Have I waived my statutory rights - Warranty ?

beaker141

Hi All,

I've bought a fridge a few months ago that I now think is faulty - ie doesnt cool to the specification - specifies 2 degrees and the lowest it will achieve is 6 degrees - hence not really fit for purpose.

The company I bought from have informed me of these warranty terms below - that obviously werent read at the time of purchase.

Have I waived my statutory rights here, or can I go back with my statutory rights and insist on resolution at their cost?

TIA - Stuart

"8. Warranties and Liability
If an items is not working on delivery or within 14 days from the invoice date, we will exchange the item or refund the price paid. It is the customer’s responsibility to report such failure in writing within this timescale. After 14 days from the invoice date, normal terms of warranty will apply.



Warranty stated is a parts only warranty and no labour or engineer costs are covered.



A parts only warranty allows you to use your own sourced fully qualified engineer (at your own cost) to assess the problem. This must be followed by a full engineers report sent back to ourselves, which we will then forward onto the product manufacturer. Once approved by the manufacturer the parts required will be sent to your desired location. The manufacturer requests that the defective parts are to be sent back on repair of the unit. Failure to send these defective parts back is unacceptable and will result in a full invoice for the replacement parts.



At our discretion, if we choose to cover the products with Back to Base warranty, the buyer is responsible for the cost of sending the product back to our warehouse and sending it back to the buyer after being repaired.



Company X is not liable for any lost profits or business interruption that may have directly, indirectly or incidentally arisen from a faulty or defected unit. It is the customers responsibility to plan and prepare for such instances.



By agreeing to purchase, the Customer agree to our Warranty Terms & Conditions which can be accessed at any time but may be subject to change.

"

KatrinaWaves

Warranties are in addition to your stat rights. A company cannot take your statutory rights away.

spadoosh

Youre not claiming under warranty youre claiming under your statutory rights that the product isnt fit for purpose.

Tell them to try again.

BoGoF

How long ago is 'a few months'?

ThumbRemote

Further to the above, it is also an offence for a company to try and deny you your statutory rights (hence the way they often say 'your statutory rights are not affected' on warranties).

But yes, you're entitled to a resolution under your statutory rights, the Consumers Rights Act.

unholyangel

How many months is a few months ago? If you're within 6 months, its particularly misleading for them to refuse to deal with it (and may amount to a criminal offence under the CPRs) as any fault in the first 6 months is assumed to be inherent unless they prove otherwise or the assumption is incompatible with how the goods fail to conform.

Their T&C's about being subject to warranty would be void though. Firstly, the consumer rights act gives you 30 days to insist on a refund. Secondly, the consumer rights act also gives you the right to a repair, replacement or price reduction (in addition to those remedies ordinarily available for breach of contract) and there is no time limit on that (save for those created by the relevant prescription/limitation acts in scotland and england). They cannot force you to use a warranty instead of your statutory rights.

agrinnall

Why would you want a fridge that cools to 2 degrees anyway? That's several degrees below the standard domestic fridge temperature, in fact I'd say if it's at 6 degrees that's probably acceptable (mine says it's cooling to 5 but a fridge thermometer registers between 6 and 7).

beaker141

Thanks All.

It was bought in August, but I've only just started using it - the person who used it before had no gumption to check what they had bought worked properly!

Its a beer bottle fridge, so yes, 2 degrees is maybe too low, I've set it there to understand if it is faulty as set to 5 degrees it just didnt seem cold enough, and quickly enough !

Thanks for all your great advice.

Is there any way to check a history of small claims court cases against a company - now I've read trust pilot almost 50% of reviews are 1 star saying to never use, poor goods, service etc and quite a few suggesting they are taking court action.

I'm not sure I want the effort of small claims court action if they are then managing to win cases brought etc. hence wanting to check first.

KatrinaWaves

Ah that does change things. As you bought it more than 6 months ago the company can require you to get a report to show that the fridge is inherently faulty.

When you say 'the person who used it before' you did buy it didnt you? Cos if you didnt, you dont have stat rights, the person who bougth it did.

beaker141

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

When you say 'the person who used it before' you did buy it didnt you? Cos if you didnt, you dont have stat rights, the person who bougth it did.

Bought in a limited company, so its still in the company just different people using it in different areas.

Ah - do Consumer Rights Act not apply in B2B purchases ?

KatrinaWaves

beaker141 wrote: »

Bought in a limited company, so its still in the company just different people using it in different areas.

Ah - do Consumer Rights Act not apply in B2B purchases ?

The clue is in the name