Are Amazon circumventing the Consumer Rights Act

Xii_kcl

So, I’ve been left pretty frustrated with my recent dealings with Amazon and I can’t help but wonder if what they are doing is legal, so wanted some rational thoughts on this, as at the moment I can’t see past the red mist!

 In November, I purchased a kids Fire Tablet Device, brand new for £134.99 in a Black Friday deal. As part of Amazon’s offering, they agree to replace the device, with a no quibble policy, should it be damaged. Perfect, I thought!

The brand new device I bought, developed a tech fault after 35 days of use. I spoke to Amazon Tech Support, who couldn't fix it remotely, so said if I send it back, they will replace. Great, I thought!

However, the replacement device is a refurb! Which I am really, really unhappy about as I bought a brand new device and after a little over a month, it developed a fault and I now have a refurbished device, which I have no history of. Is this right? My argument is, if it had been dropped in the bath, or smashed, this would be acceptable, but essentially I was sold a dud and now have spent £134.99 on a refurb device, which if I had wanted that in the first place, could have got a lot cheaper than that! It’s so frustrating! And now the price of a new one has gone up to £199.99 so I am loathe to ask for a refund as I’d then have to spend an additional £65.01 to get my little boy a replacement Christmas present, from Father Christmas. 

What do people think about this? Surely if an electronic device is faulty, it should be replaced with a brand new unit? Isn’t that only fair? I welcome your thoughts on this. TIA 😊

visidigi

Xii_kcl said:

So, I’ve been left pretty frustrated with my recent dealings with Amazon and I can’t help but wonder if what they are doing is legal, so wanted some rational thoughts on this, as at the moment I can’t see past the red mist!

 In November, I purchased a kids Fire Tablet Device, brand new for £134.99 in a Black Friday deal. As part of Amazon’s offering, they agree to replace the device, with a no quibble policy, should it be damaged. Perfect, I thought!

The brand new device I bought, developed a tech fault after 35 days of use. I spoke to Amazon Tech Support, who couldn't fix it remotely, so said if I send it back, they will replace. Great, I thought!

However, the replacement device is a refurb! Which I am really, really unhappy about as I bought a brand new device and after a little over a month, it developed a fault and I now have a refurbished device, which I have no history of. Is this right? My argument is, if it had been dropped in the bath, or smashed, this would be acceptable, but essentially I was sold a dud and now have spent £134.99 on a refurb device, which if I had wanted that in the first place, could have got a lot cheaper than that! It’s so frustrating! And now the price of a new one has gone up to £199.99 so I am loathe to ask for a refund as I’d then have to spend an additional £65.01 to get my little boy a replacement Christmas present, from Father Christmas. 

What do people think about this? Surely if an electronic device is faulty, it should be replaced with a brand new unit? Isn’t that only fair? I welcome your thoughts on this. TIA 😊

Nothing wrong with what they have offered/done. 
Take the refurb - your 'used' new device had lost value anyway so you're no worse off.

davidmcn

They've put you back into the position you ought to be in, ie having a used but working item. It's fine. 

Fosterdog

What they have offered sounds perfectly reasonable and acceptable to me

peter_the_piper

Don't forget, a refurb could merely have been a scratched item that the customer rejected,

davidmcn

peter_the_piper said:

Don't forget, a refurb could merely have been a scratched item that the customer rejected,

Or simply a "change of mind" return in perfect condition, which they can't sell as new because it's been unsealed etc.

LilElvis

I've found Amazon's service 're our Kids Fire to be beyond exemplary. Bought it Black Friday 2015 as a Christmas present, replaced January 2016 as the charging port was a bit hit or miss, battery wasn't retaining charge in February 2019 (a whole year outside the 2 year warranty) and they replaced it FOC again, including one year free kids app. I wasn't even asking for a replacement - I was just hoping to wangle a bit of a discount off a new one!

BTW a refurb doesn't equate to poor quality - Apple replaced my iPod Classic with a refurb and it's still working a decade later.

neilmcl

Xii_kcl said:

So, I’ve been left pretty frustrated with my recent dealings with Amazon and I can’t help but wonder if what they are doing is legal, so wanted some rational thoughts on this, as at the moment I can’t see past the red mist!

 In November, I purchased a kids Fire Tablet Device, brand new for £134.99 in a Black Friday deal. As part of Amazon’s offering, they agree to replace the device, with a no quibble policy, should it be damaged. Perfect, I thought!

The brand new device I bought, developed a tech fault after 35 days of use. I spoke to Amazon Tech Support, who couldn't fix it remotely, so said if I send it back, they will replace. Great, I thought!

However, the replacement device is a refurb! Which I am really, really unhappy about as I bought a brand new device and after a little over a month, it developed a fault and I now have a refurbished device, which I have no history of. Is this right? My argument is, if it had been dropped in the bath, or smashed, this would be acceptable, but essentially I was sold a dud and now have spent £134.99 on a refurb device, which if I had wanted that in the first place, could have got a lot cheaper than that! It’s so frustrating! And now the price of a new one has gone up to £199.99 so I am loathe to ask for a refund as I’d then have to spend an additional £65.01 to get my little boy a replacement Christmas present, from Father Christmas. 

What do people think about this? Surely if an electronic device is faulty, it should be replaced with a brand new unit? Isn’t that only fair? I welcome your thoughts on this. TIA 😊

You're missing an important point. You didn't have a new device, you had a 35 day old, used one and therefore Amazon have, correctly, put you back in the same position as you were before the fault occurred.

Xii_kcl

neilmcl said: So if this had happened straight out the box, instead of 35 days later, I should still have accepted a refurb? Not quite sure how that works and is any different? As a consumer, you would expect a brand new device to last longer than 35 days. I had a washing machine once that failed within its guarantee (was 9 months old) and I got a brand new one, without any question, hence my confusion with this issue. 

Xii_kcl said:

So, I’ve been left pretty frustrated with my recent dealings with Amazon and I can’t help but wonder if what they are doing is legal, so wanted some rational thoughts on this, as at the moment I can’t see past the red mist!

 In November, I purchased a kids Fire Tablet Device, brand new for £134.99 in a Black Friday deal. As part of Amazon’s offering, they agree to replace the device, with a no quibble policy, should it be damaged. Perfect, I thought!

The brand new device I bought, developed a tech fault after 35 days of use. I spoke to Amazon Tech Support, who couldn't fix it remotely, so said if I send it back, they will replace. Great, I thought!

However, the replacement device is a refurb! Which I am really, really unhappy about as I bought a brand new device and after a little over a month, it developed a fault and I now have a refurbished device, which I have no history of. Is this right? My argument is, if it had been dropped in the bath, or smashed, this would be acceptable, but essentially I was sold a dud and now have spent £134.99 on a refurb device, which if I had wanted that in the first place, could have got a lot cheaper than that! It’s so frustrating! And now the price of a new one has gone up to £199.99 so I am loathe to ask for a refund as I’d then have to spend an additional £65.01 to get my little boy a replacement Christmas present, from Father Christmas. 

What do people think about this? Surely if an electronic device is faulty, it should be replaced with a brand new unit? Isn’t that only fair? I welcome your thoughts on this. TIA 😊

You're missing an important point. You didn't have a new device, you had a 35 day old, used one and therefore Amazon have, correctly, put you back in the same position as you were before the fault occurred.

Aylesbury_Duck

But it didn't happen straight out of the box.  It broke after 35 days.

You received good customer service in the case of your washing machine, although it sounds like that was a warranty replacement.  Anyway, it doesn't have any bearing on the current matter.  Amazon have done what consumer laws expect of them.

LilElvis

If it had failed "straight out of the box" (within the first 30 days) then you would have been entitled to a refund - you still couldn't have forced a replacement.