Argos TV broken after 18 months, can I still claim?

Dave80s

Hi there, I hope this is the right place to post. My LCD TV has developed a line down the middle, I have owned it for 18 months and it cost £350. I would expect something for this price to last a bit longer than 18 months. Argos don't want to know.

Any advice?

timberflake

Quote the Sales of Goods act to them and see what they say. I would expect something costing £350 to last longer than 18months. Alternatively you could try going direct to the manufacturer.

superscaper

timberflake wrote: »

Quote the Sales of Goods act to them and see what they say. I would expect something costing £350 to last longer than 18months. Alternatively you could try going direct to the manufacturer.

I agree, it may be easier to deal with the manufacturers. If no luck there then you'll have to go down the Sale of Goods Act route as you're definitely going to be covered for more than 18 months for a £350 LCD TV legally where Argos are concerned.

Debt_Free_Chick

Dave80s wrote: »

Hi there, I hope this is the right place to post. My LCD TV has developed a line down the middle, I have owned it for 18 months and it cost £350. I would expect something for this price to last a bit longer than 18 months. Argos don't want to know.

Any advice?

Under the SOGA, the onus is on the retailer (Argos) to prove that the TV was "fit for purpose" at the time it was sold.

However, after 18 months you get in to a "grey area" which rather depends on what condition one would expect the TV to be in after that amount of "normal use". Think of it this way .... if the fault had developed after 18 days, it would have been far easier to simply return the TV and reject it as "not fit for purpose". It would then have been for Argos to prove that it was fit for purpose, which I doubt they could do (or at least wouldn't bother) so you would have had a replacement or refund.

After 18 months however, it's more difficult. Nevertheless, I agree that one would expect any TV to have a "life span" of more than 18 months, so it's still worth pursuing the fit for purpose line. However, all you should expect to get is the equivalent of a TV which has had 18 months use. So, it's either repair the current one or offer you a refund .... with the refund being scaled down to take account of the 18 months use you've had. Don't expect a full refund.

If they offer to repair, then you are likely to be without a TV, unless you have a second one.

As others have said, you may find the manufacturer easier to deal with - although the responsibility really lies with the retailer. I doubt many local Argos staff will have sufficient knowledge or clout to deal with this though, so they will be constantly referring to "Head Office" which might make the whole experience more frustrating.

Start off with the store where you bought it and see how it goes.

Dave80s

Thanks for the replies. I have spoken to customer services who were very helpful, but suggested I try the store first and maybe come back to them later. OK so far.

Then I had a 'discussion' in store where I tried to keep calm after repeating the facts 3 times, and the assistant displayed her ignorance of the sale of goods act. They have now taken the TV and are getting an estimate for the repair. Once they come back with that I will make my next move. I believe they are expecting me to pay for the repair.

There was a suggestion of a pro rata refund from head office which would suit me as the TV is £100 cheaper in Argos now anyway.

I paid on credit card, is it worth calling them or are they only any use within the 12 month period?

Wig

Dave80s wrote: »

I paid on credit card, is it worth calling them or are they only any use within the 12 month period?

AFAIK you have an equal claim against the CC, but better to deal with Argos first.

cowbutt

Start friendly, escalate to SOGA and EU Directive 1999/44/EC (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=31999L0044&model=guichett ) which at least some governments, manufacturers and vendors (e.g. Olympus) interpret to mean that goods sold in the EC must have a minimum of two years warranty.

Dave80s

Update: I got the store to take the TV in and find what caused the fault and estimate for the repair. They said new PC board, cost £130 all in, so I pointed out that this was hardly wear and tear do I still have to pay. They said yes.

So I called customer services, they called the store and told me to wait for a phone call from the store, I got a call next day to come and collect TV - it is fixed!

So top marks to Argos customer services, no marks to the store.

I picked up the TV last night and set it up just in time for the England game....oh hang on I shouldn't have bothered!

loopylass

Hi

im having problems with argos at the momemt(my sons mobile phone 4 months old) they sent it away for repair(they said if they cant repair it they will replace it)
i got a phone call saying the report said its liquid damage(he dont take it out only use as a walkman) and we will have to pay as its not covered in warranty
CS said they cant over ride store and manager wont budge is there anything i can do please

sorry for jumping in but i have put another message in mobile phones and havnt had much response
thankyou

my sons phone cost £130 it was in a sale sony ericcson w850i he bought it in July

superscaper

loopylass wrote: »

Hi

im having problems with argos at the momemt(my sons mobile phone 4 months old) they sent it away for repair(they said if they cant repair it they will replace it)
i got a phone call saying the report said its liquid damage(he dont take it out only use as a walkman) and we will have to pay as its not covered in warranty
CS said they cant over ride store and manager wont budge is there anything i can do please

sorry for jumping in but i have put another message in mobile phones and havnt had much response
thankyou

my sons phone cost £130 it was in a sale sony ericcson w850i he bought it in July

Ask them to show you proof it's water damage. The burden of proof lies with them not you (as it's less than six months old). If it genuinely is water damage then they aren't liable.

Dave80s

You might have been unlucky with Customer Services, in my case it sounds like they did overrule the store.

They put me on hold for a bit while they spoke to the 'escalations dept.' before coming back with a solution, might be worth mentioning if they can help. Perhaps try ringing again and getting someone different.

Get them to send you the estimate for the repair so you have it in writing and can see exactly what the damage is.

If you paid on credit card, get them involved.