Sale of Goods Act, Tesco, Reasonable?

FOREVER21

The EU ( yes that name again!!) issued a Directive a few years ago making companies give a 2 year warranty for electric items.
This was adopted by many EU companies, for instance if you look in the warranty section of the manufactures booklets you will often see 2 years for other EU counties but only 1 for us.

Our Government never adopted this directive as they maintain that with SOGA we can pursue faulty items for up to 6 years to get a remedy, and that is better. However as others on here have said after 6 months the onus is on the customer to get an independent report.

I personally would have preferred to have the backup of a 2 year warranty, with no quibbles , but then that's my choice.

Op try and get a report as suggested, if the report is not conclusive, write to Tesco and say that the dishwasher is not fit for purpose as it has not lasted a reasonable time for the price paid, and that you intend to take it to the small claims court. I think they might then offer a repair.

unholyangel

FOREVER21 wrote: »

The EU ( yes that name again!!) issued a Directive a few years ago making companies give a 2 year warranty for electric items.
This was adopted by many EU companies, for instance if you look in the warranty section of the manufactures booklets you will often see 2 years for other EU counties but only 1 for us.

Our Government never adopted this directive as they maintain that with SOGA we can pursue faulty items for up to 6 years to get a remedy, and that is better. However as others on here have said after 6 months the onus is on the customer to get an independent report.

I personally would have preferred to have the backup of a 2 year warranty, with no quibbles , but then that's my choice.

Op try and get a report as suggested, if the report is not conclusive, write to Tesco and say that the dishwasher is not fit for purpose as it has not lasted a reasonable time for the price paid, and that you intend to take it to the small claims court. I think they might then offer a repair.

Incorrect I'm afraid. The UK did adopt that directive and the EU did not issue a directive making all companies give a 2 year warranty.

What the EU directive did was set the minimum period countries need to allow consumers to take legal action against the trader for breach of contract. This is the legal sense of the word warranty rather than how the layperson might take it to mean a 2 year no quibble repair/replacement warranty. The UK did not transpose this requirement literally as english law gives 6 years from purchase for action founded on simple contract where scots law gives 5 years from discovery for action founded on simple contract. Which is far far far better than the minimum required to comply with the EU directive.

The SoGA was amended to comply with the EU directive - which is where the section 5A came from - previous to that, a consumer transaction only had the same protection a b2b would.

Furthermore, the same directive you're referring to is responsible for the 6 month burden - where after 6 months, the consumer needs to prove the fault was inherent.

michaels

Thanks everyone, for making the process clear. It would be very easy for Tesco call centre to say that under the SOGA they would need to see an independent report before considering liability. However they did not do this. They stated that post 12 months My only recourse was to contact the manufacturer. This giving incorrect advice and denying their liability is what I object too.

Plus the general observation that as a service business the first reaction to a product not being of suitable quality was to deny all liability seems very poor to me and is not the sort of response I have had with problems with other suppliers.

shaun_from_Africa

FOREVER21 wrote: »

The EU ( yes that name again!!) issued a Directive a few years ago making companies give a 2 year warranty for electric items.

Our Government never adopted this directive .

An EU directive isn't something that must be adopted as such as this would imply that it was a laid down instruction or procedure, which it is not.
All a directive is, is a legislative act that states an outcome that all EU countries must achieve. How they meet the requirements of the directive is entirely up to them but it is not optional.

neilmcl

michaels wrote: »

Thanks everyone, for making the process clear. It would be very easy for Tesco call centre to say that under the SOGA they would need to see an independent report before considering liability. However they did not do this. They stated that post 12 months My only recourse was to contact the manufacturer. This giving incorrect advice and denying their liability is what I object too.

Plus the general observation that as a service business the first reaction to a product not being of suitable quality was to deny all liability seems very poor to me and is not the sort of response I have had with problems with other suppliers.

So, have you done anything about it yet, called their main customer services team, for example?

michaels

I have spoken to them on facebook and they have asked for a private message with detals and offered to look into it.

The manual doesn't have much to say about fault codes but google suggests it may be the heat element or thermostat, neither of which are a sub £100 fix.

wealdroam

FOREVER21 wrote: »

If the EU directive did not instruct some EU countries to offer a 2 year warranty, how is it that every electrical item I have purchased recently show countries, including France , Germany etc all now give a 2 year warranty?

Manufacturers can choose whatever term they like for their warranties.

Indeed, there is no obligation for any manufacturer to offer any warranty, but for good customer relations reasons, most do so.

unholyangel

FOREVER21 wrote: »

If the EU directive did not instruct some EU countries to offer a 2 year warranty, how is it that every electrical item I have purchased recently show countries, including France , Germany etc all now give a 2 year warranty?

The actual wording of the directive is as follows:

(17) Whereas it is appropriate to limit in time the period during which the seller is liable for any lack of conformity which exists at the time of delivery of the goods; whereas Member States may also provide for a limitation on the period during which consumers can exercise their rights, provided such a period does not expire within two years from the time of delivery; whereas where, under national legislation, the time when a limitation period starts is not the time of delivery of the goods, the total duration of the limitation period provided for by national law may not be shorter than two years from the time of delivery;

As I said, its warranty as in a legal guarantee rather than a manufacturers warranty which gives you a no quibble repair/replacement.

As we used to say on here, you have 6 years in england to take a retailer to court - but that does not necessarily mean that the goods must last that long.

FOREVER21

Apologies to wealdroam and unholyangel, I have broken the continuity of the threads, as I was in the process of deleting my post whilst you were both replying.

hollydays

michaels wrote: »

I have spoken to them on facebook and they have asked for a private message with detals and offered to look into it.

The manual doesn't have much to say about fault codes but google suggests it may be the heat element or thermostat, neither of which are a sub £100 fix.

Why not ask the company what the fault code means?
I'm surprised you haven't done this already .
It could be something simple you could correct yourself, couldn't it?