Could I reasonably expect it to last more than ten years?

Voyager2002

Back in 2001 I bought a rather special CD player. It retailed for two thousand pounds, which was a lot of money then. And it came from a company (Linn) that had built a reputation on the excellence and long lives of the record decks they made: Linn dealers often tell stories to this effect (I recently had my Linn record deck serviced for the first time in a twenty-five year working life, and absolutely nothing was wrong with it).

Anyway, my CD player is all but useless. The main transport has died of old age, indicating that it had been designed for a rather short life. (I am particularly annoyed because there was a two-year period when I was working abroad and the player was not used at all, so it has not had that much wear and tear.) I would like to pursue them for repair or replacement, since it seems to me that this is a design fault. However, most manufacturers would argue that designing a part to last less than ten years is simply standard practice.

Oh: Linn do offer a repair service. There is a fixed price for dealing with any problem, large or small, a mere 800 pounds! I regard that fee as exorbitant.

unholyangel

I suspect that unless the problem was caused by them performing the service, statute of limitations will apply.

neilmcl

You've absolutely no legal right to any sort of remedy I'm afraid. And, personally, regardless of the reputation of the company and the perceived quality of the CD player, I wouldn't call 11 years a "rather short life".

maninthestreet

10 or 11 years for a consumer product such as a CD player isn't that bad. Preumably, the extra money you paid for it just gave you better sound quality. Could a third party repairer replace the transport for a lot less then £800?

verityboo

Most technology these days is obsolete in a lot less than 11 years. A 10 year old TV which cost £2k would probably be inferior to a new £400 one. The trouble with comparing a CD player and turntable is that the turntable is a mostly mechanical device and a CD player is an electronic one. Electronics 10 years ago were nowhere near as advanced as they are today (are you still using an 11 year old computer?)

Perhaps time to move on? As others have said as a consumer you no longer have any rights under the SoGA. It's your choice whether to spend the £800, Investigate other specialist repairers or perhaps source a second hand one on ebay

Jeff_Bridges_hair

verityboo wrote: »

Most technology these days is obsolete in a lot less than 11 years. A 10 year old TV which cost £2k would probably be inferior to a new £400 one. The trouble with comparing a CD player and turntable is that the turntable is a mostly mechanical device and a CD player is an electronic one. Electronics 10 years ago were nowhere near as advanced as they are today (are you still using an 11 year old computer?)

Yet I have a pair of Technics 1200 turntables which are still running as well as the first day they were bought around 20 years ago and the only thing, apart from needles and cartridges, which I have had to have done is the re-alignment of the pitch control and a new tone oarm on one of them which I snapped.

Go figure huh.

mattyprice4004

Voyager, id have thought you of all people would be aware of the statute of limitation.

You have no comeback, it's over the 6 years.

paddyrg

The unit may not be worthless though, there may be secondhand value to some Linn collector or whatever who can bring ir back to life.

CD transport sounds like it could even be something silly like the grease/lubrication all dried up, or cogs worn which you can replace - may be worth a little exploration?

fred7777

Yes it's reasonable to expect it to last more than 10 years.

But unfortunately as it's more than 6 years since you got it there is nothing you can force Linn to do about it.

The £800 repair fee is ridiculous. Try a local independent who will charge for parts and labour per hour.

Voyager2002

fred7777 wrote: »

Yes it's reasonable to expect it to last more than 10 years.

But unfortunately as it's more than 6 years since you got it there is nothing you can force Linn to do about it.

The £800 repair fee is ridiculous. Try a local independent who will charge for parts and labour per hour.

Yes: that is what I did. I have just paid two hundred pounds for a repair, and have exactly the same problem as when I took it in.

bod1467

In which case the repairer has not performed the task correctly. Take it back for a proper repair, or reclaim the costs back from them.