Retailer or manufacturer liable?

mark1956

I bought a Samsung tablet with a 2-year manufacturer's warranty. It failed in the first month. The retailer told me to send it to Samsung which I did and it was fixed. 22 months later it failed again with same fault. Samsung claim they cannot replicate the fault (it takes 2 days to charge, should be 4 hours). So who's liable now, the retailer or Samsung? Thanks

Fosterdog

Did you send your charging cable with it for repair or did they use their own? Do you still use the original Samsung charger or do you use a different one? Have you tried turning it off and charging it fully?

Usually with what you describe it is either the cable that is the problem (they do suffer wear and tear quite easily) or it could be something on the tablet that is causing it to drain as quick as its charging (things like Bluetooth turned on, apps constantly connected looking for push notifications).

Ultimately after this length of time it is down to you to prove that not only it is faulty but also that the fault is down to a manufacturing defect (inherent fault) rather than just wear and tear or misuse/neglect.

bris

The retailer is responsible but you won't get anywhere as all the would do is send it to Samsung, who say nothing is wrong and they will just close the case at that.


To take it further you need to get an independent report to state the tablet is inherently fault at time of purchase.


There is no way for them to do this though as batteries are not covered as they do diminish significantly over time.


Find a battery online and change it, it's easy to open these tabs and change the battery if you are even a slight bit competent.

macman

The retailer is responsible under CRA, but on a two year old device, you'd have to prove a pre-existing fault, which means a report at your expense.
Samsung are responsible until the 24m warranty expires. But, as above, the battery is not covered, as it's a consumable.

Carrot007

Sounds like you are probably using a cheap lead or charger whioch is nopt up to the task. Samsung chargers and leads are odd and to a different spec and the devices act odd with other makes even if they should work. (For instance on one device I could only get an update to work with a samsung cable).

Also the possibility of it being something running and draining a lot. To check this turn it off and then charge it.

mark1956

Thanks for the replies. I have a USB volt/ammeter which shows 5v/0.2A during charging. It should be somewhere near 2A. I have tried multiple chargers & cables, all with the same result. Switching the tablet off during charging makes no difference. The Samsung charger can deliver at least 1.5A to other devices. It's the same fault which appeared within the first month, which Samsung repaired.
Why do I have to prove the tablet was faulty at the time of purchase? It wasn't. Surely the point of a guarantee is that it covers defects which occur during use (excepting misuse of course). Samsung have had it four times now, and have not suggested it's a battery fault, nor that it's been misused. Once charged, battery life is fine.

JJ_Egan

In effect two paths one Legal Rights against the vendor . Two additional limited warranty via manufacturer or insurance etc .

<Why do I have to prove the tablet was faulty at the time of purchase? >
Thats the Consumer Regulations/ Sale of Goods Act you take this up with the vendor .

<Surely the point of a guarantee is that it covers defects which occur during use >
Thats a warranty from the manufacture under their terms and conditions .
In this case they cannot replicate the fault .