Do I have to accept a refund?

mooby

A little back history:
In December 2010 I purchased several hard drives, fast forward 11 months and 1 of them fails. I contact the retailer and use their returns process, I make sure to include sufficient evidence to show the drive is faulty. Their technical department agree with me but issue a partial refund despite me asking for a replacement.

I raise a support request asking for the refund to be cancelled and the replacement I asked for to be shipped. I am told that due to the sales of good act I am not entitled to a replacement and must accept a refund. They go on to claim that is impossible for them to relace it as they have no replacements in stock, they have 47 available for next day delivery, and repeatedly ignore my request for it to be escalated to a manger. I assume that this stance was taken because the product now costs more than it did when I purchased it. Eventually they just claim that it would be too costly to replace.

My question is, do I have to accept a refund on an 11 month old faulty item despite the retailer having stock and they being most likely able to get my faulty unit replaced directly from the manufacturer at little cost to themselves?

bod1467

You can request a specific remedy but the retailer can decline if it is disproportionately costly, whereupon the retailer can choose the remedy (repair, replace or refund, and the refund can take account of usage). Thus their offer of a partial refund complies with SOGA.

The question now is, how partial was the refund? Finger in the air I'd suggest a refund of 75% of the purchase cost would be reasonable for this time frame (just less than a year).

mooby

!!!!!!, looks like the only thing I can pick fault with is the fact I was lied to about availability. Still stings a bit to be out of pocket to replace an item that should last 4 years or so.

Thanks for your answer.

Flyboy152

bod1467 wrote: »

You can request a specific remedy but the retailer can decline if it is disproportionately costly, whereupon the retailer can choose the remedy (repair, replace or refund, and the refund can take account of usage). Thus their offer of a partial refund complies with SOGA.

The question now is, how partial was the refund? Finger in the air I'd suggest a refund of 75% of the purchase cost would be reasonable for this time frame (just less than a year).

How would that be quantified.

bris

Flyboy152 wrote: »

How would that be quantified.

Don't ask silly questions to try and start a useless debate, you know as well as anyone that a partial refund is allowed. The 75% was a suggestion, nothing more.

Flyboy152

bris wrote: »

Don't ask silly questions to try and start a useless debate, you know as well as anyone that a partial refund is allowed. The 75% was a suggestion, nothing more.

And I asked a perfectly valid question, but you decide to turn that into an argument. Great work!

Valli

mooby wrote: »

! Still stings a bit to be out of pocket to replace an item that should last 4 years or so.

75% because it lasted (almost) one year and it should have lasted for 4 - so the three unused years at 25% each of the purchase price based on expected lifespan? Hence 75%;)
However am in awe that Bod worked this out before we got the expected lifespan posted!

aldredd

mooby, probably a bit late now, but I seem to recall HDD's (just traditional ones, not SSD's) would have a 10 year manufacturer warranty. Not sure if this still happens, but certainly used to, so may be something to check out in the future.

bod1467

Good point aldredd. Maybe not 10 years, but 2-3 years manufacturer's guarantee is not unusual. I guess in this instance going to the manufacturer may have been a better option.

@Flyboy - I just take a guesstimate based on experience. Goods tend to depreciate in a non-linear fashion, and I use the following as a guide:

1 year = -40%
2 year = -60%
3 year = -75%
4 year = -85%
5 year = -93%
6 year = -100%

In this case it was less than a year so I estimated -25% (or a refund of 75%). Hope this helps.

Flyboy152

bod1467 wrote: »

Good point aldredd. Maybe not 10 years, but 2-3 years manufacturer's guarantee is not unusual. I guess in this instance going to the manufacturer may have been a better option.

@Flyboy - I just take a guesstimate based on experience. Goods tend to depreciate in a non-linear fashion, and I use the following as a guide:

1 year = -40%
2 year = -60%
3 year = -75%
4 year = -85%
5 year = -93%
6 year = -100%

In this case it was less than a year so I estimated -25% (or a refund of 75%). Hope this helps.

Thank you.

mooby

The manufacturers website has a support checker and unfortunately it indicates the drives are supported by the retailer.

Thanks anyway guys.