Consumer rights on an item less than 6 months old and had one repair?

bikingbarney

Hi all,

After some advice.

I purchased an item online on the 17/06/22.

Straight from the off the item didn't feel great but I thought they might need bedding in (push bike suspension forks) 

It got the point where I nearly had a big accident due to the product not operating as it should. 

As such I sent the item back for a warranty repair at the start of November and only received it back this week. Managed to get the product fitted and had a first try of it yesterday. 

Unfortunately the warranty repair doesn't seem to have worked and they feel worse than original and I've lost faith and confidence in it now.

What do I need to do here? Under the CRA am I now entitled to a refund or full replacement.

Thank you.

pinkshoes

Did you initially claim under the CRA or the warranty?

Did you claim from the retailer or the manufacturer, or are the manufacturer and the retailer the same people?

macman

You can request a full refund within 6 months of purchase if one repair attempt has failed, but this must be from the retailer, not the manufacturer.
As above, it's not clear who you have been dealing with.

bikingbarney

macman said:

You can request a full refund within 6 months of purchase if one repair attempt has failed, but this must be from the retailer, not the manufacturer.
As above, it's not clear who you have been dealing with.

pinkshoes said:

Did you initially claim under the CRA or the warranty?

Did you claim from the retailer or the manufacturer, or are the manufacturer and the retailer the same people?

Sorry if it wasn't clear....

I bought from an online shop and claimed on the warranty.

The item was sent to the manufacturers UK repair/service centre via the online shop.

TadleyBaggie

It's still not clear, who provided the warranty? 

You would have been better off making the original claim against the retailer under CRA 2015.

bikingbarney

TadleyBaggie said:

It's still not clear, who provided the warranty? 

You would have been better off making the original claim against the retailer under CRA 2015.

The warranty comes from the product manufacturer I think but they wont deal with members of the public so all goods need to be sent to them via an approved dealer. 

Hopefully that makes sense.

Am I right thinking that my contract is with the online retailer I purchased from still?

TadleyBaggie

Yes, the manufacturer owes you nothing. All your consumer rights lie solely with the retailer. However having a repair done without the retailer being aware maybe complicate matters.

Manxman_in_exile

@bikingbarney - you should have gone direct to the retailer and enforced your statutory consumer rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk).

If goods become faulty within 6 months of purchase it's presumed the fault was present at purchase - unless the seller can demonstrate otherwise.  The seller then has an opportunity either to replace, or to attempt to repair.  But they only have one attempt to fix the problem by either replacing or repairing.  If that attempt fails, you are entitled to a full refund.

As suggested above, you may have made matters more complicated by not first giving the seller the opportunity to repair or replace.

Assuming you are still within 6 months your best bet might be to go to the retailer and explain that the manufacturer has already had one failed attempt at repair.  Suggest to the retailer that as the manufacturer has failed to repair the fault, it would be pointless for the retailer to attempt to fix it and that you would like a refund (or a new replacement that works if that is a better solution for you). 

Unless a manufacturer's warranty gives you better rights than consumer rights legislation does, you are usually better off claiming under the legislation rather than the warranty.  Certainly within the first six months you are usually better off using the legislation.  After that, the longer after purchase the more helpful a warranty might be.

bikingbarney

Manxman_in_exile said:

@bikingbarney - you should have gone direct to the retailer and enforced your statutory consumer rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk).

If goods become faulty within 6 months of purchase it's presumed the fault was present at purchase - unless the seller can demonstrate otherwise.  The seller then has an opportunity either to replace, or to attempt to repair.  But they only have one attempt to fix the problem by either replacing or repairing.  If that attempt fails, you are entitled to a full refund.

As suggested above, you may have made matters more complicated by not first giving the seller the opportunity to repair or replace.

Assuming you are still within 6 months your best bet might be to go to the retailer and explain that the manufacturer has already had one failed attempt at repair.  Suggest to the retailer that as the manufacturer has failed to repair the fault, it would be pointless for the retailer to attempt to fix it and that you would like a refund (or a new replacement that works if that is a better solution for you). 

Unless a manufacturer's warranty gives you better rights than consumer rights legislation does, you are usually better off claiming under the legislation rather than the warranty.  Certainly within the first six months you are usually better off using the legislation.  After that, the longer after purchase the more helpful a warranty might be.

Thanks for the advice. 

The original retailer would have had to send the item to the same place as I sent them to for a repair as they are not equipped in house to carry out the repairs.

I have sent an email to the original supplying retailer to see what they say.

pinkshoes

bikingbarney said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

@bikingbarney - you should have gone direct to the retailer and enforced your statutory consumer rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk).

If goods become faulty within 6 months of purchase it's presumed the fault was present at purchase - unless the seller can demonstrate otherwise.  The seller then has an opportunity either to replace, or to attempt to repair.  But they only have one attempt to fix the problem by either replacing or repairing.  If that attempt fails, you are entitled to a full refund.

As suggested above, you may have made matters more complicated by not first giving the seller the opportunity to repair or replace.

Assuming you are still within 6 months your best bet might be to go to the retailer and explain that the manufacturer has already had one failed attempt at repair.  Suggest to the retailer that as the manufacturer has failed to repair the fault, it would be pointless for the retailer to attempt to fix it and that you would like a refund (or a new replacement that works if that is a better solution for you). 

Unless a manufacturer's warranty gives you better rights than consumer rights legislation does, you are usually better off claiming under the legislation rather than the warranty.  Certainly within the first six months you are usually better off using the legislation.  After that, the longer after purchase the more helpful a warranty might be.

Thanks for the advice. 

The original retailer would have had to send the item to the same place as I sent them to for a repair as they are not equipped in house to carry out the repairs.

I have sent an email to the original supplying retailer to see what they say.

The bit I've highlighted in bold might be the case, but your CONSUMER rights (e.g. one chance to repair then a refund) are through the RETAILER,  so even though it would have gone to the same place, you should have contacted them first, as that would count as the one chance to repair. 

Hopefully the retailer will accept this and refund or replace, but you might have to accept another repair. 

Manxman_in_exile

bikingbarney said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

@bikingbarney - you should have gone direct to the retailer and enforced your statutory consumer rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk).

If goods become faulty within 6 months of purchase it's presumed the fault was present at purchase - unless the seller can demonstrate otherwise.  The seller then has an opportunity either to replace, or to attempt to repair.  But they only have one attempt to fix the problem by either replacing or repairing.  If that attempt fails, you are entitled to a full refund.

As suggested above, you may have made matters more complicated by not first giving the seller the opportunity to repair or replace.

Assuming you are still within 6 months your best bet might be to go to the retailer and explain that the manufacturer has already had one failed attempt at repair.  Suggest to the retailer that as the manufacturer has failed to repair the fault, it would be pointless for the retailer to attempt to fix it and that you would like a refund (or a new replacement that works if that is a better solution for you). 

Unless a manufacturer's warranty gives you better rights than consumer rights legislation does, you are usually better off claiming under the legislation rather than the warranty.  Certainly within the first six months you are usually better off using the legislation.  After that, the longer after purchase the more helpful a warranty might be.

Thanks for the advice. 

The original retailer would have had to send the item to the same place as I sent them to for a repair as they are not equipped in house to carry out the repairs.

I have sent an email to the original supplying retailer to see what they say.

You're probably right - but as @pinkshoes has said, if you had gone direct to the retailer and they'd sent it to the manufacturer, that would still have counted as the single attempt the retailer has to fix the problem.  Because you went straight to the manufacturer the retailer could argue that they still have their single chance to fix it.

Hopefully the retailer will see sense and accept it's pointless to try another repair - unless they opt to replace.