Rights With Faulty Vax & Argos

Dinky_Girl

Can someone clarify if you buy an item from a shop, and it develops a fault do the shop needs to repair / replace?


In this case I refer to a faulty Vax Hoover, still under 12 month warranty with receipt and Argos being quite rude and obnoxious about me 'going through Vax customer services' first. It was bought last June and developed the fault in the last week.

wealdroam

Dinky_Girl wrote: »

Can someone clarify if you buy an item from a shop, and it develops a fault do the shop needs to repair / replace?


In this case I refer to a faulty Vax Hoover, still under 12 month warranty with receipt and Argos being quite rude and obnoxious about me 'going through Vax customer services' first. It was bought last June and developed the fault in the last week.

Have you read MSE's Consumer Rights guide?

Here is a short extract:

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.

Having said that, you may well get a quicker response from the manufacturer.

You can, and should, complain to Argos about their "rude and obnoxious" customer service rep. Or were they just not agreeing with you?

Dinky_Girl

wealdroam wrote: »

You can, and should, complain to Argos about their "rude and obnoxious" customer service rep. Or were they just not agreeing with you?

Thank you, this is exactly what I knew (from your quote), but yesterday I encountered a rude manager who was adamant I should call Vax Customer Services, and he even dialled their number on a phone in Argos for me to speak to them. I was fuming because despite me telling him what you quoted he was adamant I was to phone Vax CS and would not budge on simply replacing the item.

I spent 45 minutes on the phone to Vax CS in the middle of an Argos Store, left standing up (I have osteoarthritis which makes standing difficult) and when I eventually got through to Vax CS speaking to Pam, I was cut off... I was fuming, at this point having been in the Argos store for nearly an hour, the manager said as a 'good will gesture' he would replace the hoover with another I had already pre-ordered / reserved. Both the manager and several staff all lied in store, and they repeatedly told me by ringing Vax I needed a reference number before Argos would replace it. It was only when I was cut off after hanging on the phone for 45 minutes the manager caved in and replaced it, but ultimate I am disgusted at the service I received in store.

I really want to complain, as I know I was within my rights to get a replacement / refund being under a 12 month warranty but Argos were so rude over the whole matter, and equally really embarrassed me in store.

loubel

As the Vax is more than 6 months old, it is your responsibility to prove that it had an inherent fault causing it to break down. If you didn't provide them with this proof then they are under no obligation to repair or replace it and they were correct in directing you to the manufacturer and their 12 month warranty. Given they resolved the problem anyway, I guess whether you want to pursue a complaint depends on just how rude they were.

bris

As you have already been told Argos owe you nothing until you prove different. A warranty is with the manufacturer, Vax in this case so it was them that you needed to contact. Knowing your rights and what they entail is better than pointing fingers at the wrong people, Argos did you a favour.

Dinky_Girl

loubel wrote: »

As the Vax is more than 6 months old, it is your responsibility to prove that it had an inherent fault causing it to break down. If you didn't provide them with this proof then they are under no obligation to repair or replace it and they were correct in directing you to the manufacturer and their 12 month warranty. Given they resolved the problem anyway, I guess whether you want to pursue a complaint depends on just how rude they were.

So what happened to the rule, that for the first 12 months it was the responsibility of the shop you bought it from not the manufacture?

Dinky_Girl

bris wrote: »

As you have already been told Argos owe you nothing until you prove different. A warranty is with the manufacturer, Vax in this case so it was them that you needed to contact. Knowing your rights and what they entail is better than pointing fingers at the wrong people, Argos did you a favour.

Argos did me a favour, hardly given how damn rude they were. In fact they lost a sale of £300 for item I reserved to pick up in store the same day, decided to take my custom elsewhere and as someone who shops in Argos frequently I won't be in the future.

LilElvis

Dinky_Girl wrote: »

So what happened to the rule, that for the first 12 months it was the responsibility of the shop you bought it from not the manufacture?

There is no such "rule". You actually have up to 6 years to seek a remedy from the seller, but after the first 6 months the onus is on you to prove that the item is inherently faulty. Argos could have asked you to furnish this proof before doing anything, but decided (reasonably) that the less onerous route for you was to have the matter dealt with under the manufacturer's warranty.

LilElvis

Dinky_Girl wrote: »

Argos did me a favour, hardly given how damn rude they were. In fact they lost a sale of £300 for item I reserved to pick up in store the same day, decided to take my custom elsewhere and as someone who shops in Argos frequently I won't be in the future.

They absolutely did do you a favour. They could have insisted that you prove the cleaner was inherently faulty before offering any remedy. To do so you would have had to commission, and pay for, an independent report in support of your claim. Had such a report found in your favour then Argos would have reimbursed the cost, if it found otherwise you would have been further out of pocket. Their choice of remedy (and it is their choice) would then have been to repair, replace or refund the cleaner. Please note that with the latter option they would have been within their rights to deduct an amount of the refund to reflect the use you had of the faulty cleaner. They chose to give you a brand new cleaner, so you have, effectively, had free use of a cleaner for 9 months - a very good result indeed.

Dinky_Girl

LilElvis wrote: »

There is no such "rule". You actually have up to 6 years to seek a remedy from the seller, but after the first 6 months the onus is on you to prove that the item is inherently faulty. Argos could have asked you to furnish this proof before doing anything, but decided (reasonably) that the less onerous route for you was to have the matter dealt with under the manufacturer's warranty.

I should have just plugged the Vax in a socket in store, and let the smoke from it fill the room...

JJ_Egan

Dinky_Girl wrote: »

Can someone clarify if you buy an item from a shop, and it develops a fault do the shop needs to repair / replace?


In this case I refer to a faulty Vax Hoover, still under 12 month warranty with receipt and Argos being quite rude and obnoxious about me 'going through Vax customer services' first. It was bought last June and developed the fault in the last week.

Much the same as Argos said to me a couple of years ago .
As I understand the law regarding sale of goods and knowing that Argos are not a repairer and would only send the unit away i went the Vax route . A quick phone call and i had a brand new unit two days later .