Defective GoPro Camera

TheoTheCaptain

Hello,
I am in a bad situation where I am left with a 350 Euro faulty camera.
1 year and 5 months ago I bought a GoPro 3+ Black edition camera brand new from an Ebay seller.
The camera seemed to work pretty well, however there seemed to be something off: Sometimes when the weather was mildly cold (as I realized a lot later), the camera wouldn't turn on. As the weather is pretty warm here most of the time I didn't recognize the problem then because it only happened in these specific situations. However, I opened a support ticket during the time, but I was misled by the GoPro Support, telling me that this is "normal behaviour for lithium batteries in the cold". This confused me to say the least into thinking everything was ok, hence stripping me of my right to claim a warranty. The camera was faulty. There is no problem with the battery. Bear in mind the temperatures where the problem occurs are no lower than 15 degrees celsius (60 Fahrenheit), well within tolerances.

Later on, when I started avidly mountain biking, owing to the lower temps in the mountains, my camera won't turn on half of the time.
Asking Gopro again about the very same issue, this time they changed from "normal behaviour" to "the only way to resolve this was to replace the camera" However since this time I am past the 1 year warranty they can't replace it so they basically want me to send in my camera to then offer me a 20% discount for me to buy a new camera. This is unacceptable from such a big company considering they seem to recognise this is a manufacturing issue from new.
I would like to claim a 2 year EU guarantee, but I think this regards the seller. I will try to email the seller but I don't think he is active anymore, so what happens in a situation like this?

Any help will be much appreciated!

mije1983

Your rights are with the seller, but where are you from as it will be the laws of that country that determine them.

The fact you mention the price of the camera in euros and that 'the weather is pretty warm here most of the time' makes me think you are not in the UK.

wealdroam

TheoTheCaptain wrote: »

Hello,
I am in a bad situation where I am left with a 350 Euro faulty camera.
1 year and 5 months ago I bought a GoPro 3+ Black edition camera brand new from an Ebay seller.
The camera seemed to work pretty well, however there seemed to be something off: Sometimes when the weather was mildly cold (as I realized a lot later), the camera wouldn't turn on. As the weather is pretty warm here most of the time I didn't recognize the problem then because it only happened in these specific situations. However, I opened a support ticket during the time, but I was misled by the GoPro Support, telling me that this is "normal behaviour for lithium batteries in the cold". This confused me to say the least into thinking everything was ok, hence stripping me of my right to claim a warranty. The camera was faulty. There is no problem with the battery. Bear in mind the temperatures where the problem occurs are no lower than 15 degrees celsius (60 Fahrenheit), well within tolerances.

Later on, when I started avidly mountain biking, owing to the lower temps in the mountains, my camera won't turn on half of the time.
Asking Gopro again about the very same issue, this time they changed from "normal behaviour" to "the only way to resolve this was to replace the camera" However since this time I am past the 1 year warranty they can't replace it so they basically want me to send in my camera to then offer me a 20% discount for me to buy a new camera. This is unacceptable from such a big company considering they seem to recognise this is a manufacturing issue from new.
I would like to claim a 2 year EU guarantee, but I think this regards the seller. I will try to email the seller but I don't think he is active anymore, so what happens in a situation like this?

Any help will be much appreciated!

Outside their guarantee period, you have no rights, EU or otherwise, against the manufacturer.

Any rights you may have are against whoever sold the thing to you, but only then if the seller is a trader or he misdescribed the goods.

unholyangel

There is no 2 year EU guarantee.

An EU directive stated that retailers must allow a minimum period of 2 years in which consumers can bring a claim for breach of warranty (but it means warranty in the legal sense rather than the type of warranty consumers are used to that offer no quibble repairs/replacements). In law terms of the contract are conditions, warranties or innominate/intermediate terms and that is what its referring to when it says breach of warranty.

The same directive places the burden of proof on the consumer after 6 months - that is, its up to the consumer to prove the goods are inherently faulty and that its not been wear & tear or misuse for example.

Exactly how long you have to claim against the retailer will depend on the governing law of the contract (if there is no governing law, then it will typically be where the interests of the contract are carried out). Some countries transposed the directives requirements directly and you'd only have 2 years to claim. Others (like the UK) gave more generous periods, we already gave 6 years from purchase in england and 5 years from discovery in scotland for actions founded on breach of simple contract so we exceed the minimum 2 years quite significantly.

TheoTheCaptain

First of all, thank you everybody for taking the time to answer my questions.
As mije1983 mentioned, I am currently in Greece, and bought the camera online from a UK based seller.
Could the fact that I presented the problem to GoPro support when it was still under warranty, but was led from them to believe its normal behaviour be of help to my claims? Since they later on seem to admit it was a problem only solvable by replacement of the camera.
Also, what does the EU directive state if the seller is not active/selling any more regarding the claim of warranty in 2 years?

Thank you

ItsJordannn

Have you got proof that they said it was normal? Without proof it would be a non-starter anyway

JJ_Egan

You bought from Ebay ??
The seller was based in the UK and the goods dispatched from the UK ??
But this EBay seller is no longer trading ??

The GoPpo warranty is extra to your rights and is subject to their terms and conditions .

TheoTheCaptain

Yes, I have the support email from the time, them stating the cold starting problems and whatnot are just normal lithium battery behaviour in the cold.
Yes I got the camera from Ebay and sent the seller an email today, but I am not too sure he is trading because I didn't see any newer posts in his account. My camera was bought packaged and new and he had various other GoPros sold, but I am not sure if the Ebay seller is the same as a "normal" retailer so to speak.

wealdroam

TheoTheCaptain wrote: »

...what does the EU directive state if the seller is not active/selling any more regarding the claim of warranty in 2 years?

It really doesn't matter what any EU Directive might say.

As I said earlier, any statutory rights you may have are with/against the seller.
If the seller has disappeared, then so have your rights.
If the seller hasn't disappeared, then assert your rights.

How did you pay?
Have a read of MSE's Section 75 article to see if that can help you.

unholyangel

TheoTheCaptain wrote: »

First of all, thank you everybody for taking the time to answer my questions.
As mije1983 mentioned, I am currently in Greece, and bought the camera online from a UK based seller.
Could the fact that I presented the problem to GoPro support when it was still under warranty, but was led from them to believe its normal behaviour be of help to my claims? Since they later on seem to admit it was a problem only solvable by replacement of the camera.
Also, what does the EU directive state if the seller is not active/selling any more regarding the claim of warranty in 2 years?

Thank you

It doesn't say anything regarding that as far as I'm aware. What you're asking is basically a general principle of law. If the entity you entered into a contract with still exists, then so does their liability. If they no longer exist, well i'm sure you can figure that out for yourself.

Not trading doesn't mean that entity doesn't exist though. If its a limited company you purchased from, you should be able to check companies house to see if they have been dissolved, if so you can't chase on a personal level. However if it was a sole trader, then you can.