Headphones bought at HMV

uffegraa

I bought a set of expensive (£175) headphones from HMV in February 2011. I paid with a credit card.

About 6-8 weeks ago, I started having problems with the sound cutting in and out of the left headphone. It appears to be related to the plug end of the headphones as touching this end while plugged in will cause this to happen. You can turn it and get it to play right, but as soon as it moves a bit, the problem is back.

I have tried another pair of headphones which work fine and I have tried the troublesome headphones on another device and get the same problem, so I know it's a problem with the headphones, not the device I'm using them on.

I've checked the manufacturer website and they have a 2 year warranty, which would expire in approximately 5 months.

I'd be happy to be given a replacement set of headphones as opposed to getting my money back.

I know there is something about proving the goods were faulty if it's more than six months since purchase, but I don't believe they were faulty at the time.

However, since there is a 2 year warranty, surely that would mean you would expect the product to last 2 years.

Claiming through the manufacturer warranty appears to be a long and complicated process so my preference would be to get HMV to deal with this.

Can anyone tell me the following:

Can I legally make HMV deal with this?
Am I entitled to an equivalent replacement product from HMV?

If so, does anyone know which specific parts of the Sales of Goods Act I can quote to HMV?

If they refuse to deal with it, what steps can I take?

I'd appreciate any advice you can give.

Fosterdog

Legally yes you can make HMV deal with it, and it may be worth calling them first to find out if they will just replace or if they will make things more complicated.

As the headphones are more than six months old they can request that you prove that the fault is inherent, to do this you would have to pay for an independent engineer to do a report. You then submit the report to HMV, if they agree with it they will offer a remedy (repair, replace, refund (can be partial). They have to refund the cost of getting the report too.

If you submit the report and they don't agree then you would have to go down the route of sending a letter before action and possibly making a claim with the small claims court with your engineer report as evidence. Again if you win HMV would have to pay your court costs too.

It doesn't get that far very often but you did ask what steps to take if they won't deal with it.

Although legally HMV should deal with it, these things are often a lot easier if you just go to the manufacturer under the warranty.

vuvuzela

Why would claiming via the manufacturer be long and difficult ? What's the make of the headphones ?

Jakg

The "2 year warranty" you get is in addition to your legal rights - it may well be dealt with ONLY by the manufacturer.

Your rights under SOGA are different (but more difficult to enforce).