Warranty Transfer Advice Needed or Sale of Goods Act?

vidic007007

Hi guys,

Long time lurker, but first time posting!

I'll try and keep it brief but I'm a bit lost with what rights I do/don't have. (I feel in my head that I should have something but clearly that's not good enough!)

I bought a house in July 2013.

The house was built in 2009 and had a conservatory added by the previous owners in 2012.

The conservatory was purchased from a company via the phone and fitted by a local builder.

The bad news is that we haven't had any documentation passed on to us regarding the conservatory.

The good news (or so I thought) was that the 10 year warranty is "fully transferrable" to the new owner and the company has acknowledged the purchase to this address.

One of the seals on a window has gone which is leading to condensation inside the glass. (Seems like a common issue) Simple to get replaced under warranty I thought.

Having spoken to the company, I was expecting a nominal admin fee in order to do this.

They have quoted the following:

"We can happily change the warranty for you.

We will need to come and inspect the conservatory and take the details of the new owners.

The cost for this is £250 + vat and mileage. The mileage is 50p per mile.

This would bring the total to £450.60 inclusive of vat."

This to me seems extremely excessive to transfer a warranty and actually unfair as it will put most people off from transferring it and removes the onus on them to provide goods which are fit for purpose!

What I'm unclear on is whether I have any rights (sale of goods act etc) when I am not the original purchaser and I don't have the documentation.

Surely glass panels should last more than 2 years before losing the seal? (Therefore were they not fit for purpose and can I get the company that sold them or the manufacturer to replace them?)

Please help as I seem to be getting pushed from pillar to post with nobody quite sure who I should ask for advice!

Not named the company as I don't feel the need to as of yet.

Thanks in advance for your advice! :beer:

McKneff

I don't think you have any rights at all to be honest, warranties don't automatically transfer over. This transfer of warranty has to be done by the original buyer of the conservatory before selling and that is when the admin charge comes in,they would have had to pay for it to be transferred to your name and it should be in writing and passed on to you with any other doucments regarding you buying the house. Oh dear


It would be miles cheaper to just get a local man to replace yourself to be honest, why not just get a few quotes.

InsideInsurance

As you say, you arent the purchaser so have no rights under the SOGA.

You arent even the purchaser of the warranty to have any grounds to complain about that, its currently still in the name of the prior owner, and so you are effectively not under contract with them to be able to claim its an unfair contract term etc.

What did the house seller say about warranties on the conservatory? Did this all come from them or is it your own research that has brought the warranty to light?

Realistically the only chance you really have is if the house seller miss represented the warranty that you'd be getting and then your action would be against them not the conservatory company