Faulty Voucher

TheStretchedElf

Yesterday we bought a £25 Nintendo eShop card from Asda. When trying to add the funds we got an error (107-6561). Tried multiple times just to make sure we were entering the code properly but still got the error.

We thought the card might not have been activated at the till but Asda assured us the cards are activated as they are scanned.

Tried Nintendo customer services and they aren't really sure what the problem might be. They've asked us to email them a scan of the card and the receipt and they will get back to us within a couple of days.

My question is, shouldn't we be able to return this to the vender? As far as I'm concerned the contract has been broken and we shouldn't be having to chase this up ourselves and be out of pocket for 3 days in the meantime (assuming a best case scenario in which Nintendo actually resolve it and get the funds on in a couple of days).

InsideInsurance

TheStretchedElf wrote: »

My question is, shouldn't we be able to return this to the vender? As far as I'm concerned the contract has been broken and we shouldn't be having to chase this up ourselves and be out of pocket for 3 days in the meantime (assuming a best case scenario in which Nintendo actually resolve it and get the funds on in a couple of days).

Yes, but they are also entitled to ensure that the goods are faulty and having Asda chase Nintendo may well be slower than you chasing Nintendo directly given this issue is probably more of a concern for you than it is for Asda

TheStretchedElf

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Yes, but they are also entitled to ensure that the goods are faulty and having Asda chase Nintendo may well be slower than you chasing Nintendo directly given this issue is probably more of a concern for you than it is for Asda

Could it be argued that I've not accepted the item and demand a refund?

InsideInsurance

TheStretchedElf wrote: »

Could it be argued that I've not accepted the item and demand a refund?

But you are not accepting it on the grounds of it being faulty/ not as described for which they are still entitled to make reasonable enquiries.

If this werent the case we would all buy vouchers, use them online, then reject them.

TheStretchedElf

InsideInsurance wrote: »

But you are not accepting it on the grounds of it being faulty/ not as described for which they are still entitled to make reasonable enquiries.

If this werent the case we would all buy vouchers, use them online, then reject them.

I'm not sure I totally follow. If I reject it it would be on the grounds of it being faulty.

I was basing this on what Which says:

If you buy a product that turns out to be faulty, you can choose to reject it which means you can give it back and get a refund.
But, the law only gives you a reasonable time to do this – what's reasonable depends on the product and how obvious the fault is.

But I take it what you are saying is such a refund would only materialise after the vendor has exhausted their means of testing it's faultiness, which could take some time. Have I understood correctly?

VictorCharlie

You have to understand though that people do try and use vouchers and return for refund claiming codes don't work when they actually did.
They are not accusing you of doing this but you must allow the appropriate checks to be made.
Otherwise if they didn't check, as the other poster said, people would just do it all the time.

daytona0

I think codes are exempt anyway

TheStretchedElf

Quick update. Nintendo responded very quickly and sent an email confirming the card hadn't been activated by Asda so with that information presented Asda refunded.

InsideInsurance

TheStretchedElf wrote: »

I'm not sure I totally follow. If I reject it it would be on the grounds of it being faulty.

I was basing this on what Which says:

If you buy a product that turns out to be faulty, you can choose to reject it which means you can give it back and get a refund.
But, the law only gives you a reasonable time to do this – what's reasonable depends on the product and how obvious the fault is.

But I take it what you are saying is such a refund would only materialise after the vendor has exhausted their means of testing it's faultiness, which could take some time. Have I understood correctly?

Yes you have understood it correctly. I'd argue the Which? article comment isnt as helpful as it could be as whilst you could bring in a mobile phone, show its faulty by demonstrating it wont turn on the retailer would probably still want to do checks to ensure the fault isnt caused by you having dropped it in the bath on the first day of having it.

With some things, eg a broken mirror, it doesnt take great expertise to work out whats wrong. Something like an online code is going to have to go back to the company that "owns" the codes hence why it may be quicker to go directly to the company that owns the code and bypass the retailor.

Anyway, glad it all got sorted quickly.

vuvuzela

TheStretchedElf wrote: »

Quick update. Nintendo responded very quickly and sent an email confirming the card hadn't been activated by Asda so with that information presented Asda refunded.

Good and quick result. Maybe the Asda people you spoke to got it wrong ? Not bought a gift card like this myself but maybe there's another layer to the activation the cashier failed to do ?