Comet and my consumer rights if any

molerat

I used to work for a large retailer and was chatting to one of the local independents one day. We were selling the same item as he was for our normal price which was less than he paid for one, we both were supplied direct from the manufacturer but we picked up the bill for warranty ourselves.

dacouch

youngsolicitor wrote: »

I'm afraid Comet has gone into administration. This means they are bankrupt and don't have enough money to pay their debts. It would actually be illegal for them to give you a refund, because all creditors must be treated equally.

Technically they're in Administration not liquidation

shocky_2

dacouch wrote: »

Technically they're in Administration not liquidation

Yes - companies only go into administration when they don't have enough to pay all their debts. With administration, the administrators run the company with the goal of liquidating it in a year or so. With a liquidation everything gets sold immediately.

Uncertain wrote: »

What is the position if they replace the faulty item (assuming they have another one in stock)? I assume that would also be treating creditors unequally?

Given that the law requires them to repair or replace faulty goods should they be trading with consumers if they can't honour this?

Would it not be better to sell the whole stock to another company who would then trade normally?

Yes, my understanding is that they cannot replace either if the product was bought before the administration.

If the product was bought after the administration, then Comet can offer repair/replace/refund because this is a decision made by the administrators if they decide that continuing to trade is the best way to pay Comet's creditors.

I imagine the administrators want to continue trading while they look for an investor prepared to buy Comet's business. This is what happened when GAME went into administration earlier in the year. If this happens the new owners will probably honour all Comet's previous committments to try and restore the brand's reputation, in which case the Op will be OK. If noone wants to buy Comet then I imagine the business will get wound up and will no longer exist (like Woolworths).

SuperHan

youngsolicitor wrote: »

Yes - companies only go into administration when they don't have enough to pay all their debts. With administration, the administrators run the company with the goal of liquidating it in a year or so. With a liquidation everything gets sold immediately.

They go in to administration if that is the most likely way the creditors will get paid off. The aim of the administrators is to pay the creditors off as much as possible - not to liquidate. The best method is usually to find a buyer, with liquidation as the last possible option.

But this isn't really relevant...

DCFC79

According to here the warranty business Triptych is still going and is owned by OpCapita.

halibut2209

Grrr, the link in your sig is invalid!

antrobus

youngsolicitor wrote: »

Yes - companies only go into administration when they don't have enough to pay all their debts. With administration, the administrators run the company with the goal of liquidating it in a year or so. With a liquidation everything gets sold immediately....

That's still not entirely accurate. Companies go into administration because they lack sufficient ready cash to meet their current obligations; whether or not they're actually insolvent is an entirely different question.

Administrators aren't appointed to "run the company with the goal of liquidating it in a year or so". They're appointed to save the business (or as much of it as they can). The whole point of administration is to 'freeze' the company's debts, giving the administrators breathing space to get things reorganised, sold-on, whatever.

Uncertain

youngsolicitor wrote: »

If the product was bought after the administration, then Comet can offer repair/replace/refund because this is a decision made by the administrators if they decide that continuing to trade is the best way to pay Comet's creditors.

I imagine the administrators want to continue trading while they look for an investor prepared to buy Comet's business. This is what happened when GAME went into administration earlier in the year. If this happens the new owners will probably honour all Comet's previous committments to try and restore the brand's reputation, in which case the Op will be OK. If noone wants to buy Comet then I imagine the business will get wound up and will no longer exist (like Woolworths).

I understand the position regarding items bought before the company went "bust".

However my point was that the administrators appear to be carrying on trading but refusing to honour their sale of good act obligations on item bought since the administration started.

Take this example....

If I buy a TV in Currys and it goes faulty a few days later my claim is against Currys who must repair, replace or refund.

If I walk across the road to Comet (in administration) I can buy the same TV yet they point to a notice saying that my only claim if there is a fault is against the manufacturer (with whom I have no contract).

Are there special rules that allow a company in administration to do this?

Alternatively, can I sign away my sale of goods act rights against the shop in exchange for a lower price?

Finally, what happens if they tell me I get the full manufacturers guarantee yet this is not true because Comet "bought out" the guarantees in order to get the items at a lower price? Would I have a claim against the administrators (as opposed to Comet in administration) as they provided false information?

wealdroam

Uncertain wrote: »

I understand the position regarding items bought before the company went "bust".

However my point was that the administrators appear to be carrying on trading but refusing to honour their sale of good act obligations on item bought since the administration started.

Take this example....

If I buy a TV in Currys and it goes faulty a few days later my claim is against Currys who must repair, replace or refund.

If I walk across the road to Comet (in administration) I can buy the same TV yet they point to a notice saying that my only claim if there is a fault is against the manufacturer (with whom I have no contract).

Are there special rules that allow a company in administration to do this?

Alternatively, can I sign away my sale of goods act rights against the shop in exchange for a lower price?

Finally, what happens if they tell me I get the full manufacturers guarantee yet this is not true because Comet "bought out" the guarantees in order to get the items at a lower price? Would I have a claim against the administrators (as opposed to Comet in administration) as they provided false information?

You asked similar questions on Friday.
Were the answers no good?

No, as a consumer you cannot sign away your statutory rights.

Uncertain

wealdroam wrote: »

You asked similar questions on Friday.
Were the answers no good?

No, as a consumer you cannot sign away your statutory rights.

To which your reply began.....

I am not sure they do either.

Which is hardly definitive!

In any case I didn't raise the point about the administrators saying (apparently falsely in some cases) that there was a full manufacturer's guarantee.

I agree this is getting confused as there are a number of similar threads running regarding Comet.