refunds

jengaj123

hi, my 12 year old son bought a wii game from tesco but it keeps stopping,we took it back & the assistant said we cant have a refund we can only swap it for another game only, as she said they are not allowed to give refunds for games because of copyrights? also she said he could not choose anything else for the same value only the same game is she right?

shellsuit

If it was faulty you were entitled to a refund.

wealdroam

jengaj123 wrote: »

hi, my 12 year old son bought a wii game from tesco but it keeps stopping,we took it back & the assistant said we cant have a refund we can only swap it for another game only, as she said they are not allowed to give refunds for games because of copyrights? also she said he could not choose anything else for the same value only the same game is she right?

Why would your son want a different game as a replacement?

When purchasing the now faulty game, surely that is the game he wanted?

Why is offering a replacement of the same game not acceptable?

Now, to answer your question...
with faulty goods, the seller has to offer a remedy.
The remedy could be either a repair, refund or replacement.
As has been discussed many times on here, the choice of remedy is the consumer's, but it cannot be disproportionately costly for the retailer.

In this case, a repair is probably not possible, and a refund is likely to be more costly to the retailer.

This leaves a replacement.
With software, it is usual to insist that the same game is supplied as a replacement.
This is because they are probably easily copied, and to supply a different title would effectively mean that thay had possibly supplied two games for the one price.

Apart from that, supplying a different game wouldn't be a replacement, would it?
So the answer is yes they can insist on supplying a replacement game of the same title as the original.

Herongull

How long has he had the game? If it isn't very long eg less than a month, you can reject the game and claim a refund.

If you have had the game more than a "reasonable time", the above post is correct.

DCFC79

jengaj123 wrote: »

hi, my 12 year old son bought a wii game from tesco but it keeps stopping,we took it back & the assistant said we cant have a refund we can only swap it for another game only, as she said they are not allowed to give refunds for games because of copyrights? also she said he could not choose anything else for the same value only the same game is she right?

Are other games affected ?

aveylee

Hi I previously worked in Trading Standards for info the rules are;

You can reject goods which are not of satisfactory quality (SOGA'79 (s.13) description, good (s.12) title, & (s.14) fitness for purpose) only within a reasonable period (a rule of thumb being 28 days but it does vary (a newspaper in minutes, an aircraft carrier may be months).

If you reject goods the only remedy you can legally technically require is compensation. This is commonly called a refund, however if you can prove a financial loss you can claim back more than the cost of the goods (i.e. for loss of bargain).

If you have accepted the goods, either by passage of time or by taking actions inconsistent with disclaiming ownership, your rights change to those outlined by 'wealdrom'. The so called Repair, replace or refund choice.

You should note that it is the consumers choice of which of these remedies to request. The onus then goes on the Merchant to show that the requested rememdy (i.e. refund) is disproportionate to the costs of the other remedies; AND that the alternative rememdy would not cause significant inconvenience to the consumer.

Final note is that if a company places a sign indicating 'No Refunds' without the disclaimer 'Your Statutory Rights are not affected', then they are committing a criminal offence under the 'Consumer Transactions (Restrictions on Statements) order 1976.

Long winded way of saying that it depends on how long your son has had the game as to whether Tesco's can insist on a replacement or you can insiston a refund.

vyle

Check the back of the disk. Is it scratched/smudged? What game is it? Is it a game known to suffer from numerous fatal bugs?

Are other games affected? How do you know that the wii itself isn't at fault? Does the game work fine on other people's wiis if you know any?

If the game is faulty, they can give refunds if they wish. The sales assistant is getting confused with rejection because of change of mind (tesco's own policy) rather than rejection because of fault.

arcon5

When did you buy it?

If recently you are entitled to reject it for a refund under Sales of Goods Act.