Advice on claiming repair or replacement

willow987

Hi,

I hope I have posted correctly, I've tried to highlight the details.

Purchased: iPad Air
Cost £289
Retailer: Tesco Direct
Date: Nov 2014

Issue: iPad failed last weekend - totally unuseable. Confirmed in writing as manufacturer fault (logic board) by Apple (Manufacturer) after I took it to Apple Store for support. Apple offered to replace it with like-for-like for £200

Reported to Tesco who have offered £115 refund as refusing to repair or replace as "not economically viable to do so"

I'd like a repair or replacement ideally, or a refund to cover the Apple replacement cost. A new iPad would be the updated model which is currently £349. It means it would cost us an additional £85 to get a replacement unit, or £234 to go any buy a replacement.

I have stated I found the offer unacceptable and they just said to go to Trading Standards. I feel like they are just being difficult as it will take a long time to resolve and during that time we haven't got a replacement.

Should I stick it out and keep asking for repair or replacement?

JJ_Egan

Nov 2014 so you have had 18 months plus usage .What is a used IPad air selling at ??

Fosterdog

Any refund offered can be partial to account for the use you have had of the iPad for 18months. They have offered you just under half what you paid which would put an expected life of the iPad at around three years (assuming linear depreciation when in reality devices of this nature lose most of their value in the first year) three years would be about right for an iPad.

Are you 100% certain Apple have said it is a manufacturing fault? I have seen the reports they do many times and they are always very careful to word the reports as xxx has failed and is uneconomical to repair but I have never seen them admit to it being a manufacturing defect in their own reports.

You can keep asking for a repair or replacement all you want but you are highly unlikely to get it and they are under no obligation to offer either.

unholyangel

Unfortunately, you cannot force a repair or replacement if its disproportionately costly in comparison to a refund.

(3)The buyer must not require the seller to repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods if that remedy is—
(a)impossible, or
(b)disproportionate in comparison to the other of those remedies, or
(c)disproportionate in comparison to an appropriate reduction in the purchase price under paragraph (a), or rescission under paragraph (b), of section 48C(1) below.

What you can do however is try and get them to up their offer. If you can find a similar ipad (used, similar age, spec etc) thats being sold for more than they're offering, you could use that to try and argue that your ipad is worth more than their current offer.

LilElvis

It's up to the retailer to choose the remedy and Tesco have elected to give you a partial refund. Try looking on eBay or one of the stores which sell used gadgets to see if what they are offering is reasonable for an 18/19 month old device. You could then use this information to push for a higher refund if what Tesco have offered is less than buying a second hand model.

Be aware that what Apple are offering will likely be a refurbished iPad and with a short warranty. Saying that my refurbished, replacement iPod is still going strong after nearly 10 years.

wealdroam

willow987 wrote: »

Hi,

I hope I have posted correctly, I've tried to highlight the details.

Purchased: iPad Air
Cost £289
Retailer: Tesco Direct
Date: Nov 2014

Issue: iPad failed last weekend - totally unuseable. Confirmed in writing as manufacturer fault (logic board) by Apple (Manufacturer) after I took it to Apple Store for support. Apple offered to replace it with like-for-like for £200

Reported to Tesco who have offered £115 refund as refusing to repair or replace as "not economically viable to do so"

I'd like a repair or replacement ideally, or a refund to cover the Apple replacement cost. A new iPad would be the updated model which is currently £349. It means it would cost us an additional £85 to get a replacement unit, or £234 to go any buy a replacement.

I have stated I found the offer unacceptable and they just said to go to Trading Standards. I feel like they are just being difficult as it will take a long time to resolve and during that time we haven't got a replacement.

Should I stick it out and keep asking for repair or replacement?

The Sale of Goods Act allows for any refund to be reduced to take account of the use you have had.

The amount of any reduction is not specified beyond that.
Perhaps you need to practice your negotiating skills with Tesco - maybe suggesting to them that a refund of £150 (say) would be more acceptable to you.

Fosterdog

Here are a few used ones for sale for a rough price depending on colour, memory and wifi or cellular.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-iPad-Air-64GB-Wi-Fi-9-7in-White-Silver-/331868504396?hash=item4d44e7814c:g:DPAAAOSwY0lXTD-f £160 for 64gb wifi white

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-iPad-Air-1st-Generation-128GB-Wi-Fi-9-7in-Space-Grey-/222143354571?hash=item33b8c696cb:g:IsgAAOSwepZXSwSE £167 for 128gb wifi space grey

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-iPad-Air-16GB-/272266144610?hash=item3f6453ab62:g:F7EAAOSwmtJXVeX2 £100 for 16gb wifi in white

naedanger

willow987 wrote: »

Hi,

I hope I have posted correctly, I've tried to highlight the details.

Purchased: iPad Air
Cost £289
Retailer: Tesco Direct
Date: Nov 2014

Issue: iPad failed last weekend - totally unuseable. Confirmed in writing as manufacturer fault (logic board) by Apple (Manufacturer) after I took it to Apple Store for support. Apple offered to replace it with like-for-like for £200

Reported to Tesco who have offered £115 refund as refusing to repair or replace as "not economically viable to do so"

I'd like a repair or replacement ideally, or a refund to cover the Apple replacement cost. A new iPad would be the updated model which is currently £349. It means it would cost us an additional £85 to get a replacement unit, or £234 to go any buy a replacement.

I have stated I found the offer unacceptable and they just said to go to Trading Standards. I feel like they are just being difficult as it will take a long time to resolve and during that time we haven't got a replacement.

Should I stick it out and keep asking for repair or replacement?

You are not legally entitled to insist on a repair or replacement. The retailer is only obliged to offer a repair, replacement or partial refund at their option.

You can dispute the reasonableness of the partial refund. But if the retailer does not agree with your argument then you may need to take them to court. This involves paying a fee and there is no guarantee a court will agree with you (but if they do you are likely to be refunded for the cost of the court fee).

Also how did you pay originally? If it was by credit card then you have another option (but again no guarantee of getting a higher partial refund).

Did Tesco explain how they got the figure of £115?

willow987

Thanks for the replies, I apologise for the delay, I expected to get an email about them.

The Apple report does state "iPad seems to have stopped working due to manufacturing fault"

Tescos response: "The matrices we use for calculating the compensation value are also in line with the Sale of Goods Act. The matrices use information such as, but not limited to, the age of the product, the purchase price and reasonable life expectancy."

Personally, I expect them to keep working for more than 3 years, there might be better ones available but that doesn't stop them working, We are still using an ipad2 which must be over 5 years at least, it does what we want it to do. I appreciate the replacement would not be a new model, I just want a working one

Maybe chalk this up to bad experience and avoid tesco in future. It wasn't a credit card purchase either unfortunately.

I'm disappointed to find the SOGA lets them choose a partial refund at their own calculations, and that they can decide what is not economically viable.

I asked for £200 in order to be able to accept the Apple refurb offer and they haven't budged at all, I can take my refund on a Tesco Money card though if I like!!!

wealdroam

willow987 wrote: »

I asked for £200 in order to be able to accept the Apple refurb offer and they haven't budged at all...

I think asking for £200 was perhaps a bit too much.
If you were to have been a bit more reasonable you may've got some movement... but who knows?

naedanger

willow987 wrote: »

I'm disappointed to find the SOGA lets them choose a partial refund at their own calculations, and that they can decide what is not economically viable.

Although the retailer can decide on what to offer as a partial refund a customer can challenge the amount if it seems unreasonable. However the retailer can only be forced to pay more than they offered if the customer takes the matter to court and wins their case. This involves some cost and risk, which does not put the customer in a particularly good negotiating position.

Had you paid by credit card you would have been able to challenge the offer, at no cost to yourself, via the Financial Ombudsman Service if necessary. The threat of taking the matter to FOS may have made a credit card company more inclined to try and negotiate a more amenable offer. (Then again it may not have made any difference.)

Personally I think your request was reasonable and I think Tesco's offer was rather miserly. But I don't think Tesco's offer was clearly unreasonable and so in your position I would also not take the matter to court because of the effort and risk involved.