Why Can't You Take Items Back to the Supplier

tony6403

I've had problems with two recent purchases.
A Canon MG 5500 printer from Currys had a fault within six weeks. Currys wouldn't take it back and told me to contact Canon. I did so and Canon gave me a reference number and said to take it back to Currys. They then did accept it - called in after 15 days and was told that it was still awaiting collection by Canon.
A log splitter bought from Aldi broke after 3 months. It has a 3 year guarantee. Aldi said that they would not deal with it and I should get in touch with the manufacturer and not them. 5 weeks later having made 5 phone calls on an expensive number I am still waiting for a resolution.
Going back a couple of years I had the same treatment from Tesco concerning a Technica telly (recommend that you never buy one of these).
I'm fed up with this,the law should be changed to require suppliers to deal with guarantee issues.

mije1983

tony6403 wrote: »

I'm fed up with this,the law should be changed to require suppliers to deal with guarantee issues.

It's already that way.

Your SOGA rights are with the retailer which are separate to any warranty offered.

Any additional rights such as a guarantee/warranty given with an item is usually offered by manufacturers and are over and above your statutory rights. This is normally 12 months although some are longer (such as your item). Having said that, some retailers will honour them, and may well have an agreement with the manufaturer to do so.

Because any guarantee offered is in addition to your statutory rights, they are able to specify conditions (such as must have a receipt or must post the item back to them for example).

With the Aldi item, you could have invoked your SOGA rights rather than the guarantee. Within 6 months the fault is presumed to be inherent, unless they can prove otherwise.

wealdroam

tony6403 wrote: »

I'm fed up with this,the law should be changed to require suppliers to deal with guarantee issues.

Why don't you read MSE's Consumer Rights Guide?

Here is just one short extract from it:

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.

CIS

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!

Not long ago I queried this with Trading Standards and they told me the company could refer me direct to the manufacturer if they wished. ( I gave up with trading standards at that point ).

oscarward

I hd this with a TV I bought from Morrisons, it was obviously a shop return (tuning had been carried out) and had a fault.


When I returned it to the store the manager tried to tell me to call the manufacturer Freephone number for them to fix.


At which point I mentioned SOGA and suddenly I had a refund!

zenmaster

Because, for some inexplicable reason, the powers that be have tied consumer law to contract law when, in truth, it is an entirely separate issue.

The party solely responsible for bringing a defective item to the market is .... the Manufacturer.

The party best positioned to identify and rectify a problem is ... the Manufacturer.

The party which is able to provide a resolution at the least possible cost is ... the Manufacturer.

Yet the law lays the blame entirely at the retailer's door.

The only "advantage" of the law, as it stands, is that it absolves the consumer of any due diligence and personal responsibility.

tony6403

I rang the ( now closed ) Government Office of Fair Trading about my issue with Tesco referred to above.
After several telephone conversations the very helpful officer told me that ,whilst it was not very customer friendly, as Tesco were offering to fix the TV by using a third party they were acting within the law and I could not insist that they should accept a return.