Warranty when a 'Brand' goes partially into administration but the company still exists

sandyv

Being a conscious consumer several years ago i purchased a Revelations suitcase which is a brand of the Antler luggage company. It came with a 10 year warranty and to make a claim a consumer would have to contact Antler customer services to make arrangements. I have a faulty case which was purchased 4 years ago and the handle does not always collapse and retract. I have recently contacted Antler customer services who have advised:
"as a result of Covid-19 our business went into administration. The Antler brand has now been bought by new owners and we're a brand new company, although we still trade as Antler. Only the Antler online side of the company was purchased during the administration; the retail stores, wholesale, international, Revelation sides of the business were not retained. The 'old' Antler company which you purchased this item from, and who helped you previously no longer exists after the administration."
As the company has been bought by new owners does the warranty obligations for any of the brands the sold not just transfer to the new owners. Companys are bought and sold all the time but they seem to be washing their hands of any obligations. Can anyone advise what my rights are? 

Money_Grabber13579

There is a difference between a sale of a company and the sale of assets out of that company. As I understand it, some of the Antler assets (brand, other IP, stock etc) were sold to a new company but the old company, along with all its historic obligations will be liquidated. Your warranty will be one of those liabilities and so unless it was backed back a 3rd party insurance company, it will now have become worthless. This would be in contrast to a scenario where the company itself was sold, in which case, all historic obligations continue to exist, but this would be very rare in an administration situation.

user1977

This is normal in bankruptcy cases - assets of any value will be sold off, and the creditors need to take a hit. Wouldn't really make sense otherwise. Sometimes the new owner of the brand will honour guarantees etc as a matter of goodwill, but there's no implied rule that they need to.

macman

No chance. Many years ago I bought some double glazing with a ten year warranty. It turned out to be valueless when I wanted to make a claim, as the company had been liquidated and the new company, trading under the same name, would not honour the original warranty. 

Ectophile

The new owners didn't buy the company.  They bought the name "Antler" from the administrators, and nothing else.

sandyv

Thanks for all your responses. Warranties are hardly worth anything these days.  Appreciate the help. 

Sandtree

sandyv said:

Thanks for all your responses. Warranties are hardly worth anything these days.  Appreciate the help. 

Consumer rights against the merchant are normally better than warranties offered by manufacturers (obv there are exceptions). If you are keen on warranties then certainly look for those that are backed by an insurer so that it remains even if the provider of the warranty fails.

Money_Grabber13579

Sandtree said:

sandyv said:

Thanks for all your responses. Warranties are hardly worth anything these days.  Appreciate the help. 

Consumer rights against the merchant are normally better than warranties offered by manufacturers (obv there are exceptions). If you are keen on warranties then certainly look for those that are backed by an insurer so that it remains even if the provider of the warranty fails.

In this case though, consumer rights wouldn’t be any use either, as the retailer is in administration/liquidation and those rights don’t transfer to the new buyer either.

Sandtree

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Sandtree said:

sandyv said:

Thanks for all your responses. Warranties are hardly worth anything these days.  Appreciate the help. 

Consumer rights against the merchant are normally better than warranties offered by manufacturers (obv there are exceptions). If you are keen on warranties then certainly look for those that are backed by an insurer so that it remains even if the provider of the warranty fails.

In this case though, consumer rights wouldn’t be any use either, as the retailer is in administration/liquidation and those rights don’t transfer to the new buyer either.

The OP themselves did say where they bought it from but the response from the new owners would suggest it was bought directly from the manufacturer (obviously Antler suitcases were sold by others too). But yes, as per warranties, if the retailer folds then so go your statutory rights unless bought by credit card and the items were over £100 each