phone problem outside guarantee

robinpe

My mobile phone which I purchased from Tesco has a problem. The phone is out of warranty but still under 2 years old. It previously had a major problem and a new motherboard was fitted under warranty. I have now asked Tesco to repair the phone free under the Sale of Goods Act or the European Convention 2 year guarantee. This is there reply:-


"After looking into all the information, I will be standing by my decision as the handset is out of warranty due to age. It is for this reason that we will not be able to repair the handset free of charge. I would suggest contacting Motorola in regards to the handset fault for a second opinion.

The Sale of Goods Act provides 6 years under which to claim against a warranty decision. It does not provide 6 a year warranty length. As part of the EU Directive, it does state that any law in the EU which provides greater protection does take precedence and the Sale of Goods Act in the UK is mentioned as one of these laws. As the EU Directive provides 2 years for the consumer to claim against a warranty decision, it is superseded by the Sale of Goods Act.

Whilst I understand that you are frustrated that your handset has become faulty outside of the 12 month warranty, it is at the discretion of the manufacturer to decide how long a handset should be covered for. This is decided with all relevant UK and EU laws in mind.

The period of time under which you can claim an item as being fit for purpose is generally at the discretion at the retailer and is often linked to the returns period. In this case it would be the 28-day exchange period offered by Tesco. Once a handset has gone past this period then the customer is assumed to have accepted the goods as fit for purpose.

Once again, please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this matter has caused you.

Thank you for contacting Tesco Telecoms Handset Support Concerns Team.

Yours Sincerely,

James
Handset Support Concerns Specialist
Tesco Telecoms Concerns Team ".

Are Tesco correct in what they are saying?

ThumbRemote

robinpe wrote: »

Are Tesco correct in what they are saying?

Not really. They repeatedly confuse their own 'warranty' and the law, omit some important information, and their last bit about 'fit for purpose' is downright wrong.

Your warranty is on top of your statutory rights. A warranty is offered either by the manufacturer or retailer. It has nothing to do with "relevant UK and EU laws".

Your statutory rights state that a product must be of "satisfactory quality", of which one part is durability. Under UK law you have up to 6 years to claim, but that doesn't mean that something should last for 6 years (which is about the only thing they got right).

A phone with a two year contract really should be expected to last at least two years under normal use, excepting misuse and damage.

bris

Yes, you need to prove it has a defect present at manufacture, you do this by getting an experts report and presenting it to Tesco, if found in your favour then the cost of the report would be refunded.

The problem is finding a fault is one thing, proving it was inherent at time of purchase is another.

The EU 2 year rule is no use in the UK, it's a SOGA issue rather than a warranty one.

wealdroam

OP, this short extract from MSE's Consumer Rights guide may help you:

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.

The rest of that document is also worth reading.