Refund or repair

Red_Elle

Hoping someone can help. I bought a camera from Amazon marketplace in September and it has broken already.

With it having broken so quickly, after only being used a handful of times, I would think it reasonable to assume that it was faulty at point of sale.

I have contacted the company to request a refund or replacement, but they have said that as it is outside of their 28 day policy I have to contact the manufacturer to exercise my warranty. Is my contract not with them and I'm arguing that the contract is void as the item is not fit for purpose or of satisfactory quality, but does that only apply within the 28 days?

I read on a consumer website: 'Thanks to the new European Regulations, UK law now offers greater protection for consumers against products which develop faults within the first 6 months. The assumption is now that if it breaks down within this time period it cannot have conformed to the contract specification when purchased and you have the right to an automatic repair or replacement'

The company have sent me a link to camera repair company and said to get in touch with them basically. Looking through I would have to send the camera to them, at my cost, and they recommend sending recorded. Why should I be out of pocket for a faulty item?

Not sure where I stand on this. Thanks.

ThumbRemote

They are talking rubbish. Within 6 months a fault is assumed to be inherent (ie not down to misuse) unless proven otherwise. The retailer is responsible for offering a remedy. They may sort it out with the retailer themselves, but that's their problem.

Point out to them that under the statutory rights offered by the Sale of Goods Act they are responsible for sorting out the problem. Further, it is an offence for them to try and deny you those statutory rights.

Red_Elle

Thank you. I thought that was the case and pointed out my rights to them, along with making 'time of the essence' in relation to a refund.
They replied with:

'I would like to confirm after 28 days of your purchase you will need to
log in to the website you have been provided to exercise your 12 months
Panasonic warranty.'

So in other words completely ignoring me! I then issued a dispute with Amazon about it, who will hopefully resolve it, as always had superb service with them.

I also replied to the company quoting the sale of goods act:

'my manufacturers warranty is in addition to my statutory rights as a consumer under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.

Point 48A of said Act states:
'For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above goods which do not conform to the contract of sale at any time within the period of six months starting
with the date on which the goods were delivered to the buyer must be taken not to have so conformed at that date'

Section 48B states you, the Seller, must:
'repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods within a reasonable time
but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer;' and 'bear any
necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of
any labour, materials or postage).'

It is your responsibility to arrange repair if you wish to repair the item
and to bear the postage cost to do so; not mine.'

So I will see what they say, but if Amazon do not resolve this and the company still insist that I have to contact this third party repair company and pay to have it send back, would my next steps be CIB?

I'm wondering who I can report them to for breaching the Sales of Goods Act? When things like this happen I always think about the people who will be fobbed off by responses like this and they then get away with it over and over again.

Red_Elle

Hmm, having read something else now I'm not convinced that they cannot offer me a repair or replacement before agreeing to a refund.

That being true, when all I want is a refund as I don't trust the company now and want to purchase same item elsewhere, is there any recourse after they told me that I have to arrange the repair myself and at cost to me?

ThumbRemote

ThumbRemote wrote: »

The retailer is responsible for offering a remedy. They may sort it out with the retailer themselves, but that's their problem.

The retailer is responsible for offering a remedy. They may sort it out with the manufacturer themselves, but that's their problem.

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

System

Who is the marketplace seller? Are you sure it's a company based in the EU?

bris

They do have the right to inspect the item to rule out misuse, so even though it is said to be inherent they do have the right to prove otherwise. This means you will have to send it to them and claim the cost back if it goes in your favor. They do not have to give you a refund, repair or replace is acceptable.
You can wait twice as long going through a difficult seller so get in touch with Panasonic and have it repaired or replaced twice as fast, there is no point in trying to be clever when you don't know your rights in the first place.

Red_Elle

goater78 wrote: »

Who is the marketplace seller? Are you sure it's a company based in the EU?

Yes they are.

Red_Elle

bris wrote: »

They do have the right to inspect the item to rule out misuse, so even though it is said to be inherent they do have the right to prove otherwise. This means you will have to send it to them and claim the cost back if it goes in your favor. They do not have to give you a refund, repair or replace is acceptable.
You can wait twice as long going through a difficult seller so get in touch with Panasonic and have it repaired or replaced twice as fast, there is no point in trying to be clever when you don't know your rights in the first place.

The company that they have linked to is not Panasonic, just a camera repair company. You may be right in that it would possibly be quicker. I'm not trying to be clever - I'm asking for help as it's an area that I'm not knowledgeable about

It makes sense that they will want to inspect the item. However, I am fairly sure that they should be responsible for me sending an item back if it is defective. I would have also assumed that as my contract is with them, the item could be returned to them. Then they can choose to get it repaired and return it to me or replace it with another one.

Red_Elle

Just to update those who helped, I got in touch with the company and explained that they are in breach of the SOGA in insisting that I pay to return a faulty item and that the item would be classed as faulty at POS because it's only a few months since purchasing it so they are obliged to pay return costs and it should be to them and not a third party.

I said that I would not just be leaving it to Amazon, but would be contacting CAB and Trading Standards for advice and got the same response as when I explained that I'd be raising a dispute with Amazon - a rather arrogant 'I will look forward to hearing from them.'

I appreciate that I might have to wait longer to get this sorted out, but it really doesn't matter. Companies breaching our statutory rights as consumers get away with it because of that attitude. If people who are able, do nothing about it, then they will continue to do so.

The bottom line is that I bought something that was faulty and has not been damaged through general wear and tear. A reasonable company would be apologetic and send me a returns envelope or arrange collection of the item, return it to the manufacturer themselves and offer me a refund or a replacement. This company want me to go and register with another company (a camera repair company that I've never heard of, not the manufacturer) and pay to return an item that is inherently faulty. Even if it fixed that fault, I don't have confidence that the item is good quality now.

Whilst they get good overall reviews on Amazon, the people that do not give good reviews does so as a result of faulty items and were not happy with the response from the company.

Lydia_Thomas

Hello @Red_Elle, I work for Radio 4's Consumer programme You and Yours and we are looking at people having problems purchasing goods between £100-£30,000 over Amazon Marketplace with credit cards and a loophole that prevents them getting a refund. If this applies to you please get in touch as we're doing an item on this.

Lydia ([EMAIL="lydia.thomas1@bbc.co.uk"]lydia.thomas1@bbc.co.uk[/EMAIL])