My right to a refund... Please advise?

weerabbit

Long and frustrating story this, so please bear with me.

In June 2009 I purchased a Marantz home cinema speaker from a retailer in London, over the internet. The speaker came with a two year manufacturer’s warranty and was £599.99, a not too inconsiderable amount.

In January 2011 the speaker developed a fault, where the sound would cut out for no apparent reason. As the speaker was well within its warranty period, I was advised by the retailer to send the speaker directly to the authorised repair agent, which cost me £30. To cut a long story short, after having the speaker for several weeks and without finding fault with it, they sent it back to me so badly packaged that it was severely damaged (plug unsecured and obliterated, meshing torn, metal deeply scratched, plastic broken).

They arranged for the speaker to be collected, at no cost to myself this time, and couldn't get all the parts required to repair it, so sent it back to me with the plastic parts still broken. To make matters worse, the speaker was still showing the original fault (and I tested it both at my parents and friends house, with different cables etc with the same result).

I obviously complained to the repair agent, who were dismissive and told me to speak to the retailer. I contacted the retailer and also managed to make contact with the European Service Manager of Marantz, who were both shocked at the negative service I had received, along with the length of time the issue had been dragging on for (this was two months ago, to give you an idea of how long I had been wrestling with the repair agent). They both assured me that the issue would be resolved to my satisfaction.

As the item has been discontinued, and parts were not available to fully repair my speaker, I was told a refund would be the only possible resolution - here's where the fun starts. Marantz have refunded the retailer £350, which is, according to Marantz records, what the retailer paid for the speaker in a trade sense. The retailer has only offered me the £350, which I refused, and now won't return my calls or reply in full to my emails. The reply says only that they are 'waiting for a reply from a Marantz Director', presumably to try to squeeze more money from them.

My question is, given the horrible set of circumstances and the extenuating situation, do I have a right to a full refund? Or at least more than the £350 offered? I'm loathed to 'lose' £250 on a product that was aesthetically perfect when it was returned to the repair agent, and was ruined beyond repair through no fault of my own.

Just to make matters clear, I now haven't had use of a speaker for the best part of a year, and the retailer\Marantz now have the speaker and haven't returned it to me. So I have no speaker and no refund, as yet.

I just want to know where I stand (from a legal perspective) and who to turn to for help?

Many thanks,
Carl

halibut2209

The retailer (that's who your contract is with) is entitled to offer a discounted refund taking into account the fact you've had over 2 years usage of it. Whether a discount of £250 is acceptable is the argument here. The fact that he got his full refund from the manufacturer is irrelevant, so don't dwell on that.

To directly answer your question, no you are not entitled to a full refund. It's up to you and the retailer to negotiate a fair compromise.

justifier

have you considered asking fro a replacement rather than a refund? i appreciate that the model is discontinued but is there a viable replacement that the retailer stocks?