Problem with Currys

zolablue25

At the end of May I purchased a Bosch vacuum from Currys. Yesterday it went bang. My mother-in-law took it back to Currys with the original receipt but the manager of the store wanted nothing to do with it, despite MIL's heated discussions, and sent her away with the phone number of Bosch!

Now, as far as I understand it, my contract is with Currys and, under my consumer rights, they should deal with it. Am I correct in this assessment?

Assuming I am correct, the problem with the legislation as it stands, is that you have to jump through hoops to get retailers to fulfill their obligations and the retailers know this. I need a vacuum now - not 4 months down the line when I have exhausted all legal avenues to force Currys to fulfill their duties. Retailers know this, and until something changes they will continue to deny responsibility knowing that customers will just have to get on with their lives.

Xeorix

My understanding is that you are correct.
As per Citizens Advice

If you bought goods six months ago or less and there's something wrong with them, the trader should accept that there was something wrong at the time of sale. Unless it’s really obvious you caused the problem yourself, the trader should offer to put things right. In practice, this usually means repairing or replacing the goods. If the trader doesn't accept that there was something wrong with the goods when you bought them, they will have to prove this.

And as per Which

In the first six months from when you buy something, the onus is on the seller to prove it was of satisfactory quality when you received it.

If the seller simply says the problem must be due to something you've done, it's for them to prove that.

If something is not of satisfactory quality, you have a statutory right under the Sale of Goods Act, to a refund, have it replaced or repaired for free.

I would go back with your receipt if you have it, or proof of purchase (bank statement etc) and state that since you bought it under 6 months ago, you want a refund or replacement under the Sale of Goods Act

wealdroam

zolablue25 wrote: »

At the end of May I purchased a Bosch vacuum from Currys. Yesterday it went bang. My mother-in-law took it back to Currys with the original receipt but the manager of the store wanted nothing to do with it, despite MIL's heated discussions, and sent her away with the phone number of Bosch!

Now, as far as I understand it, my contract is with Currys and, under my consumer rights, they should deal with it. Am I correct in this assessment?

Assuming I am correct, the problem with the legislation as it stands, is that you have to jump through hoops to get retailers to fulfill their obligations and the retailers know this. I need a vacuum now - not 4 months down the line when I have exhausted all legal avenues to force Currys to fulfill their duties. Retailers know this, and until something changes they will continue to deny responsibility knowing that customers will just have to get on with their lives.

Have you not yet found time to 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.

tomtontom

Have you spoken to Bosch? Whilst your rights are with the retailer, it may be more effective to deal directly with the manufacturer. No harm in giving them a call to see what they can do?

Keep_pedalling

What were you asking Currys to do? If you wanted a replacement, they do not have to offer you one unless the item cannot be repaired. In this case you may be better off contacting Bosch because I believe that under their 2 year warrantee they send out an engineer to carry out repairs, although I'm not sure that applies to smaller items like your vacuum cleaner.

Even if you do have to send it to Bosch, that is exactly what Currys will do as well, so turn round should be faster.

bod1467

Except that OP may have to cough up to send it to Bosch, as she'd be utilising the warranty ... if she exercises her rights via the retailer then they bear such costs.

bris

Xeorix wrote: »

I would go back with your receipt if you have it, or proof of purchase (bank statement etc) and state that since you bought it under 6 months ago, you want a refund or replacement under the Sale of Goods Act

But the don't have to give a replacement or a refund, they can have it sent to Bosch for a remedy.


It is within your rights to go back and fight for those rights but in the meantime give Bosch a call. You will find they will arrange to pick it up and have it repaired or replaced twice as fast as you can get Currys to do it for you.

SuperHan

If you leave it with Currys, all they will do is the exact same process that you will do at home. Except they will have less of a sense of urgency and a lot more things to do before they ring Bosch, and then a lot more things to do before they tell you that it has come back in to store.

You're likely to get a quicker response by doing it yourself.

If you really want Currys to act, speak to their head office and they will help you further.

tomtontom

bod1467 wrote: »

Except that OP may have to cough up to send it to Bosch, as she'd be utilising the warranty ... if she exercises her rights via the retailer then they bear such costs.

And they may not - hence the suggestion that they call and ask the question. The Bosch website suggests they will either arrange for an engineer call out or provide a prepaid label for return to the repairs centre.

zolablue25

Thanks for the repsonses everyone, I'm sorry to have taken so long to get back to the thread. I contacted the number that the manager gave us and it went through to Bosch service and they sent an engineer round fairly swiftly to repair it. However, in attempting to repair it he has damaged it. He coudln't get it apart (he said he hadn't been trained with this appliance) so he tried to prise it apart with a screwdriver leaving the inevitable dents in the plastic as well as some scratches in the general area. In addition he couldn't get the many bots of broken fan out of the casing so the vacuum that was only 3 months old now has scratches, dents and rattles like a childs toy following his repair. It does, however, work.

I have 2 issues with the repair and I'm not sure where I stand legally. Firstly, I am concerned that a piece of the broken fan will again lodge itslef in the motor, breaking it again (this is apparently the initial failuire mode). Secondly, the vacuum is now decidedly second hand and has not been returned to the condition it was in prior to the failure - I'm not sure if that is a requirement or not or whether simply getting it working again, in whatever state, is OK by the law.

I have contacted Bosch who are going to send the same engineer back so that he can discuss it with their custoemr service department. Why he needs to come back I have no idea because he already knows what condition he left it in - he doesn't need to come back and see it! I would understand if they wanted to send a diferent person out to appraise it but Bosch insist that it must be the same bloke. Unfortunately he can't fit a visit in for another couple of weeks. In the meantime it would be nice to know what the law says about damage whilst repairing.

Cheers

zolablue25

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

What were you asking Currys to do? If you wanted a replacement, they do not have to offer you one unless the item cannot be repaired. In this case you may be better off contacting Bosch because I believe that under their 2 year warrantee they send out an engineer to carry out repairs, although I'm not sure that applies to smaller items like your vacuum cleaner.

Even if you do have to send it to Bosch, that is exactly what Currys will do as well, so turn round should be faster.

Just to respond to this one - We were asking Currys to deal with it. Fix it, replace it, whatever - just get us one that works. I have to say that Bosch were quick to respond, but my point is more to do with the retailer not taking their responsibility and, yes, I'm sure that by contacting Bosch myself it was handled quicker but the point remains that I shouldn't have had to deal with Bosch, I should have been dealing with Currys. Its a small thing and I'm sure most forumites probably think I'm being picky but its Currys responsibility to get it sorted - not mine. (Rant over)