Amazon refuses to replace cross-trainer

screech_78

An uplift code means the manufacturer has accepted there is a fault and the retailer can claim a debit from the manufacture. This means the retailer can recoup some money from the manufacturer. However for this to work, there has to be a debit agreement between the retailer and manufacturer. If they don’t have an agreement, the uplift code means nothing. 

As others have said, the warranty and your consumer rights are two different things and if you want to claim on CRA, you’ll need to show it’s failed due an inherent fault. 

Manxman_in_exile

@actually_a_llama -  basically you have two choices:

(1) If you want to enforce the warranty, that is between you and the manufacturer.  The warranty has nothing at all to do with the retailer (Amazon).  If the warranty applies here (and the manufacturer seems to have agreed that it does) then your argument is with them to do whatever the warranty says (eg replace, repair, refund etc).

What rights does the warranty give you?  What is the exact wording?

(2) if you want the retailer (Amazon) to sort this out, then you will need to pursue them under the statutory consumer rights given you by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and not under the warranty.

If you want to pursue your statutory rights against Amazon after over two years, you will need to provide to them some sort of evidence on the balance of probabilities that the fault (or whatever it is that is wrong with the machine) or its cause was present when you bought the machine (eg a faulty or substandard component, a fault during manufacture etc) or that it was not of satisfactory quality.  When the manufacturer accepted you had a warranty claim, did they give you a report suggesting at all that the machine had an inherent or latent fault when you bought it?

You need to decide which course of action to pursue.  If you decide to try to follow both routes, you need to keep them entirely separate from each other.

born_again

actually_a_llama said:

So I purchased an RFE/Reebok cross trainer ages ago and when the original warranty was coming to a close I was experiencing issues with it. I spoke to the manufacturer who told me it needed to be replaced and they also extended the warranty by 5 months as a courtesy (due to issues with sourcing spare parts during the pandemic).

Now the manufacturer (RFE) gave me what they call an 'uplift code' / 'reference code' to give to Amazon and said it's up to Amazon to replace it. Amazon refuse to accept this code; they do not know what it is and also say the original warranty is up.

There's been a ping-pong match of me being passed back and forth between the manufacturer and the retailer. Neither of which will take responsibility for replacing it.

Manufacturer -
I am afraid that under the Sale of Goods Act, and as per our agreement with Amazon, only Amazon are permitted to exchange the machine. If, for whatever reason, they are refusing to do this, despite having been advised that this is the only course of action via our uplift code, I would suggest speaking to Trading Standards or possibly seeking legal advice at this stage.

Amazon's stance is that it's out of warranty. I've emailed Trading Standards who have been absolutely hopeless and not helped whatsoever. Where do I go from here? Am I at a dead end?

I know from when daughter was looking for one of these in 2020 lockdown.
These were all sold via the marketplace & not direct from Amazon.

So you need to find your invoice in your order section & find out just who you bought it from.

If it was not direct & supplied by Amazon. It is whoever you bought it from that needs to sort it out.

actually_a_llama

MattMattMattUK said:

actually_a_llama said:

I'm going to try and see where I can get with RFE. Amazon keeps saying the same thing over and over - it doesn't  even acknowledge that I've mentioned the uplift code and merely states I've had satisfactory use of the item.

The one thing I have is that the fault first occurred within the 24 month warranty and I have the paper-trail (or emails) to back that up. That is, I informed RFE (the manufacturer) of this within the 24 month warranty (regardless if it was extended until May '22 as a courtesy); it just took them a while to get someone out (February '22; partly my own fault as I cancelled an engineer appointment) ... and since then I've been back and forth between their CS and Amazon's CS.

Does the fault occurring within the warranty mean anything? I think Amazon is basically a dead-end, I don't think they're even reading my messages at this point - just returning the same spiel of satisfactory use.

The warranty is nothing to do with Amazon, so Amazon will not care about that. You have Consumer Rights against Amazon, the warranty is an additional provision offered by the manufacturer. Also, can you confirm, did you actually buy from Amazon, or from a third-party seller on Amazon?

I bought from Amazon directly, no third-party sellers involved.

I'm going to send an email off to the manufacturer as it's just occurred to me that this can be proven a manufacturing fault. The reason the unit could not be repaired was because the technician was unable to carry out a repair due to certain bolts being jammed (ones that would need to be released to carry out a repair). As this was the first repair it would mean these bolts came from the factory floor in this state.

powerful_Rogue

actually_a_llama said:

MattMattMattUK said:

actually_a_llama said:

I'm going to try and see where I can get with RFE. Amazon keeps saying the same thing over and over - it doesn't  even acknowledge that I've mentioned the uplift code and merely states I've had satisfactory use of the item.

The one thing I have is that the fault first occurred within the 24 month warranty and I have the paper-trail (or emails) to back that up. That is, I informed RFE (the manufacturer) of this within the 24 month warranty (regardless if it was extended until May '22 as a courtesy); it just took them a while to get someone out (February '22; partly my own fault as I cancelled an engineer appointment) ... and since then I've been back and forth between their CS and Amazon's CS.

Does the fault occurring within the warranty mean anything? I think Amazon is basically a dead-end, I don't think they're even reading my messages at this point - just returning the same spiel of satisfactory use.

The warranty is nothing to do with Amazon, so Amazon will not care about that. You have Consumer Rights against Amazon, the warranty is an additional provision offered by the manufacturer. Also, can you confirm, did you actually buy from Amazon, or from a third-party seller on Amazon?

I bought from Amazon directly, no third-party sellers involved.

I'm going to send an email off to the manufacturer as it's just occurred to me that this can be proven a manufacturing fault. The reason the unit could not be repaired was because the technician was unable to carry out a repair due to certain bolts being jammed (ones that would need to be released to carry out a repair). As this was the first repair it would mean these bolts came from the factory floor in this state.

But did the bolts being jammed cause the fault, or soley the reason the repair cannot take place?

What is the actual fault with the machine?

actually_a_llama

powerful_Rogue said:

actually_a_llama said:

MattMattMattUK said:

actually_a_llama said:

I'm going to try and see where I can get with RFE. Amazon keeps saying the same thing over and over - it doesn't  even acknowledge that I've mentioned the uplift code and merely states I've had satisfactory use of the item.

The one thing I have is that the fault first occurred within the 24 month warranty and I have the paper-trail (or emails) to back that up. That is, I informed RFE (the manufacturer) of this within the 24 month warranty (regardless if it was extended until May '22 as a courtesy); it just took them a while to get someone out (February '22; partly my own fault as I cancelled an engineer appointment) ... and since then I've been back and forth between their CS and Amazon's CS.

Does the fault occurring within the warranty mean anything? I think Amazon is basically a dead-end, I don't think they're even reading my messages at this point - just returning the same spiel of satisfactory use.

The warranty is nothing to do with Amazon, so Amazon will not care about that. You have Consumer Rights against Amazon, the warranty is an additional provision offered by the manufacturer. Also, can you confirm, did you actually buy from Amazon, or from a third-party seller on Amazon?

I bought from Amazon directly, no third-party sellers involved.

I'm going to send an email off to the manufacturer as it's just occurred to me that this can be proven a manufacturing fault. The reason the unit could not be repaired was because the technician was unable to carry out a repair due to certain bolts being jammed (ones that would need to be released to carry out a repair). As this was the first repair it would mean these bolts came from the factory floor in this state.

But did the bolts being jammed cause the fault, or soley the reason the repair cannot take place?

What is the actual fault with the machine?

Solely the reason the repair couldn't take place. The machine is squeaking loudly and emitting loud noises. You can feel the machine is unbalanced and something is wrong. There's feedback from the internal components as it moves, it's not normal.

I will try my best to enforce the warranty with the manufacturer as best I can. What are the options if they refuse? Is it basically small claims court?

powerful_Rogue

actually_a_llama said:

powerful_Rogue said:

actually_a_llama said:

MattMattMattUK said:

actually_a_llama said:

I'm going to try and see where I can get with RFE. Amazon keeps saying the same thing over and over - it doesn't  even acknowledge that I've mentioned the uplift code and merely states I've had satisfactory use of the item.

The one thing I have is that the fault first occurred within the 24 month warranty and I have the paper-trail (or emails) to back that up. That is, I informed RFE (the manufacturer) of this within the 24 month warranty (regardless if it was extended until May '22 as a courtesy); it just took them a while to get someone out (February '22; partly my own fault as I cancelled an engineer appointment) ... and since then I've been back and forth between their CS and Amazon's CS.

Does the fault occurring within the warranty mean anything? I think Amazon is basically a dead-end, I don't think they're even reading my messages at this point - just returning the same spiel of satisfactory use.

The warranty is nothing to do with Amazon, so Amazon will not care about that. You have Consumer Rights against Amazon, the warranty is an additional provision offered by the manufacturer. Also, can you confirm, did you actually buy from Amazon, or from a third-party seller on Amazon?

I bought from Amazon directly, no third-party sellers involved.

I'm going to send an email off to the manufacturer as it's just occurred to me that this can be proven a manufacturing fault. The reason the unit could not be repaired was because the technician was unable to carry out a repair due to certain bolts being jammed (ones that would need to be released to carry out a repair). As this was the first repair it would mean these bolts came from the factory floor in this state.

But did the bolts being jammed cause the fault, or soley the reason the repair cannot take place?

What is the actual fault with the machine?

Solely the reason the repair couldn't take place. The machine is squeaking loudly and emitting loud noises. You can feel the machine is unbalanced and something is wrong. There's feedback from the internal components as it moves, it's not normal.

I will try my best to enforce the warranty with the manufacturer as best I can. What are the options if they refuse? Is it basically small claims court?

Small claims court against the manufacturer?

Possibly, you would need to get hold of the full terms and conditions relating to the warranty. Their argument might be they have provided you with an uplift code, so their part of the warranty process is complete.