Asda don't seem to know what Sale of Goods Act says

Potternerd

Bought an xbox gold membership card from Asda for my son when he scraped off silver stuff the code was smudged and illegible. Asda refused to replace and Microsoft asked for pictures but didn't receive. To cut a long story short phoned Asda head office who denied up to them to replace but finally did after I spoke to. Trading standards. Don't let companies off their obligations. Thanks to MSE I knew my rights. Won't be shopping at Asda any more

daytona0

In fairness I don't actually think you have rights under the Sales of Goods Act for this kind of item.... hopefully someone can correct this though.


In asda's eyes they have ZERO proof that this was or wasn't redeemed, because only microsoft hold this information.

In Microsoft's eyes they are unable to track down which account it was (or attempted to have been) applied to because the code is unreadable. They could probably check your son's user id, along with similar postcodes and come to a general idea as to whether it was redeemed or not but they ultimately have no idea! Maybe your son's friend redeemed it! You have to consider that 3rd parties are not privvy to the facts of what happened after purchase.

I'm curious about the "but didn't receive" comment though. They didn't receive the picture of the illegible code?! I can't imagine that sending a picture (jpeg) to a company would be hard (or go missing) in this day and age...

Won't be shopping in asda any more? A bit dramatic, but your choice! Nobody really cares, not least the shareholders of asda

samanthaknd

I agree with daytona0, Asda have no proof at all that you haven't done this yourself.

geerex

daytona0 wrote: »

In fairness I don't actually think you have rights under the Sales of Goods Act for this kind of item.... hopefully someone can correct this though.


In asda's eyes they have ZERO proof that this was or wasn't redeemed, because only microsoft hold this information.

In Microsoft's eyes they are unable to track down which account it was (or attempted to have been) applied to because the code is unreadable. They could probably check your son's user id, along with similar postcodes and come to a general idea as to whether it was redeemed or not but they ultimately have no idea! Maybe your son's friend redeemed it! You have to consider that 3rd parties are not privvy to the facts of what happened after purchase.

I'm curious about the "but didn't receive" comment though. They didn't receive the picture of the illegible code?! I can't imagine that sending a picture (jpeg) to a company would be hard (or go missing) in this day and age...

Won't be shopping in asda any more? A bit dramatic, but your choice! Nobody really cares, not least the shareholders of asda

What have postcodes got to do with anything?

I'm with the OP - the product was faulty. Its up to the retailer to liase with the supplier in this case.

beeg0d

samanthaknd wrote: »

I agree with daytona0, Asda have no proof at all that you haven't done this yourself.

within the first 6 months its for ASDA to prove it isnt faulty not for the op to prove it is

Fosterdog

The codes only become smudged on activation cards if they are damaged while being scratched off, I would suggest next time you carefully scratch it off for your son. Coins are not usually the best for them, something sharper but with little pressure tends to work much better.

daytona0

geerex wrote: »

What have postcodes got to do with anything?

I'm with the OP - the product was faulty. Its up to the retailer to liase with the supplier in this case.

Well, I am assuming that a postcode forms part of the microsoft user ID registration form in which case it would provide a nice way of searching for user IDs which may be registered to that same postcode (although I did inaccurately use the word "similar" in my post, so please assume that it means "the same"). Such a check may yield instances where a gold membership has been registered to an account which may belong to the OP or their immediate family.

DCFC79

In future OP you can save yourself money by buying said Xbox Live code off the internet.

daytona0

beeg0d wrote: »

within the first 6 months its for ASDA to prove it isnt faulty not for the op to prove it is

With respect, the point at hand was whether this item is covered under the sales of goods act or not.

I believe that it may not be due to the nature of the item, but admittedly don't care enough to trawl through the internet to either prove or disprove it.

As an extension, you would agree that there are some people who may redeem the code and then claim a fault, knowing full well that neither ASDA or Microsoft will be able to easily track it. That is one very real possibility and hardly fair on ASDA, which is why I'm inclined to believe that OP may not have SOGA rights in the first place. If they do then you have to agree that there is a real gap for exploitation, and boy have I seen that happen with my previous employer!

ThumbRemote

It is covered by the Sale of Goods Act. There is no exemption for this; you can search for and read the act quite easily.

The fact that Asda may not be able to prove something should be their problem, not the OPs. Asda can choose whether to sell these cards or not, if they do so without any systems in place that is their choice and shouldn't affect their customers.

bluenoseam

The problem is that the code itself is not faulty as a result of a manufacturing defect - the OP's son presumably was a little zealous with the coin & that has in turn caused the code to become illegible. Asda have no way of telling if the code has or hasn't been used & the sad truth is that you cannot trust people in this day & age to be good as their word.

It's easy enough done to scratch it too hard & cause the code to be unreadable, I much prefer using Game for them who print their codes onto a bit of receipt.