Dell Monitor Warranty

alecbowman

Any advice please.


I bought a 27" Dell monitor via Amazon Marketplace on 22nd May 2015. This was a new dell monitor and they come with a 3 year warranty.


On 4th January it failed. I entered the tag number on the Dell service web page but it wasn't found. I contacted Dell and some hours later they replied saying that the monitor had been supplied to the retailer (Wiziwoo) as a warranty replacement. The retailer had not returned the defective unit and Dell would not honour the warranty.


Amazon only provide a 90 day buyers guarantee if items bought via Marketplace which are not as described (i.e. doesn't have a warranty in this case and was not eligible for resale).


The Retailer denied that the monitor was sold inappropriately and ignores any correspondence.


Attempts to get restitution via Section 75 Consumer Protection Act fail because use of Amazon breaks the direct relationship to the Retailer.


Attempts to get Lloyds to process a chargeback have failed so far because they say MasterCard time limits are 120 days (it was done via Lloyds AMEX card though). It appears that the time limit would be 540 days if the transaction was for future supply of goods and services (which activation of the warranty appears to be). However this is still beyond the 540 day limit (~2 years 7 months).


It is starting to look like the only option is to go to the Small Claims Court.


Moral is don't buy anything vaguely expensive via Amazon Marketplace because you risk losing your rights to restitution.

bris

Amazon market place is just like Ebay, it's full of unauthorised resellers.


You will find in most cases like this manufacturers warranties are only available when purchased from an authorised retailers.


This is often called the grey market.


What's a 27 inch 3 year old monitor worth these days?


You need to now prove the monitor was inherently faulty by getting an independent experts report before you have a case against the retailer. If it goes in you favour then they can deduct nearly 3 years worth of use which means you will only be entitled to a partial refund, perhaps 40% at best. How much did it cost and is it worth taking the risk of losing?

alecbowman

Dell would have honoured the warranty if the defective unit it replaced had been returned by the retailer. Note Dell supplied this unit direct to the retailer so cannot be considered “unauthorised“. They provide a 3 year warranty as standard.

This is a colour calibrated Ultrasharp U2715H. It is no longer available but it’s replacement is the Ultrasharp U2717D, RRP £729 although probably available around £550. The original model can still be found. Typically they sell for £400 - £480.

Monitors have an MTBF of about 30,000 hours. That’s around 3.4 years when used for 24 hours a day 3y5 days a year. Used for 2.4 hours a day equates to 34 years. It should not have failed. We have similar monitors at work still going strong after 10 years and I’m not aware of any that have failed.

The retailer sold a unit which WAS NOT eligible for sale. He sold a unit for which he had invalidated the warranty. If he had returned the defective unit instead of keeping it and selling its replacement then there would not have been an issue.