Argos Staff Contempt while representing proper branded product supplied for Argos only

molerat

The problem is that for legal purposes Argos are the manufacturer.  Morphy Richards are owned by a Chinese company who will allow almost anyone to commission a product under that name, and any other brand you wish, as the seller then takes on all liabilities for that product. Morphy Richards UK will likely have no knowledge of that particular item.   http://en.donlim.com/KitchenAppliances.jhtml

RickyL14

cymruchris said:

How long since you bought it? And is it something that happened from day 1? Or is it a more recent development?

Can't remember exactly but it would still be under warranty. It was used and worked, only gradually noticed as time passed when it was used more over time getting to know the appliance like people say with their ovens.

I don't mind glitches as long as you can learn a tweak / override or reset and continue.

MikeJXE - I already stated ' Customers should be blocked if abusive imo. However, if customers are simply adding to the workload that would not be a valid reason for unprofessionalism '

molerat said:

The problem is that for legal purposes Argos are the manufacturer.  Morphy Richards are owned by a Chinese company who will allow almost anyone to commission a product under that name, and any other brand you wish, as the seller then takes on all liabilities for that product. Morphy Richards UK will likely have no knowledge of that particular item.

Thanks for the information & your link molerat. I think perhaps they may be able to do that, but surely only legally ... by detailing the fact in advance*, that the product carries a name unrelated in terms of technical support, warranty etc. Argos said they only have a copy of the manual & refused to confer with manufacturer just saying they could not help!

Jon81uk thanks for reply, & to answer you & photme 's question not yet, but for me the ideal outcome would have been to keep it with advice on a workaround. It's a bulky item to return. I might just end up getting a dodgy return from someone else too! 

WhiskersTheWonderCat

After reading through this thread, I can understand why the Argos rep was a little testy. 

JetpackVelociraptor

It's not in anyone's interest to give you a workaround for a fault! This is an electrical item containing heating elements that appears to have an issue with the safety cutout. If an Argos rep advises you on how to work around or reset the safety cutout, and it later on overheats and burns down your house, Argos could be liable to a massive lawsuit. They also sell a heck of a lot of products and do not offer any level of expertise in using any of them, so it is not reasonable to expect them to find you information that is not in the manual. The person you speak to when you contact Argos doesn't have a clue about electronics, they're not electricians and Argos wouldn't allow some random customer service rep to take that kind of risk on their behalf.

You can either report the item as faulty and let them deal with it - an exchange or a refund, essentially - or you can find your own workaround. Imagine they'd given you the manufacturer's details. What would the manufacturer be able to do to help you? They wouldn't give you a workaround either, they would instruct you to return it to the retailer as faulty or to claim on their own warranty. 

RickyL14

JetpackVelociraptor said:

It's not in anyone's interest to give you a workaround for a fault! This is an electrical item containing heating elements that appears to have an issue with the safety cutout. If an Argos rep advises you on how to work around or reset the safety cutout, and it later on overheats and burns down your house, Argos could be liable to a massive lawsuit. They also sell a heck of a lot of products and do not offer any level of expertise in using any of them, so it is not reasonable to expect them to find you information that is not in the manual. The person you speak to when you contact Argos doesn't have a clue about electronics, they're not electricians and Argos wouldn't allow some random customer service rep to take that kind of risk on their behalf.

You can either report the item as faulty and let them deal with it - an exchange or a refund, essentially - or you can find your own workaround. Imagine they'd given you the manufacturer's details. What would the manufacturer be able to do to help you? They wouldn't give you a workaround either, they would instruct you to return it to the retailer as faulty or to claim on their own warranty. 

Thank you for your polite, sensible, helpful & informed comment. I kept meaning to reply but life and energy you know! Sorry4delay

I agree with the bit about the workaround invalidating their or my insurance.

There was also the fact that they do provide the Service Tech Support direct ( per Argos Tech Team ) due to their mere borrowing of a brand name for marketing ... but not for after purchase which is disingenuous not to advise upfront. 
This was the reason they gave for not supplying me with manufacturer's details as they look after service & support instead.

I would not have bought their own brand just labelled as someone else's. The sly trick added to rude service though ...