

gjchester wrote: »

The supply of the phone is a seperate legal contract to the airtime contract.

Incorrect. The phone is supplied under the same agreement as the service, and the supply of the phone at the price paid is conditional upon supply of the service. That is why the agreement is governed by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 as opposed to the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended).

Anyway, I've already had legal advice from a solicitor on this, so the question is not about the law but about the easiest communication channel to obtain a replacement from Orange, and why Orange are flouting their legal obligations.

Tony5101

Legal advice for a £26 item....good luck getting the earphones replaced, but legal advice !!!!!!!!! Seems a bit disproportionate to me.
I think 12 months of use for a pair of earphones is pretty exceptional tbh.
Good luck with the judge when they refuse your "legal" request for a replacement.

robt_2

Just to clarify, they are a pair of headphones, not a 'hands free kit' as you are implying. If it was a dedicated hands free unit then I would be more inclined to agree with you.

Sounds like someone didn't like the (correct) answer they got and is clutching at straws. You don't need to start telling people they are wrong about things they deal with every single day on this forum.

Just buy a new pair (Genuine Apple) for under six quid from Amazon including delivery and be done with it.

gas4you

Sounds to me that you walk around with a copy of the supply of goods act just hoping something you have bought goes wrong so you can attempt to what you think, is impress the poor sods who encounter you, with your unrivalled knowledge!

I would think you need to get out more and worry about something important.

computersaysnoagain

I go through a couple of ear sets a year due to daily use. Its one of those things, best to just replace them when can.

You are not going to win this one.