Returning a faulty BT baby monitor purchased on Amazon

trashbat_2

Hi,

Sorry that this is quite long, I just thought that it would be useful to give as much info as possible to avoid covering any of the same ground that I've already been over.

We bought a BT 150 Digital Baby Monitor on Amazon.co.uk in November last year. It no longer works off the batteries, you have to have it permanently docked in the base station to use it otherwise it just powers down immediately (we have tried swapping the batteries for brand new ones and cleaning the contacts in the battery compartment to no avail), so we're trying to work out who to contact to arrange a return under the terms of the warranty. So far I have tried contacting both Amazon and BT:

Amazon

Amazon said that we'd need to contact the manufacturer, and that I should contact the BT Shop.

BT

BT Shop responded to my initial query by saying that they don't deal with returns, and I would need to call the main 0800 800 150 number.

I did so, but the automated voice menu asks you to enter the phone number you're calling about, which doesn't really seem applicable for returning a baby monitor, and I live in an area not covered by BT anyway so entering my landline number results in the call being terminated.

To get past this step I entered my parents' landline number, chose what seemed the most appropriate option ("Report a fault"), but then it proceeded to do a line test on my parents' landline, told me there was no fault detected, and then hung up on me again!

Eventually I managed to choose a sequence of options that got me through to a real person, but he told me that I'd need to call another number - 0800 731 0265.

I called this number and chose the second of the two options ("Anything else"), but then we were back to "Hello! Thanks for calling BT. Please enter the full phone number you want to talk about", so I redialled and chose option 1, even though it was something to do with delivery of equipment. After what seemed like an eternity on hold, I was put through to someone in a foreign call centre who didn't know what I meant by "baby monitor" and just kept asking if I was calling about a business line or a residential line.

After quite some time we managed to establish what I was calling about, but he told me that I should be calling another number - 0800 111 4567.

I tried this one and spent another 15 mins on hold, before being put through to another person who didn't know what a baby monitor was. This time he spoke to his manager, who transferred the call back to someone in the UK. This person said that I had come through to the wrong department yet again, and that I should be calling 0870 429 3210. According to a Google search, however, this is the customer services number for the BT Shop, which puts me back where I started.

Does anyone have any idea who I'd need to call to return the damned thing? :mad: I think it's got a 12 month warranty, so I've still got a couple of weeks to return it.

bris

Your contract is with Amazon, so insist they deal with it.

stevezodiac

I'm sorry that my reply is of no use whatsoever but your experience with BT has them down to an absolute T.

I am surprised that you have got as far as you have to be honest.

The very best of luck.

trashbat_2

bris wrote: »

Your contract is with Amazon, so insist they deal with it.

Amazon claim that after 30 days have passed the responsibility passes to the manufacturer; is that not the case, then?

wealdroam

trashbat wrote: »

Amazon claim that after 30 days have passed the responsibility passes to the manufacturer; is that not the case, then?

Amazon are almost wrong... or perhaps shirking their responsibilities is a better way of putting it.

If you want a remedy under the manufacturer's warranty, then you should be contacting the manufacturer.

Often it is quicker to go direct to the manufacturer when the product is still under manufacturer's warranty, but that process is not working in your case.

You have statutory rights under the Sale of Goods Act, and those rights are against whoever sold the thing to you... Amazon.

Phone up Amazon again and remind them of this.

You might like to read MSE's Consumer Rights article before you phone Amazon.


Edited to add:
Have you seen this phone number, 0808 100 6554?
Found it on this page.

trashbat_2

wealdroam wrote: »

Amazon are wrong... or perhaps shirking their responsibilities is a better way of putting it.

Often it is quicker to go direct to the manufacturer when the product is still under manufacturer's warranty, but it's not working in your case.

You have statutory rights under the Sale of Goods Act, and those rights are against whoever sold the thing to you... Amazon.

Phone up Amazon again and remind them of this.

You might like to read MSE's Consumer Rights article before you phone Amazon.

Thanks, I'll have a read of that in bed and then call them tomorrow.

esuhl

trashbat wrote: »

Amazon claim that after 30 days have passed the responsibility passes to the manufacturer; is that not the case, then?

No - under the Sale of Goods Act (SoGA), the retailer is wholly liable. But did you actually buy from Amazon or from a third-party on Amazon Marketplace?

The SoGA says that goods must be free from defects, fit for purpose, etc. and last a "reasonable" amount of time. I think the minimum for electrical goods is one year, while the maximum for any item is six years (but that wouldn't apply to most products).

Once you have accepted the goods (rather than returned them immediately), you are entitled to a repair, a replacement (of a similar condition) or partial refund ("proportional" to the amount of time that you have had the goods in full working order).

In the first six months, the retailer has to either accept your claim or prove that the goods weren't inherently faulty. After six months the onus is on you.

However, if there is a separate warranty, that is likely to be with the manufacturer. The warranty will give you different rights to the SoGA, so it would be a good idea to read the warranty terms and then decide whether it would be best to claim under that or the SoGA.

mountainofdebt

Have you still got the instruction booklet - is there a contact number in there for consumer queries?

stsarina

A quick Google turned up a dedicated helpline from BT for its baby monitors - 0808 100 6554. Hope you get some sense out of that, I too have found BT's customer service to be absolutely abysmal.

wealdroam

stsarina wrote: »

A quick Google turned up a dedicated helpline from BT for its baby monitors - 0808 100 6554. Hope you get some sense out of that, I too have found BT's customer service to be absolutely abysmal.

Already mentioned in post #5.
But good to have confirmation I suppose.

trashbat_2

Sorry, I forgot to post back about this. For some reason I stopped receiving email alerts about new posts on the thread, so unfortunately I missed the posts with the BT 0808 number. I feel slightly foolish that I was unable to find that number by myself!

Anyway I called Amazon back, mentioned the Sale of Goods Act, and they arranged a full refund. Job's a good 'un!