3 year Monitor Warranty Issue

stuart_faust

Hi my brother has an issue with an online retailer. he purchased a 24" Dell monitor from a supplier and had a faulty with it about 2 week before the 3 years warranty ran out. 3 years from the date he ordered it. he tried to speak to Dell directly but due to service tag not being on the monitor and the fact that the online retailer had purchased this in a large batch he was unable to get the warranty directly so logged an online RMA with the retailer. Monitor was sent back within the 3 years approx 1 week from the 3 years from order date. they took the monitor back as he was told that dell often had issues with this retailers purchasing. 2 months later he gets a message telling him that a replacement monitor has been sent , which is below the spec of the one he ordered , his original monitor has the top 24" dell did. now hes been sent some inferior monitor , does not even have DVI which his originally did. there is an equivalent new version of the one he ordered.
They are now saying that his only options are to have the one they send or return it and they will credit in about £160 the monitor he ordered was over £400. They even had the equivalent monitor instock as bstock with 90days warranty but did not even offer him this as an alternative. their online management operators are not being helpful so we want to take this further. He purchased it using a debit card. Please advise and thanks for your time.

bris

The retailer has the right to repair, replace or refund the monitor. Repair must not have been available so they have sent you a monitor for what they believe the value of the monitor is now worth. You have had three years use of the monitor so it is fair that they take this into consideration.
When it comes to replacement though the retailer should only replace with a similar spec or better, which clearly they have'nt done, you do have the right to reject this, but as they are not prepared to offer you the newer model and they don't have to, this leaves the refund option.
Now the refund can take into consideration the time you have had the monitor, in your case three years, so £160 is in most peoples eyes reasonable. This should be in cash though, so you can try and ask for cash and not credit.

arcon5

Maybe op can negotiate the refund amount and see what the retailer says. I think around the £200 mark would be reasonable.

And as said above, cash refund, none of this credit nonsense. However, if op is willing to accept credit they may be able to negotiate a better deal on a brand new model.

stuart_faust

The way he feels is that he ordered a Rolls Royce and its broken down and they cant fix so are giving him a ford focus instead! The monitor is not half the spec of the one he ordered and had. If he could have done this direct with Dell he would have had a replacement of a more equal nature not one with half the features.

arcon5

stuart_faust wrote: »

The way he feels is that he ordered a Rolls Royce and its broken down and they cant fix so are giving him a ford focus instead! The monitor is not half the spec of the one he ordered and had. If he could have done this direct with Dell he would have had a replacement of a more equal nature not one with half the features.

If he wants Rolls Royce instead of the Ford, then he can pay the amount which fairly represents the use to-date to get a brand new Rolls Royce

If a product has a life expectancy of 10 years for example and it lasted 9yrs 11months then it wouldn't be fair to expect a retailer now replace this unit for a brand new one which should last another 10 years.


Just to add though.... my last car was a Ford Focus, nothing wrong with them at all

bris

A brand new Rolls Royce costs well over 100k, a three year old one costs about 60k, same as your monitor.

arcon5

bris wrote: »

A brand new Rolls Royce costs well over 100k, a three year old one costs about 60k, same as your monitor.

Maybe not

stuart_faust

I understand that he cant expect to get brand new , but the point is that getting a replacement that is far below the spec of the one he had that should have been dealt with by Dell directly and he would have been given either a replacement of his monitor that was working or and equivalent model. To be sent without being consulted a lower spec is not acceptable.
I would not expect to take my ford focus 2l 5 door to get repaired at ford after 3 years and be given a 3 door KA instead as they could not fix it! thats the point. Warrenty is to cover the repair or replacement of that model not something lower in spec.
Regardless of the time of the warranty , if it was 1 year or 2 years in to the warranty given a lower spec is not acceptable.

pendulum

If something was specifically sold with a "3 year warranty" and it went wrong within that time, I'd expect a repair, a replacement of the same specification, or a refund, but the refund is unlikely to be offered. To me a "three year warranty" means that if anything goes wrong in those 3 years, I won't be at a significant disadvantage, and it's the difference between buying and not buying something. I'd try to hold out for a suitable replacement.

To those saying they can pay out a reduced payout for the time the monitor has been in use:
If he bought the £400 monitor with a 1 year warranty, and it went wrong within 3 years, they could do that. (SOGA)
If he bought the £400 monitor with a 3 year warranty, and it went wrong within 3 years, they could do that.
So what is the purpose of the 3 year warranty then?