Faulty PS4 - who should put this right?

pyrrhic

Hi folks,

Looking for some advice. Tl;dr: my ps4 has a fault, and I don't think I should have to pay to get it fixed. I'm looking for advice on what my consumer right are, and whether it's something I should be tackling Sony about (the manufacturer) or Argos (the retailer).

Details:

My wife bought me the PS4 for Christmas 2014 - so it's almost 3 years out, well out of standard warranty.

However, the fault is that it keeps spitting out discs. Googling around, this is a fairly well-known issue with this particular model of PS4, and likely to be a hardware fault that has always been there but just not manifested until now. I've tried all the home fixes suggested with no luck.

Furthermore, while it's hard to provide an accurate figure, one can make a decent estimate of total operational use of the machine by adding up the play times for all games played (not all include this info, but all of the ones I played for any length of time do, and the others I can estimate fairly well). I reckon I've only had 147 hours or so of actual use out of this machine.

Given this is i) a well-known fault of design and ii) manifesting in a machine that hasn't actually been used all that much, I think it's rather unfair that Sony want me to pay £125 to have it repaired.

Am I right in saying the Consumer Rights Act 2015 should provide some legal standing to have this fixed for free? It's a clear fault, and one that has developed well within the operational envelope of what anyone would think is a reasonable amount of use of the machine I would say.

If so - do I just keep plugging away at Sony, or should I try taking this up with Argos as the ones who sold it to me? It's clearly Sony's product at fault, but I have a feeling Argos are perhaps more likely to have the decency and customer service to remedy the fault.

All advice appreciated!

shaun_from_Africa

pyrrhic wrote: »

Am I right in saying the Consumer Rights Act 2015 should provide some legal standing to have this fixed for free? It's a clear fault, and one that has developed well within the operational envelope of what anyone would think is a reasonable amount of use of the machine I would say.

The consumer rights act doesn't cover the contract as this was brought into power after the item was purchased so it's the Sale of goods act that applies.

Your legal rights are that provided the fault in due to a manufacturing defect, something that is your responsibility to prove, the retailer must then provide a remedy.
This could be a repair, replacement or refund and this refund could be a partial one to cover the time you had good use of the item.

pyrrhic

Thanks Shaun - that's really helpful. So just to be clear, it's Argos I should really be taking this up with (as the retailer) not Sony?

Thanks again!

shaun_from_Africa

Yes. The only legal responsibility the manufacturer has is that they have to abide by the terms and conditions of any warranty they provide.
Argos may do something if you speak to them but they might ask you to get an independent inspection done to confirm that the fault is due to a manufacturing error.
If you can get this report, Argos then have to provide a remedy and cover the cost of the report.

marcarm

Your legal rights are with the retailer yes

pinkshoes

pyrrhic wrote: »

Thanks Shaun - that's really helpful. So just to be clear, it's Argos I should really be taking this up with (as the retailer) not Sony?

Thanks again!

Yes, with Argos.

But it is up to you to get an independent report proving that it was inherently faulty...

Once you do this, you can expect a free repair, replacement (with a used model) or partial refund to reflect its age.

At three years old, I imagine the refund would be about 25%.

pyrrhic

Thanks both. Sounds like a barrel of fun ahead! Guess I'll box it up and see how far I get with Argos then.

Fosterdog

pyrrhic wrote: »

Thanks both. Sounds like a barrel of fun ahead! Guess I'll box it up and see how far I get with Argos then.

Probably easier to give them a call first as quite often SoGA claims are not dealt with by individual stores but by head office/main customer services. Also saves you are trip if they do want a report before considering helping you.

agrinnall

Argos probably won't raise this but the consumer rights belong to your wife as she bought the PS4, so they could insist on dealing with her.

dekaspace

I can foresee since you have said you tried the fixes online that even if you got a independant report they may claim user damage since the fixes online require removing the warranty stickers and taking console apart.