Sale of Goods Act for exported goods

robocop79

Hi there,

I bought an electrical item over the phone from a UK retailer and the item has now gone faulty within the 12 month warranty.

At the time of purchase I paid extra for it to be shipped to Spain.

The retailer is asking me to pay for the shipping costs to return the item to the UK. However, my understanding of the Sale of Goods Act is that the retailer can be held responsible for reasonable shipping costs. My question is, does that still apply to the item I've exported to Spain?

Hope that makes sense, and thanks in advance.

nomoneytoday

AFAIK the SOGA only applies to the UK
(6 years for England, Ireland and Wales, 5 years in Scotland)

zaax

Does the item have a guarentee that can be used in Spain?
Are you willing to take him to court?

The consumer legislation covers the ec so he might have to pay the shipping costs, but you can only find out by taking them to court.

Here is a leaflet (and phone number)
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publications/docs/rights_en.pdf

mo786uk

I'm not sure the SOGA covers this exact point - the buyer should not be out of pocket for breach of contract but it might be a bit much to expect the seller to pay expensive postage charges for importing the item into the country

That said they took a risk when they sent it

Rather than cause a big fuss can you not make up the difference between what it would cost to send from the UK? i.e they refund you the cost of sending it from UK to UK and you pay the extra needed to bring it into the UK).

If they are wiling to do the above then its possibly the quickest solution - esp if they did you a favour by shipping it directly abroad if that is not something they normally do.

If they normally ship abroad then they are on dodgier ground and probably liable - but of course I spose generally those customers wouldn't enforce the cotnract in the UK if it went tits up.

bris

You may not have any UK consumer rights here at all, they use a different electrical system in Spain so the warranty would be void. it would be best to keep the Spain thing to yourself.

shaun_from_Africa

bris wrote: »

You may not have any UK consumer rights here at all, they use a different electrical system in Spain so the warranty would be void. it would be best to keep the Spain thing to yourself.

The voltage and frequency of the supply in Spain is no different to that of the UK (230V 50hz).
Some websites list the UK as 240v and Spain as 230v but there is such a wide allowance for the supply voltage in Europe of -6% to +10% that ensures both countries supplies are suitable for appliances sold in either country.
The only difference would be the plug, and changing this or using an adaptor shouldn't have any effect on the warranty.

rustyboy21

bris wrote: »

You may not have any UK consumer rights here at all, they use a different electrical system in Spain so the warranty would be void. it would be best to keep the Spain thing to yourself.

Is correct. Within my field of retail, any electric fire shipped out of the UK invalidates it's warranty with the retailer, same with Gas fires.

Equaliser123

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Is correct. Within my field of retail, any electric fire shipped out of the UK invalidates it's warranty with the retailer, same with Gas fires.

Rubbish.

We are talking about the Sale of Goods Act which applies to all sales subject to English law.

Seller (if responsible) is responsible for losses incurred as a result of the failure and which flow from the breach. The seller had knowledge that the OP was in Spain. They accepted the contract on that basis.

Hintza

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Rubbish.

We are talking about the Sale of Goods Act which applies to all sales subject to English law.

Seller (if responsible) is responsible for losses incurred as a result of the failure and which flow from the breach. The seller had knowledge that the OP was in Spain. They accepted the contract on that basis.

Are you sure?

rustyboy21

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Rubbish.

We are talking about the Sale of Goods Act which applies to all sales subject to English law.

Seller (if responsible) is responsible for losses incurred as a result of the failure and which flow from the breach. The seller had knowledge that the OP was in Spain. They accepted the contract on that basis.

Then if the OP brought the product back into UK territory , then the SOGA would be applicable.

The fires I sell from Many manufacturers, state that Warranties are only applicable in the UK, IOM and ROI.

If the OP wishes to complain, then it would be through the retailer, the manufacturer has no obligation to repair it, as it has been used and was bought for the purpose of an overseas property.

If they have also changed the plug to a 2 pin, that will automatically invalidate the warranty, with a lot of manufacturers. The Voltage is also a mitigating factor in how it is handled.

The OP's contract is with the retailer.

As yet, no one has been able to ascertain, if the OP has any leagl right for enforcing the retailer to pay the return postage from Spain. This would be covered via EU law, not SOGA.

paddyrg

Some other aspects come into play as well of course - unless you have an engineers report (in English) that the kettle was inherently faulty at manufacture, right now you're reliant on the retailers good will. Purchase price will also be relevant, a £3 kettle would not be expected to last as long as a £60 one, for instance, and three cost of remedy should be appropriate. And it could be claimed that not using the UK mains was 'misuse' (certainly not used as intended, unless sold as a travel kettle?!).

I assume you paid a premium for it to be shipped to Spain? So you have an idea what the postage costs will be each way, plus currency fees - is it proportionate to the value of the item to do so?

If you're relying on the warranty, that's with the manufacturer, they can impose whatever terms they like, including where it is used and who pays for postage.

Personally, I'd suggest you buy your next kettle in Spain next time!