£150 iPhone Cover Worn after 6 Months - EU Law?

Moireach

Before my money saving days I bought my wife a £150 Miniot iPhone case, can't deny that they are cool!

However we were shocked that it wore away rapidly with normal use and within 6 months she didn't want to use it anymore. I finally got round to complaining but was simply told that they only cover their cases for three months :O

Can EU law overrule this?? (I added a space in the link below to bypass the forum rules of new users not being allowed to share links to prevent spam)
http: /

//europa.eu/youreurope

/citizens/shopping/shopping-abroad/guarantees/index_en.htm

Worse yet they misunderstood me when I emailed and asked me to post it back to them, but when they received it they said oh sorry no we can't give you a refund, so now I have nothing at all to show for the £150 I spent, not even the worn case! And on receiving the case they admitted it was "not in good shape at all".

vuvuzela

EU 'law' is irrelevant here, what you need to look at is the UK Sales of goods act (SOGA). This should cover the situation, which is now a bit more complicated as you don't have the goods. Did they admit the fact it had deteriorated in writing or by a call, ie do you have a record ?

Edit - as said below, it depends on whether you bought it from a UK store or website or the manufacturer's non-UK website.

Fosterdog

In what way has it worn away?

I hadn't heard of these cases before so just searched for them, I have to say there is a very good reason phone cases are not made out of wood but are usually made from a more durable plastic, rubber, metal etc.

You are paying more for the skill, design and brand with these cases and wood would never last long on most peoples phones, constantly being handled, in and out of bags/pockets, possibly knocked or dropped a few times. It's also a natural material so if your wife uses any sort of hand cream/moisturiser the residue can affect the integrity of the wood even soap can have the same effect.

InsideInsurance

Where did you buy it from? Who's law governs the sale? If you bought it directly from Miniot then their website says its dutch law that applies given they are based in the Netherlands and you would need to research what their consumer rights law is.

The EU effectively instructs minimum standards and member states have to put local legislation in place to meet those standards. In the case of consumer rights we already had the Sales of Goods Act which basically gives you the right to a "reasonable life" for the goods which in practice may be up to 6 years depending on exactly what the goods are. It was thus deemed that "up to 6 years" was considered greater than 2 years and so no changes in law were made.

If your purchase was made from a retailer governed by english law then you need to pursue the retailer themselves and not the manufacturer as your rights are with them under SOGA.

Moireach

Hmm this sounds pretty confusing. It was bought direct from their website (Netherlands). But I don't understand why EU law is irrelevant when UK and Netherlands are EU members?
Would the Sale of Goods act cover a purchase from the Netherlands?

As for how it's worn away, it was functional and cosmetic. Cosmetic wearing began early and that was fine, but when the functional stuff like the magnet and hinge and important stuff started to fail and not click into place I contacted them.

LilElvis

Moireach wrote: »

Hmm this sounds pretty confusing. It was bought direct from their website (Netherlands). But I don't understand why EU law is irrelevant when UK and Netherlands are EU members?
Would the Sale of Goods act cover a purchase from the Netherlands?

As for how it's worn away, it was functional and cosmetic. Cosmetic wearing began early and that was fine, but when the functional stuff like the magnet and hinge and important stuff started to fail and not click into place I contacted them.

The reply by InsideInsurance (the post above yours) explains that there is no over-arching EU wide legislation. Your rights are governed by legislation in force in the Netherlands. Sadly this is likely to prove tricky for you to research and enforce. Try posting on their Facebook page as this often seems to prod sellers into resolving issues they have otherwise ignored.

Moireach

Thanks for your reply. Did you go to the link in my initial post though? (or try to piece it together I should say) That says that the ther is overarching EU wide legislation doesn't it? And you are right about Facebook!

InsideInsurance

Moireach wrote: »

That says that the ther is overarching EU wide legislation doesn't it? And you are right about Facebook!

Its more complex, as per my previous message. The overarching EU rules must be implemented by individual members and its a minimum standard. Some will implement it just as its written by the EU rules where as others will either say existing law is already up to or above the EU requirements so nothing needs to be done or decide they want to do things slightly differently as long as it meets the minimum.

In the UK we didnt change the law as SOGA was considered better than the EU rules.

In Netherlands? No idea, you'd need to do research.