Dixons - Return Policy

MrJondo

I have a Blu-Ray player which I bought online from Dixons. I have had this for slightly less than six months and the unit has become faulty which means to use it, I have to remove the power plug from it nearly every time.

About a week ago I rang the Dixons helpline and ended up being automatically connected to Samsung and spoke to a nice chap in Egypt who new less about the player than I did. He ran through the 'procedure' with me and factory reset the machine. As I put the phone down the player showed the same fault. I contacted Dixons today and made sure I spoke to someone from Dixons. I explained the problem to a guy who then put me through to a 'help' guy (not sure of the proper title). I had to go through the whole story again. I was told I would have to speak to Samsung as after 28 days they would have to decide what the problem was and whether they would take it in for repair. I went into 'not happy customer mode', but kept polite. I explained I had already done this but had got nowhere with them. All I wanted was a working blu-ray player and would be happy if they could replace it. I was basically told it was not possible and that it was down to Samsung and NOT Dixons as the guarantee is provided by Samsung not Dixons.
I said so if I bought a can of Heinz beans from Tesco that had a dent in the side of the tin would I therefore have to return it to Heinz or Tesco. I was told that was different. Ok I said, what if the tin contained peas and not beans? I didnt get much further with that but I did state that I believe my rights as a consumer were with Dixons where I made my purchase and NOT Samsung. After about 3/4 of an hour of a lot of pointing things out, the guy wasn't able to give me any straight answer. He eventually said that he would contact Samsung for me.... guess what, he put me through to them! So basically I spoke to the nice guy from Samsung who led me through another firmware update procedure which I have tried and failed again because it already has the latest firmware update. I was on the phone for an hour.

Im now a little cheesed off. I'm supposed to speak with Samsung again but before I do that I wondered if anyone here can suggest what I should actually do next and where I stand with Dixons.

If anyone was wondering its a Samsung Blu-Ray BD-5300.

MrJondo

No reply in 24 hours? Every other post has received at least some sort of answer in that time. Am I invisible? Is there a special house rule or funny handshake I don't know about?

Looks like I'm on my own with this one, thanks for the advice... NOT!

USM

Wooo... stroppy

Your contract is with Dixons so they are the people to put pressure on. After 6 months it is the buyer's responsibility to prove that the fault was present at the time of manufacture - normally via an independant engineers report.

When you have this proof you can request that Dixons remedy the situation for you.

McKneff

I agree, stroppy. The reason no one came on was that no one knew how to help you.

What would have been the point of anyone posting and saying 'I don't know'

You could always ring Trading Standards, but then, you should have thought of that.

MrJondo

Thanks USM.... yep, I knew that a good old strop would get me noticed lol. Dixons were very unwilling to sort this, quoting the 28 day rule which funnily enough says 21 on their webpages. And they were adamant that I should take it up with Samsung themselves. I shall make a few more phone calls today and no doubt be lead around in circles again. I will publish my results here.

MrJondo

Hi McKneff, I had thought of Trading Standards but I only wanted to go through them as a last resort. If the problem isn't rectified by the end of the day then they will be my next step. At least they will tell me what Consumer Protection/Acts to quote when I have to call Dixons again.

Meepster

You MAY want a replacement, but they don't have to give you one. They can repair, replace or refund at their discretion.

Whilst I agree Dixons should be more helpful, and possibly explain it a little better for you, you basically have two options:

1) Deal with Samsung directly (They should arrange for the item to go back to them and they can hopefully repair the item)

2) Deal with Dixons (They will need the item sending back to them. They will then sit on for a couple of days, then send it back to Samsung. After Samsung have repaired it, they will send it back to Dixons, who will eventually get round to sending it back to you)

Although it's not "right" 99% of the time dealing directly with the manufacturer will result in a speedier resolution than dealing with the retailer...

The_Pedant

If you're still under the 6 months then insist there is a fault & they fix it (under 6 months the onus is on the seller to prove the item is not faulty). Bullet-point the problem along with what you have done to try and resolve the issue with Samsung. If they don't accept this, then put it in writing.
Insist on a repair/replacement. Insist on sending the item back (at their cost).

This is a return of goods as allowed by the Sale of Goods Act and at this point has nothing to do with a warranty with Samsung (that is additional rights granted by the manufacturer and only comes into play if you wish to deal direct with Samsung). It may be worth one more try with Samsung if that will expedite matters (and let them know you've already tried a factory reset but the fault is still there)

MrJondo

Hi and thanks all for your interesting comments. I have now taken this one step further so to let you know what I have done may also help others. Prior to calling Dixons again, I spoke with the government service Consumer Direct for advice on 08454 04 05 06. They were most helpful and very understanding. They explained that Dixons were very wrong in what they had been telling me and that when I ring them again I should quote the Sale of Goods Act of 1979. I called Dixons and spoke to a nice chirpy young lady and explained to her the previous days conversations and that I had sought advice from Trading Standards, along with the quote of Sale of Goods act 1979. She was very well rehearsed in how some manufacturers like to deal with their own repairs guarantees etc. She put me on hold, and then shoved me across to.... SAMSUNG!!! Samsung wanted to take the player into repair and expected ME to take it to a local place which is, for personal reasons, impossible for me to do. She then said could I take it back to Curry's. I said I didnt buy it at Curry's I got it at Dixons. Oh, she said, can you take it back to Dixons? I said I dont think there are any Dixons stores left as they are now online only. The Samsung lady said she would call me within the next half hour to see what they could arrange, and at the time of writing that time has been and gone. When I had finished the conversation with Samsung I called Consumer Direct again and updated them on what I had just been told and experienced. Again professional advice given, advising me that this is how some of the companies like Dixons try and work. She advised me NOT to let Samsung take the Blu-ray player as once I do that, if the unit is returned repaired or even replaced, Dixons will not have any reasons to deal with me again and the guarantee will be done away with. My next course of action now is to write to Dixons head office telling them I have sought legal advice quoting in the header the Sale of Goods Act 1979, telling them that the product is not of satisfactory quality. I should persue for repair/replacement/refund and give them a deadline of 14 days to respond. All I can say is this should be fun. Let battle commence.

I will update when I get my reply or any other info.

unholyangel

MrJondo wrote: »

Hi and thanks all for your interesting comments. I have now taken this one step further so to let you know what I have done may also help others. Prior to calling Dixons again, I spoke with the government service Consumer Direct for advice on 08454 04 05 06. They were most helpful and very understanding. They explained that Dixons were very wrong in what they had been telling me and that when I ring them again I should quote the Sale of Goods Act of 1979. I called Dixons and spoke to a nice chirpy young lady and explained to her the previous days conversations and that I had sought advice from Trading Standards, along with the quote of Sale of Goods act 1979. She was very well rehearsed in how some manufacturers like to deal with their own repairs guarantees etc. She put me on hold, and then shoved me across to.... SAMSUNG!!! Samsung wanted to take the player into repair and expected ME to take it to a local place which is, for personal reasons, impossible for me to do. She then said could I take it back to Curry's. I said I didnt buy it at Curry's I got it at Dixons. Oh, she said, can you take it back to Dixons? I said I dont think there are any Dixons stores left as they are now online only. The Samsung lady said she would call me within the next half hour to see what they could arrange, and at the time of writing that time has been and gone. When I had finished the conversation with Samsung I called Consumer Direct again and updated them on what I had just been told and experienced. Again professional advice given, advising me that this is how some of the companies like Dixons try and work. She advised me NOT to let Samsung take the Blu-ray player as once I do that, if the unit is returned repaired or even replaced, Dixons will not have any reasons to deal with me again and the guarantee will be done away with. My next course of action now is to write to Dixons head office telling them I have sought legal advice quoting in the header the Sale of Goods Act 1979, telling them that the product is not of satisfactory quality. I should persue for repair/replacement/refund and give them a deadline of 14 days to respond. All I can say is this should be fun. Let battle commence.

I will update when I get my reply or any other info.

But they've already said they'll take it in to see what the problem is and whether to send it for repair. You said you want a replacement....but they don't have to provide that. They only have to provide a remedy (not a specific one) if the fault is inherent.

And technically if its outside of 6 months and you have provided no evidence to show it is an inherent fault......they dont "have" to do anything. You may even find this is why they're referring you to Samsung direct, to save you having to provide such evidence as you'll be covered under warranty.

As for the "guarantee" being done away with, what guarantee? Do you mean your rights under the Sale of Goods Act? If thats the case, I'd advice you to call CD back and ask for a 2nd opinion.

MrJondo

Dixons have not said they would take it in.... Samsung have. Dixons are not taking any responsibility for this product under any terms.
Un-technically it is still within the 6 months (Jan 20th 2012)
I have spoken with Consumer Direct twice, they have said I should only deal with Dixons and not Samsung. Once Samsung take the player away, fix, replace or whatever, then Dixons will no longer play any part in dealing with me. Any further problems would have to be taken up with Samsung directly and even if the item was eventually replaced by samsung the original guarantee would not be valid with Dixons.
Thats how I understood it.