Faulty electronic product that could have killed me

kwaichi

I have an Airwheel Q3 (electric unicycle) which I bought off ebay in December 2014. A couple of days ago, the thing died on me suddenly leaving me flying to the ground and hurting my knee, ripping some of my clothes. The unit was totally dead until the next day. Being a little crazy I rode it again. After a while when I was standing on the spot, the unit conked out on me again. Same problem but luckily unhurt this time around.

I went back to the seller from ebay as we were in personal contact and he reminded me that he only offered 1 month warranty on the device. He did reveal that he had battery problems and had it sorted from the manufacturer only in November 2014. He sent me all the details of his original order from July 2014 when he received the Airwheel.

I have followed up with Airwheel and asked them to sort out the unit at their cost. They said that as part of their t&c's that warranty was not transferrable and that out of goodwill they would fix my Airwheel at my cost. I thought this was bonkers as the thing was not fit for use. I am no hell raiser, I just use the Airwheel for short distance commuting.

It is a CE rated product but it is totally dangerous. It has no fail safe in case of electric faults like this. If I was on a road instead of a pavement when this happened, I would have been run over.

What are my rights in this case? I believe I can challenge them on the consumer credit act but it looks like I will have to go all the way with this one as they are a pretty arrogant company who don't want to cough up for a design failure.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

unholyangel

Consumer credit act against who? If you bought off ebay, I'd also presume that you've likely paid via a third party (such as paypal) and if so, CCA wouldnt apply.

You said it was a personal contract, do you mean the seller was a private seller selling his old/unwanted goods rather than trading as a business?

It sounds like it might have been a private sale (with manufacturer saying you can't transfer the warranty) and if so, the only rights you have against the seller is that the goods match their description - there is no stipulation about quality.

Buzby

None - it was secondhand if you expect full consumer protection, buy one new - that is the benefit of doing so. Neither the seller or manufacturer have any responsibility to you. Sell it!

kwaichi

unholyangel wrote: »

Consumer credit act against who? If you bought off ebay, I'd also presume that you've likely paid via a third party (such as paypal) and if so, CCA wouldnt apply.

You said it was a personal contract, do you mean the seller was a private seller selling his old/unwanted goods rather than trading as a business?

It sounds like it might have been a private sale (with manufacturer saying you can't transfer the warranty) and if so, the only rights you have against the seller is that the goods match their description - there is no stipulation about quality.

Yeah it was a private seller. I was talking about CCA against Airwheel as a manufacturer for selling faulty goods in the first place.

[Deleted User]

They've already designed a fail-safe version, it's called a bicycle.

kwaichi

jack_pott wrote: »

They've already designed a fail-safe version, it's called a bicycle.

That was really funny. Thanks :T

kwaichi

Buzby wrote: »

None - it was secondhand if you expect full consumer protection, buy one new - that is the benefit of doing so. Neither the seller or manufacturer have any responsibility to you. Sell it!

I don't think I would want to put anyone else in danger like that.

unholyangel

kwaichi wrote: »

Yeah it was a private seller. I was talking about CCA against Airwheel as a manufacturer for selling faulty goods in the first place.

Consumer Credit Act provides protection where goods are over £100 and there is a direct relationship between the consumer, the card company and the retailer.

It does not give you any rights against the retailer - never mind the manufacturer. It simply makes the card company jointly liable for the performance of the contract - however as above, even if seller is a business....if you used paypal it breaks the required consumer > creditor > retailer chain.

You have no rights against the manufacturer as you did not enter into a contract with them.

kwaichi

unholyangel wrote: »

Consumer Credit Act provides protection where goods are over £100 and there is a direct relationship between the consumer, the card company and the retailer.

It does not give you any rights against the retailer - never mind the manufacturer. It simply makes the card company jointly liable for the performance of the contract - however as above, even if seller is a business....if you used paypal it breaks the required consumer > creditor > retailer chain.

You have no rights against the manufacturer as you did not enter into a contract with them.

How about the Sale of goods act? Is that the same deal?

unholyangel

kwaichi wrote: »

How about the Sale of goods act? Is that the same deal?

Sale of goods act relates to contracts of sale. You have no contract with the manufacturer.

Due to it being a private seller, the goods only need to match their description at time of sale. There is no implied terms about quality etc like there is when you buy from a business.

wealdroam

kwaichi wrote: »

How about the Sale of goods act? Is that the same deal?

Any rights under the Sale of Goods Act are with whoever sold the thing. The clue is in the word sale.

As has been said, the only right you have against the seller in this case is that it was accurately described at the time of sale.