Faulty Tablet

WolfSong2000

Hi guys,

Last year I bought a tablet off Amazon - reviews were good, and at first I was happy with the tablet. Pretty soon, though, it stopped working, and to the company's credit they took it back and replaced it with a new one. That was earlier this year (around March, I think). Trouble is, tablet has now broken again. I have sent it back, at my own cost (special delivery, so not cheap, but necessary due to items value) and requested a refund as the tablet is obviously not fit for purpose as I've already had one replaced and now second one has also developed faults.

Company are saying that it is out of refund period and they'll replace it, but wont give me a refund. Trouble is, if this third tablet goes wrong I am the one who will be paying to have it sent back, wait for it to be fixed, etc.

As it is under 6 months old, I was assuming that under SOGA I was entitled to a refund. Is this the case?

wealdroam

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Last year I bought a tablet off Amazon - reviews were good, and at first I was happy with the tablet. Pretty soon, though, it stopped working, and to the company's credit they took it back and replaced it with a new one. That was earlier this year (around March, I think). Trouble is, tablet has now broken again. I have sent it back, at my own cost (special delivery, so not cheap, but necessary due to items value) and requested a refund as the tablet is obviously not fit for purpose as I've already had one replaced and now second one has also developed faults.

Company are saying that it is out of refund period and they'll replace it, but wont give me a refund. Trouble is, if this third tablet goes wrong I am the one who will be paying to have it sent back, wait for it to be fixed, etc.

As it is under 6 months old, I was assuming that under SOGA I was entitled to a refund. Is this the case?

No sorry, you are not necessarily entitled to a refund.

You are entitled to a remedy if the thing is inherently faulty, and that remedy could be a repair, replacement or (partial) refund.
You can choose the remedy, but cannot force the seller to provide a remedy that is disproportionate... in other words, the seller chooses the cheapest remedy.

You are however entitled to all costs in providing that remedy to be covered by the seller... i.e. postage costs, etc.

Have a read of MSE's Consumer Rights guide for more details.

Edited to add:
So you received the replacement in March.
When did you make the purchase of the original tablet? It is from that date, i.e. the date of the sale, that any six month period is counted from.

Within the first six months it is for the seller to prove that the tablet was not faulty at the time of sale. After six months it is for the seller to prove that the thing was inherently faulty, should that be necessary.

WolfSong2000

wealdroam wrote: »

No sorry, you are not necessarily entitled to a refund.

You are entitled to a remedy if the thing is inherently faulty, and that remedy could be a repair, replacement or (partial) refund.
You can choose the remedy, but cannot force the seller to provide a remedy that is disproportionate... in other words, the seller chooses the cheapest remedy.

Have a read of MSE's Consumer Rights guide for more details.

I had a feeling that maybe the case...do I have any recourse for reclaiming postage fees incurred to send the faulty tablet back? Or if this tablet becomes faulty, would I be entitled to a refund or is it simply replacements ad infinitum? Trouble is, every time they send me a new tablet, all the apps, content, etc, I had loaded on the previous tablet is lost, so it's a real nuisance.

wealdroam

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

I had a feeling that maybe the case...do I have any recourse for reclaiming postage fees incurred to send the faulty tablet back?

Added the answer to my earlier post.

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

Or if this tablet becomes faulty, would I be entitled to a refund or is it simply replacements ad infinitum?

Yes, but they must provide the remedy without causing significant inconvenience.

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

Trouble is, every time they send me a new tablet, all the apps, content, etc, I had loaded on the previous tablet is lost, so it's a real nuisance.

Is it an Android tablet?
If so, then it is just a case of reloading all the Apps from you Google account backup. Very simple.

WolfSong2000

wealdroam wrote: »

Added the answer to my earlier post.

Yes, but they must provide the remedy without causing significant inconvenience.


Is it an Android tablet?
If so, then it is just a case of reloading all the Apps from you Google account backup. Very simple.

Thanks for the advice...the original tablet was purchased last september, so almost a year ago now. Replacement, which was a totally different model, was sent around March - started developing faults from end of May, but stupid me kept using it until it totally broke down.

I guess on this occasion I will have to accept another replacement, but I am assuming that if this breaks down within 6 months, like the other two have, *then* I will be justified in requesting a refund due to the inconvenience called.

To give the company credit, they are efficient and communicative - just seems to be the quality of the actual product is pretty shoddy.