Does "battery needs replacing" indicate a material fault with the product, that should be rectified?

mikcatta

I purchased an Owl electricity monitor last week, and everything appeared to be working, except that, despite being brand new, out of the box, it is saying the battery on the transmitter is depleted (using the supplied battery). I have spoken to the supplier and it is a known fault, and there answer was that, it doesn't affect the usage of the unit, and therefore I have to live with it, as the cost to Owl of replacing all faulty transmitters, "would put them out of business". He would, however, speak to them.
I feel robbed, I paid full price, and I expected the item to work with no errors or faults and this is clearly not the case with this item. As the item, is less than a week old, do I have a case for returning the item for a full-refund and how should I proceed?

[Deleted User]

Is this an integral battery, or a disposable one?  If the latter, just replace it.

68ComebackSpecial

Deleted_User said:

Is this an integral battery, or a disposable one?  If the latter, just replace it.

I've just looked at the manual for one of their models and it's just a couple of bog standard AAs.

MattMattMattUK

Both the Owl monitors I can find online use AA batteries, I would suspect that the easiest thing to do is to change the batteries. Unless I am wrong on the AA batteries then the batteries being flat would not indicate an inherent fault with the device, as they are user replaceable and consumable part. 

mikcatta

The supplier has confirmed (as mentioned above) that there is a fault with the battery monitoring circuit , causing it to always read as empty. If the batteries are 100% fine and the device is reporting them as flat, is that not a fault with the device?

user1977

Does the fault have any effect other than making the warning appear? If all it means is that you won't get a warning when the batteries are actually flat, I wouldn't consider that a material defect.

Bradden

user1977 said:

Does the fault have any effect other than making the warning appear? If all it means is that you won't get a warning when the batteries are actually flat, I wouldn't consider that a material defect.

If a battery indicater is warning constantly  then I would suggest that this is a fault... if it should only be on when the battery needs replacing. 

user1977

Bradden said:

user1977 said:

Does the fault have any effect other than making the warning appear? If all it means is that you won't get a warning when the batteries are actually flat, I wouldn't consider that a material defect.

If a battery indicater is warning constantly  then I would suggest that this is a fault... if it should only be on when the battery needs replacing. 

Sure. But does it matter? If it's beeping every 30 seconds, or refuses to perform some function, fair enough.

MattMattMattUK

mikcatta said:

The supplier has confirmed (as mentioned above) that there is a fault with the battery monitoring circuit , causing it to always read as empty. If the batteries are 100% fine and the device is reporting them as flat, is that not a fault with the device?

To be fair, it was far from clear from your op that the fault was with the monitoring circuit, rather than the battery itself.
From their own warranty:

2 Save Energy Limited guarantees that your OWL electricity monitor will work for a minimum period of 2 years from date of purchase and that it will be free from defects in materials, workmanship or design. If during this limited 2 year period of guarantee you find that the equipment is not working properly, you may return it to us and we will replace or at our discretion repair it free of charge.

So you can ask them to comply with their warranty.

As they have already admitted an inherent fault you could also request a return and refund from where you bought the monitor as your consumer rights apply where you purchased the goods, not from the manufacturer. 

mikcatta

That does align with my thinking, that regardless of whether it has any effect on the operation, it is a defect and therefore I should be offered either a replacement or refund. I actually like the product, but having spent out quite a bit of money, I would expect it to work without flashing up a warning. If it was a car, and the warning light came up on the dashboard, irrespective of whether there was a fault with it or not, I would expect it to be rectified.

pbartlett

Yes it is a fault, yes you can return it. If you bought online you have 14 days in any case.

Are you sure the supplier is telling the truth - seems very strange to me that it is a 'known fault'. Do you have any independent corroboration?