Section 75 Question / Query / Help !!

son*of*a*peach

Hi All, First post so please be gentle !!

I purchased a watch 13 years ago, June 2002 to be precise from a high street retailer. I had to take it into get repaired for the first time since I bought it. Long story short, the watch turns out to be counterfeit and since it was so long ago the retailer wont do anything about it. So, my question is, can I claim it back through the credit card it was paid for on. I still have the credit card statement with the details on it.

Thanks in advance, John

unholyangel

You only have the same rights with the card company as you do the retailer.

I'm not 100% sure if its different if there has been counterfeit goods sold but normally the limitation period for a contract of sale is 6 years from purchase in england and wales and 5 years from discovery in scotland (so if you're in scotland....you might still be in with a chance).

InsideInsurance

There is a significant risk that the claim is statute barred because of the length of time since the transaction. There can be some exceptions where you have not become reasonably aware of the issue until much later but you are then on thin ice (and beyond my full knowledge).

vuvuzela

Do you trust the repair shop not to have swapped it for a fake ?
What make / model is the watch and how much was it originally ?

son*of*a*peach

The watch was returned to the manufacturer. The watch is a Tissot PRS 200 so cost at the time was a couple of hundred, much more now !!

Unfortunately now I'm stuck with a watch that's in pieces (Tissot dismantled it) and the original retailer is washer their hands of it with myself stuck in the middle getting nowhere.

Joe_Horner

Got to say that, in 20 odd years as a watchmaker, I've never ever seen a fake Tissot. They're just not expensive or "prestige" enough to be worth fakery!

Even if it was, the manufacturer shouldn't have needed to dismantle it to realise, and even if they did do that they should return it in the condition it was sent to them. There's actually no law in the UK against owning a fake 9only against producing or selling) so returning it in pieces amounts to criminal damage to your perfectly legal property.

Sounds like there's something else going on here somewhere between the retailer and (they claim) the manufacturer. Just out of interest, how did it come to need repair? Was it by any chance a battery change by the retailer in question that turned out to "not be the battery"?

Bear in mind that many retailers actually send watches to their own pet repairer rather than the maker's service centre because it's cheaper and quicker. I do trade repairs for 3 or 4 jewellers around the country and they'll even send stuff that's still under guarantee to see if I can help before returning it because covering a nominal charge from me, returned in a week or two, is much better for their customer relations than 2 months away to the official service centre!

If you have the watch back in your possession find an independent repairer and get their opinion. Presumably you've been happy with the watch up until now? Even if it is some incredibly rare fakery a decent indie should be able to get it up and running for a lot less than you would have paid through the maker in any case.

shaun_from_Africa

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Got to say that, in 20 odd years as a watchmaker, I've never ever seen a fake Tissot. They're just not expensive or "prestige" enough to be worth fakery!

You would be surprised at some of the fakes I've come across during my time working in Africa.
Counterfeit Timex watches, Casio calculators and no end of fake branded cigarettes and alcohol.
Generally, if something has a recognised name and can be copied, someone somewhere will copy it.

A very quick search on Google brought up loads of examples of counterfeit Tissot watches.
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=&as_epq=counterfeit+tissot&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=&gws_rd=ssl

Joe_Horner

Fair play.

Not sure the same situation applied 13 years ago though - and certainly not through a "high street retailer" (assuming in the UK). Simply not worth the risk.