retailer/manufacturer responsibility

orangelava

When attempting to return an item which is faulty, is it sufficient for the retailer to redirect you to the manufacturer, or should they be responsible for any arrangement with the manufacturer.

example; returning faulty nintendo 3ds to tesco, can tesco decline repair replacement or refund after the product failing within 5 weeks of use

somethingcorporate

No they should not point you to the manufacturer but depending on the goods and the company in question it can be quicker than going via the retailer.

Is that a specific example or hypothetical?

texranger

your contract is with the retailer and not the manufacturer, so retailers will try and palm you off with a contact the manufacturer

Esqui

Manufacturers are often the repair agents for products, so they are the people to contact to get things done. You could ask the retailer to contact them for you, but often some things can be fixed over the phone with you in front of the product. In addition, so that they can order the correct parts, most repairers want the serial number of the product.

Look at it the other way. If a retailer said "Contact this local repairman to get it fixed", what would you do?