Faulty mobile phone out of 28 day return policy does this affect my rights?

victip

Hello everyone.

I hope I am posting this in the right place and that it makes sense!!

I purchased a mobile phone and had it delivered on the 19/02/13 about a week later it switched itself off which I just put down to a glitch. Since then it failed to charge a few times despite changing the charger and has turned itself off. The fault is intermittent and does not follow any sort of pattern and is not really something tangible so it took me a while to actually put it down to a fault as opposed to just one of those things.

I phoned the store today and informed them of the fault and was informed that as it was one day out of their 28 day home approval guarantee I could just send the phone off to be repaired and they would not send me a replacement.I would really like a replacement as it seems such a hassle to send it off for repair and I may end up with a phone that is still broken but does not become apparent until a while later.

I would like to know if I have to accept the repair or can I insist they replace the phone under The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002?

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this and hope you are able to help me.

wealdroam

For a short while after purchase the Sale of Goods Act allows for a buyer to not accept the goods and return them for a refund.

SoGA does not state a specific time for this to happen, just says reasonable time, but it appears that your seller has decided that 28 days should cover that.

After goods have been accepted, and if the fault is deemed to be inherent, the seller will need to provide a remedy.
That remedy could be a repair, replacement or refund.
If refund is decided upon, that can be reduced to take account of the use you have had.
You can choose the remedy, but you cannot force the seller to provide a disproportionately costly remedy... which effectively means that the seller can chose the cheapest remedy without causing significant inconvenience.

It was only a month ago that you were using a different phone. Can you not use your old phone while your new one is being repaired?

victip

Thank you for replying. :-)

No, unfortunately this is a replacement to a phone that I broke so I have no back up.

The thing that I am really concerned about is that as the fault is not something I can see immediately they may just do a system reset and send the phone back as working when in fact the phone is still faulty but not apparent at that time.

A few weeks later I may end up at square one again and it costs a fortune to keep phoning and getting through to the right people.

Also, what does the 6 month period mentioned in the act apply to?

wealdroam

victip wrote: »

...what does the 6 month period mentioned in the act apply to?

For the first six months after sale, any fault can be assumed to have been present at the time of the sale... an inherent fault.
During this time it is for the seller to prove that the goods are not inherently faulty, if need be.

After six months the onus transfers... it is then for the seller to prove that the goods are inherently faulty.

All this, and other good stuff, is explained in MSE's Consumer Rights article.
Might also be worth you reading their How to Complain document.

victip

Ok, so basically they have to do something but it is up to them what they do?

I am going to look at those links now.

Thanks again for all of your help I do really appreciate it. :-)