Warranty replacement has failed again

Blaccjazz123

Bought an O'Neil wetsuit back in June 2015. That wetsuit failed under warranty within 12 months and was replaced. The replacement wetsuit failed within 12 months and was again replaced. The third wetsuit warranty replacement has failed again within 6 weeks of receiving it. I've been told by the shop kingofwatersports.com that O'Neil have said no to a replacement under their warranty. I'm saying stuff the warranty my statutory rights are unaffected your suits are not fit for purpose. Both the shop and O'Neil have stuck two fingers up. I'm thinking of just going to small claims to get my money back. Does this seem reasonable? Also is it Kingofwatersports.com who I claim against or O'Neil?


Any help appreciated.

neilmcl

Your statutory rights are with the retailer. Since it's nearly 2 /12 years since you purchased the original item then the onus will be on you to prove that it has an inherent fault to manufacture.

How much did the original wetsuit cost bearing in mind that you may only be entitled to a partial refund taking into account the potential usage you've already had.

Blaccjazz123

Don't think it will be hard to prove the fault lies with manufacture. The last replacement suit which failed due to the seams opening up was only 6 weeks old. Original purchase was £175. The problem I have is that I've had to purchase suits whilst waiting for the warranty replacements to come through which puts me out of pocket.

Hermione_Granger

You're not trying to get a large body into a medium wetsuit are you?

JJ_Egan

Independent report proving your claim of not fit .You pay and its reclaimed if true .
Also add to that a deduction for 2.5 years usage .

societys_child

Any rights you have, go back to June 2015.

If all the wet suits they make are not fit for purpose, and they had to continually replace them, they'd have gone out of business by now. Wonder why yours keep failing?

eddddy

Their website suggests that they offer a 1 year warranty, so that has expired - so you are relying on consumer legislation, and specifically whether the wetsuit is of satisfactory quality.

(i.e. Sale of Goods act, as you bought before Oct 2015)


Your claim would be against the retailer. I guess the way to look at it is as follows:

You've had 2.5 years of wetsuit use. How many years of use would a 'reasonable person' expect to get from a wetsuit at the price you paid?

If the answer was, say, 5 years - you should be able to claim back 50% of what you paid.


However, I suspect that the retailer will simply claim that the wetsuits were of satisfactory quality, but you misused them.

Blaccjazz123

Nah, any suggestion of misuse would fall on its backside. The seams are glued and have peeled open. No signs of misuse. Even if I only get £30 at least it'll cover the cost of what I lost on the interim wetsuits I bought last and sold on whilst waiting for the warranty replacement. I've used O'Neil for last 10 of the 30years I've been surfing. Not had to send any back until this last lot. It wouldn't surprise me if they are sending out either seconds or returns as warranty replacements. £300 suits failing after 6 weeks of use equating to 12 2hr surfs. Either they've drop the QC or the warranty replacements are seconds.