Sale of Goods Act vs. Manufacturer Warranty - think I'm being shafted by ebuyer

Kushan

I bought a hard drive off of ebuyer about 18 months ago. This very model, which as you can see comes with a 2 year manufacturer warranty.

Unfortunately, 13 months after the initial purchase, the drive started to fail. I tried to get it repaired through Toshiba themselves, which turned out to be a nightmare - I sent it off, only to have it returned with a note saying they don't actually deal with warranties for "OEM" drives and that I needed to contact the retailer.

I contacted ebuyer about it and they raised an RMA to have it checked. I was told over the phone (I had to do it over the phone as their site wouldn't let me due to it being over 12 months since the purchase) that if it was faulty, they'd just replace it which I was fine with.

Here's where it gets tricky - instead of replacing the (definitely faulty) drive, they decided to give me a "partial" refund, stating that this is a policy that's in line with the sale of goods act and due to the drive being more than 6 months old. But the drive has a 2 year warranty, it says right on their own page. Surely that entitles me to a working hard drive and I shouldn't be out of pocket (the partial refund is less than £60, that drive is now selling for £90+).

I don't think this is right, it's my understanding that a warranty like that is in addition to the sale of goods act and the act itself cannot supersede it. However, I can't find any legal information on this, I keep finding the opposite issue, whereby an issue occurs outside the warranty period and the sale of goods act needs to be used.

Can anyone offer any advice on this?

Cycrow

Warranty and SOGA are 2 separate things.

if its a manufactures warranty (which is usually the case), then its nothing to do with the retailer.

The manufacture will follow the terms they set for their warranty, the retailer will follow the SOGA

the SOGA does allow for a partial refund

Kushan

Cycrow wrote: »

Warranty and SOGA are 2 separate things.

if its a manufactures warranty (which is usually the case), then its nothing to do with the retailer.

The manufacture will follow the terms they set for their warranty, the retailer will follow the SOGA

the SOGA does allow for a partial refund

This is what I understood, but the problem is that the manufacturer wouldn't deal with the warranty due to it being an OEM component. But the retailer sold it with a 2 year manufacturer warranty - so who's in the wrong here, the retailer or the manufacturer?

lovinituk

Kushan wrote: »

Surely that entitles me to a working hard drive and I shouldn't be out of pocket (the partial refund is less than £60, that drive is now selling for £90+).

The refund takes in to account that you had 13 good months use of the drive so technically you are not out of pocket. You have £60 to put towards a new one which will now only cost you £30.

Kushan

lovinituk wrote: »

The refund takes in to account that you had 13 good months use of the drive so technically you are not out of pocket. You have £60 to put towards a new one which will now only cost you £30.

Yes, I understand that, I'm not debating the sale of goods act at all, my problem is that the drive is still under warranty and nobody's willing to honour it.

lovinituk

Kushan wrote: »

Yes, I understand that, I'm not debating the sale of goods act at all, my problem is that the drive is still under warranty and nobody's willing to honour it.

Hasn't the partial refund been given in lieu of the warranty?

wealdroam

Kushan wrote: »

...my problem is that the drive is still under warranty and nobody's willing to honour it.

At the time you made your purchase, was the seller advertising it with '2 Year Manufacturer Warranty'?

If so, then the seller must provide what was agreed, or it's equivalent.

In other words, if the manufacturer's warranty would supply a replacement drive, then so must Ebuyer.

Was the purchase price over £100 when you bought it?
Did you buy using a credit card?

lovinituk

wealdroam wrote: »

At the time you made your purchase, was the seller advertising it with '2 Year Manufacturer Warranty'?

If so, then the seller must provide what was agreed, or it's equivalent.

In other words, if the manufacturer's warranty would supply a replacement drive, then so must Ebuyer.

Was the purchase price over £100 when you bought it?
Did you buy using a credit card?

I think the issue is that there never was a warranty as the manufacturer do not cover OEM devices apparently.

At worst I guess ebuyer were (are?) guilty of false advertising. Whether the partial refund is enough recompense for that is the question.

wealdroam

lovinituk wrote: »

I think the issue is that there never was a warranty as the manufacturer do not cover OEM devices apparently.

At worst I guess ebuyer were (are?) guilty of false advertising.

Yes, that's right.
But is it an unfair trading practice to advertise a feature which isn't available?
I believe it is.

I also believe that Ebuyer are falling foul of The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

In particular Regulation 3 states:

Prohibition of unfair commercial practices

3.—(1) Unfair commercial practices are prohibited.
(2) Paragraphs (3) and (4) set out the circumstances when a commercial practice is unfair.
(3) A commercial practice is unfair if—
(a)it contravenes the requirements of professional diligence; and
(b)it materially distorts or is likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer with regard to the product.

I would suggest that the offering of a two year manufacturer's warranty is a commercial practice which "materially distorts or is likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer with regard to the product".

lovinituk wrote: »

Whether the partial refund is enough recompense for that is the question.

In my opinion, it is not sufficient.

neilmcl

I'd get back to ebuyer. Clearly they are advertising it inclusive of a 2 year manufacturer's warranty and that's exactly what you have paid for.

Out of interest where does it state that the drive is OEM in that link? Are you sure the page you saw when you bought the drive stated a 2 year warranty?

JJ_Egan

EBuyer sold a product as OEM when it should have been retail if the OP was a retail customer .
Manufactures do not supply OEM to the public and in my experience do not cover under warranty . Any such failed drives i have bought have had to be replaced by the vendor within twelve months .

As this is a used product with 6 months left i would and have accepted a partial refund .
Alternative is to waste time trying to get a full refund .
Experience bought about 50 OEM drives and returned about 15 of them .