Repair shop failed to repair item.

Protocol45

This is on behalf of my dad really, who is concerned.
About 2 weeks go, he took an amplifier to a local repair shop. The amp will turn off after a period of time.
They kept the amp for 2 weeks before returning it, saying they replaced a board and re-did some dry joints. Came to £150. When my dad took it home and tested it, it powered off after about 30 minutes, same problem as before.

He rang up the company and the guy told him "these things happen" and if my dad brought it back and they have to add any components etc, they would bill him. Has he just wasted £150? Is this a small claims issue? I've never done anything like this, so I don't know where to start. But communication with them over the phone is a dead avenue.

shaun_from_Africa

How was the repair paid for?

Protocol45

I believe it was cash.

unholyangel

Tell them they were contracted to repair this fault and since they have not, they are in breach of contract.

They should either have another go at repairing it free of charge OR rescind the contract and issue a full refund.

How old was the amp? It may be impossible now as he has contracted a third party who have altered the item (and they may claim any faults were caused by them) but depending how much he paid for it and if he bought it from a UK business, he may have had rights against the retailer.

As above, not likely to help in this instance but worthwhile to tell him for future if he doesn't already know (for all I know the amps 10 years old!)

OlliesDad

unholyangel wrote: »

They should either have another go at repairing it free of charge OR rescind the contract and issue a full refund.

Would you say that this is the same as if a garage was attempting to fix a car? It is fairly common that if a car has a fault then the garage shall keep trying various fixes until the fault is rectified while constantly charging for their time.. if the first attempt fails should the garage be working FOC until it is rectified?

unholyangel

OlliesDad wrote: »

Would you say that this is the same as if a garage was attempting to fix a car? It is fairly common that if a car has a fault then the garage shall keep trying various fixes until the fault is rectified while constantly charging for their time.. if the first attempt fails should the garage be working FOC until it is rectified?

I'd expect the garage to carry out their duties with reasonable care and skill.

Any time I've ever had a fault that cannot be pinpointed without first replacing things they've always advised me of that (that they wont know until they replace it and costs involved).

However you're comparing apples and oranges imo. A car is more complex than an amp by far.

If they tell me it needs a new xyz and that'll cost x including labour......I expect the problem to be fixed when I get it back. Otherwise you could easily argue it was misleading omission that caused you to enter into a transaction you wouldn't have otherwise entered into - which is covered by consumer protection from unfair trading regulations as the consumer did not have all the necessary information required to make an informed decision/give proper consideration to.

unholyangel

Scrootum wrote: »

All depends on what the supplier was contracted to do.
If it was to try to repair the fault, they have done that.
If they guaranteed to repair the fault and not charge if they could not then it is a different matter.
It is unlikely they would agree to work for nothing though.
What were the agreed terms?

Quite the opposite, they'd have to point out the repair is not guaranteed. Not the other way around.

unholyangel

Scrootum wrote: »

Not if the agreement was that you were just paying for their time and materials.

But if that's the agreement then they'd have to make you aware of it (as my post above). They cannot offer to repair goods and then later turn round saying "well we tried, pay up" without having first made you aware the repair isn't guaranteed.

It goes against very basic principles of consumer protection legislation.

Protocol45

Thanks for all replies. I don't know their terms of the repair. People just take items in, "leave it with us" charge the person £50 just to look at it. 2 weeks later they will call and say it's been fixed and how much it will cost. My dad picks it up and pays cash.

He did say there was a 3 month guarantee, but he is not sure what that covers as the only paperwork he has is the receipt saying what work was done.

£80 labour, £30 parts. They said they replaced a board and re-soldered some dry joints.

I will try to find out more information from my father and get him to ask about this guarantee.