blue-thirteen ltd , I will never buy from them again

sachi

I bought a camera as a gift for my wife, from a firm called Blue Thirteen Ltd
Unit 1, Sphere Industrial Estate, Campfield Road St Albans. I bought it from their ebay outlet. they also trade on amazon.

however it was 2 months before my wife finally decided to try out her new camera, a mistake i know, it should have been tested straight away.
When she turned it on it immediately displayed an error message telling you to turn the camera off again. it does this every time you turn it on. it is obviously faulty. I contacted blue thirteen ltd and told them about the fault and that it had only just been unpacked. Blue thirteen ltd refused to refund or replace the camera stating that they only accept returns for 14 days after the sale date. surely this illegal? after many emails Blue thirteen ltd remained unfazed and blankly refused to replace or refund.

i cant even get ebay to intervene as the time for a money back guarantee has also passed, a word of warning for internet shoppers . i will contact the manufacturers and see if they can help. Blue thirteen ltd will never see another penny of my hard earned.:mad:

redfragglebiker

You may be able to claim under SOGA but I'm not 100% sure of how this works if it is an eBay sale. Might be worth a google.

Enfieldian

Maybe you should have checked it when it arrived?

Just a thought...

sachi

well i know it should have been checked out, i did say that in the original post, but after only 2 months surely blue thirteen are still obliged to refund or replace ?

wealdroam

Ebay sale or not, you have rights under the Sale of Goods Act.

During the first six months from sale the goods can be assumed to have been faulty at the time of sale and it is for the seller to prove otherwise.

Unless the seller can prove that the fault was not present at the time of sale, then the seller must provide a remedy.
That remedy could be a repair, replacement or refund (maybe a partial refund, but unlikely in this situation).

You can choose the remedy but cannot force the seller to provide a disproportionately costly remedy.

All that assumes that the goods have been accepted... in SoGA terms.
If acceptance has not taken place, then you can insist on a refund if the goods do not conform to contract.
It is debatable whether acceptance has taken place or not... I think it probably has, but others will think differently.

Have a read of MSE's Consumer Rights Guide, followed by their How to Complain article.

sachi

thank you weldroam, thats really helpful, i will read those links

Enfieldian

alexblue7 wrote: »

We passed this transaction onto a higher department and they were able to confirm a return.

The reason why the item was delayed a return was because the camera does have a 1 year manufacture warranty which is why we informed the customer to contact Fujifilm.

Nonetheless, we have worked with the buyer and offered them a like for like replacement in a different colour which will again have a 1 year warranty from when they receive the replacement.

Please note that as a company we must follow strict company procedures unless told otherwise. We are very glad that communication with the buyer has been great and we were able to resolve this.

For any further help, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Just quoting this post for when it gets removed as you do not have permission to post as a company yet.

By the way, "strict company procedures" do not over rule SOGA or DSRs.

wealdroam

alexblue7 wrote: »

The reason why the item was delayed a return was because the camera does have a 1 year manufacture warranty which is why we informed the customer to contact Fujifilm.

Alex, there is some good guidance on this point in MSE's Consumer Rights guide:

Know who's responsible

When returning items, beware shops trying the oldest trick in the book: saying they're not responsible for the shoddy goods and you must call the manufacturer. This is total nonsense!

If a company fobs you off by saying “go to the maker instead”, it's wrong. It's the retailer's job to sort it.

It doesn't matter if it's an iPod from a high street shop or a designer frock from a department store. If something's broken, torn, ripped or faulty, the seller has a legal duty to put it right as your contract is with it.

You might like to pass that on to your higher department so that they can consider incorporating that message in their strict company procedures.

NeverInDebt

Just as long as your company procedures dont override the law in this case SOGA

alexxxx7 wrote: »

Please note that as a company we must follow strict company procedures unless told otherwise. We are very glad that communication with the buyer has been great and we were able to resolve this.

For any further help, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

sachi

blue thirteen ltd have contacted me and offered to exchange the camera, which is good news, i have sent the faulty camera back. I will post again with the outcome

sachi

as promised a replacement camera has been received and tested and it works fine. so blue thirteen ltd have come good in the end and i thank them for that. I have also learnt from this, when i receive anything in future i will test it immediately.