Citizen Eco-Drive Night Hawk Strap

fletcher5555

Hi All

I was wondering if I could ask for your help and advice.

My girlfriend purchased the Citizen Eco-Drive Night Hawk from Shade Station, Leeds, on 7 February 2015 for £359.10 for my 30th Birthday present.

In September I had to return the watch to Shadestation as the black coating on the strap had started to come off. The watch is supposed to be completely matte black so silver bits on the strap make the watch look of poor quality.

On return, Shade Station employees accepted that the finish did not appear to have been affected by the usual suspects, including aftershave. They also accepted that they would not have expected the strap to be in that condition within such a short time frame, especially as the rest of the watch was in such good condition (there were no scratches on the face or the strap itself). We were told that the watch would have to be sent to head office for review.

We were later advised that the strap would need repairing, costing us roughly £70.00....for a watch that was around 6 months old and originally cost over £300 pound.

We did not have the repairs done, as we did not consider this to be reasonable and it suggests that the watch would need repairing every 6 months to maintain a reasonable appearance and finish, despite only being used for the intended purpose.

If we had been advised of the potential of a repair being required within such a short time frame the watch would not have been purchased.

We tried to get a refund under the sales of goods act 1979 due to the fact that we did not consider the watch of a satisfactory quality.

Shade station have declined to offer me any help and have pretty much rejected my complaint the details of which can be found below....can anybody give me any advice on what I should do next or if they have had a similar problem?

Kind Regards

Dave

Complaint strand as follows

13th October we said
We purchased the Citizen Eco-Drive Night Hawk
from Shade Station, Leeds, on 7 February 2015
for £359.10. The watch was purchased as a 30th Birthday present.
By August 2015 it was
necessary to return the watch to you. This was done as the strap was not of
satisfactory quality, as a significant amount of the matt black finish had come
away from the silver strap.

When we returned the watch for review, Shade
Station employees accepted that the finish did not appear to have been affected
by the usual suspects, including aftershave. They also accepted that they would
not have expected the strap to be in that condition within such a short time
frame, especially as the rest of the watch was in such good condition (there
were no scratches on the face or the strap itself). We were later advised
that the strap would need repairing, costing us roughly £70.00.

We did not have the repairs done, as we did
not consider this to be reasonable and it suggests that the watch would need
repairing every 6 months to maintain a reasonable appearance and finish,
despite only being used for the intended purpose. If we had been advised
of the potential of a repair being required within such a short time frame the
watch would not have been purchased, as this is not reasonable and therefore
cannot be considered of a satisfactory quality, using the definition within the
Sale of Goods Act 1979.

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 stipulates that
goods must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.

Section 14(2A) of the SoGA 1979 states:

‘For the
purposes of this Act, goods are of satisfactory quality if they meet the
standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking account
of any description of the goods, the price (if relevant) and all the other
relevant circumstances.’

Likewise, subsection (2B) states:

‘For the
purpose of this Act, the quality of goods includes their state and condition and
the following (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of
goods-

(b)
Appearance and finish;

(e)
Durability.

A reasonable person buying a Citizen
watch (a brand with a well established reputation in watches) for a landmark
birthday at over £300.00, would expect the product to last more than 6 months
before a repair was deemed necessary to maintain the appearance and finish.
Consequently, we consider you to be in breach of the Sale of Goods Act
1979.

As we do not want to be in this
position every 6 months, therefore do not consider that a repair is
appropriate, similarly a replacement would put us in the same position,
therefore I should be grateful if you would provide store credit at the price
of the watch.

14th October Shade Station said
Firstly please accept my sincerest
apologies for the frustration and disappointment you do feel,

Having looked into your order I can see
that you went into our shop in Leeds on the
02/09/2015 and spoke with my colleague in regards to the strap on your Citizen
watch.

Though you were advised that the strap did
not look mistreated unfortunately the manufacturers do state that watch straps
and batteries are not covered under the warranty.

Nonetheless, on the 3rd October
2015 we dispatched your watch to the manufacturer for assessment stating the
coating on the strap had come away. The manufacturer came back to us and stated
that this is due to general wear and tear and as straps are not covered under
there warranty the cost of repair would be £69.00.

I can assure you we do work well within
the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and under this we have the right to repair, replace
or refund an item that has a warranty defect. Unfortunately as the decision
from the manufacturer was that the problem was due to general wear and tear any
repair would be therefore chargeable.

Therefore on this occasion we are unable
to offer to you a store credit for the value of your order.

Once again please accept my sincere
apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Kind Regards,

Shadestation
Customer Services Advisor

19th October we said
Thank you for your email, however, I'm sure you can understand my
disappointment.

I note you say that
you have right to repair, replace or refund an item that has a warranty defect,
but the Sale of Goods Act 1979 applies irrespective of whether the fault is
covered by warranty or not. In light of this misunderstanding, I would
like to reiterate the sections of the Act which were previously
highlighted to you:

The Sale of Goods
Act 1979 stipulates that goods must be as described, of satisfactory
quality and fit for purpose.

To determine what is considered as a reasonable quality, Section 14(2A)
of the SoGA 1979 states:

‘For the purposes
of this Act, goods are of satisfactory quality if they meet the standard that a
reasonable person would regard as
satisfactory, taking account of any description of the goods, the price (if
relevant) and all the other relevant circumstances.’

From the above it can be seen that the appropriate test is whether a reasonable person would consider the goods
(in this case the watch) to be of satisfactory quality. Again, I
reiterate that this is not warranty related.

To determine what a reasonable
person needs to consider when determining if the goods are of
satisfactory quality, again I refer you to subsection (2B) of the Act, which
specifically states:

‘For the purpose of this Act, the
quality of goods includes their state and condition and the following (among
others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods -

(b) Appearance and finish;

(e)
Durability.

Consequently, rather than the warranty, it needs to be considered
whether a reasonable person would
accept that the Citizen watch was of a reasonable standard of goods, taking
into consideration the appearance and finish as well as it's durability.
As the finish and appearance of a Citizen watch, bought in excess of
£300.00, required repairing within 6 months, on balance a reasonable person would not consider the
watch to be of a satisfactory quality.

Taking the above into account, I request that you reconsider my
previous email and take into account what a reasonable person would consider to
be satisfactory quality, rather than the warranty.


19th October Shadestation said

As previously mentioned under the sales of
good act we have the right to repair, replace or refund an item if deemed to
have a manufacturing defect.

Due to the fact you have had the watch for
a 6 month period unfortunately and as watch straps are subject to daily wear
and tear both our selves and the manufacturer have rejected that the watch is
not fit for purpose.

Therefore the repair cannot be completed
under warranty and the cost of the said repair is £69.00.

On this occasion our decision is final and
we are unable to offer a store credit to the value of your order.

I am extremely sorry for any frustration
you do feel.

marliepanda

Unfortunately your only option at this point is to get an independent report stating that your watch was inherently faulty in February. That will then entitle you to a free repair, replacement or refund.

That is what the SOGA requires

LilElvis

Marliepanda is correct in her post, and the cost of an independent report will have to be refunded by the seller if it finds in your favour. However, the choice of remedy is in the hands of the seller, regardless of your preference. Should they choose to refund you they are perfectly within their rights to deduct an amount for the use you have had.

vuvuzela

Contact Citizen UK - http://www.citizenwatch.com/en-uk/support/service/. Tell them the model number of your watch and ask them how much a replacement bracelet for it is. I would be surprised if it is £70 (and I'd also be extremely surprised if shade station actually would repair it, rather than just selling you an inflated priced replacement). Then you would know the actual RRP of the bracelet and will have a little more info as to how to proceed with this.