Restriction of Consumer Rights, what can i do next ?

rich1967

a company supplied & installed a cctv sytem in Nov 2017, within 2 yrs one camera stopped working at night, rang up installers/suppliers who initially said it only had 3months warranty then said 2 years later correct to 3rys as advertised by CCTV manufacturer. they demanded £190 to come and remove the faulty camera,replace with a new one and if camera was faulty would refund me £150 leaving me to pay £40 to fit. I asked if it was correct that i had to pay to have a faulty unit removed /refitted and was told yes, who else would pay. under duress i signed an order for £40 plus vat. upon fitting the job went beyond the hour and ran into the 2nd hours, i received an invoice for £80 plus vat.i queried this and said it was wrong to which they said it ran into the second hour and you should be happy we are charging you a reduced fitting rate per hour. i took offence at this and googled a bit and found UK law trumps EU law giving 6yrs cover for electrical goods and that I should not have to pay a penny for remove/refit. I informed CCTV installers company of this and they refuted it,said i was wrong and that i was refusing to pay they would put me on a blacklist and not attend my property again, CCTV service contract still running until 15.12.19, not realising the full implications of this straight away it was left and sods law but another camera looks to have developed a fault, could be warranty claim, cctv company refusing to attend,i contacted Citizens Advice who in turn contacted Trading Standards but no update as of yet. what else can i do, what can i claim , they put me under duress to sign an order for fitting of a replacement camera, emotional distress for blacklisting me (allegedly only on their books they say) as take great pride in my reputation and credit rating, breaching my consumer rights, restricting my rights etc, solicitors want £900 before they will even talk to me, is it worth going through small claims court, they have iso9001, can this be removed by a complaint procedure if they are doing this as custom and practice etc, any help will be appreciated,I am in the process of sending them a final letter giving minimum 14days notice of legal action but gut feeling is they assume they think i am bluffing so wont do anything

BoGoF

Not heard of paragraphs?

Not reading all that but electrical goods are not covered for 6 years. After 6 months onus on you to prove they were inherently faulty.

BoGoF

And please don't say you were emotionally distressed, it just makes you look foolish.

JJ_Egan

The Six Years is not a warranty nor is it any form of cover .
The six years is the timescale to take to court .


Warranty is a free from the manufacturer and subject to their terms .
Consumer Rights are against the vendor .But as per sticky top of page after 6 months its up to you to proof your claim if required .


Blackmail duress etc only make you look like a .

davidmcn

rich1967 wrote: »

i took offence at this and googled a bit and found UK law trumps EU law giving 6yrs cover for electrical goods

Can you give us the link to the reputable source of information which says this?

unholyangel

OP, are you a business? As most residential properties don't have cctv, those that do usually have just 1 camera and typically don't have any service contract attached. Plus, they quoted you £40 exc VAT, where prices to consumers need to be inclusive.

If you are a business, you don't have consumer rights. Only contractual ones. So best to establish that first before going any further.

Aylesbury_Duck

If you are a genuine consumer....

You're incorrect on the six years.
Their offer to charge you to remove the camera and refund you if faulty was a fair one.
If it did take more than one hour, they are entitled to charge their hourly rate for each complete and each part of every hour taken, unless they gave you an absolute fixed quote.
Drop the emotional distress nonsense. It won't get you anything except ridicule.

As I read it, you're "out of pocket" by no more than £50 (the second hour plus VAT), and even that's debatable. You have to question if it's worth solicitors, small claims, etc for such a paltry sum. As for the potential new technical problem, I'm afraid it sounds like you've brought their refusal to deal with you on yourself by "taking offence" at a perfectly reasonable stance of theirs and telling them you know consumer law better than they do.

waamo

unholyangel wrote: »

OP, are you a business? As most residential properties don't have cctv, those that do usually have just 1 camera and typically don't have any service contract attached. Plus, they quoted you £40 exc VAT, where prices to consumers need to be inclusive.

If you are a business, you don't have consumer rights. Only contractual ones. So best to establish that first before going any further.

Stands a good chance as they are a landlord https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=29176975&postcount=11

rich1967

Thankyou for all your replies.

It has helped and also clarified a few things such as burden of proof being on me after 6months as pointed out above and yes you do have 6years in effect warrantry as long as you can prove it was a fault of the equipment so as pointed out burden is on me to do that.

The word "duress" was definitely inappropiate and used while i was getting wound up but the principal was that as the camera was proven to be faulty and exchanged should i have to pay to have it refitted and i still believe that i should not, also taking into account it was £40 plus vat which then doubled to £80 plus vat and of which a brand new camera is under £100 hence why i thought it was wrong.

I am a consumer buying privately for my own small holding and not business to business.

I think it was the increase from £48 to £96 to fit that really put my back up and with absolutely no give in that or gestures from the supplier, could or should they have done anything is open to scrutiny but after being with them for 15years and having various installations i saw the increase as if nothing else "morally" not right. I think all i wanted was £48 charge which i had agreed to.

Thankyou again for all your contributions and BOGOF i googled paragraphs and wow cannot get enough of them now lol. (lol being an internet phrase and not part of english grammar i know BOGOF but just showing that line was said in humour)

Takmon

rich1967 wrote: »

It has helped and also clarified a few things such as burden of proof being on me after 6months as pointed out above and yes you do have 6years in effect warrantry as long as you can prove it was a fault of the equipment so as pointed out burden is on me to do that.

No that is still wrong. The product has to be "inherently" faulty which means the fault has to have been present from when it was manufactured.

The camera simply being faulty does not mean you are entitled to a remedy under consumer rights.