Amazon refusing to replace faulty item that has gone up in price

eeperman

Hi all,

I bought a twin pack of mesh routers from Amazon in July '22. One of them has now failed (well within the two year warranty period) and Asus have just told me to contact Amazon. Amazon have offered to refund the item and will pay me the £287 that I paid for it. However, I purchased the item on a Lightning deal and the same twin pack would now cost me £440. Am I entitled to insist on a replacement or repair? Amazon won't do a repair, but the item is still in stock and available for sale albeit at a higher price. It feels wrong that I should be put out of pocket because Amazon have sold me an unfit product.

Any thoughts?

powerful_Rogue

eeperman said:

Hi all,

I bought a twin pack of mesh routers from Amazon in July '22. One of them has now failed (well within the two year warranty period) and Asus have just told me to contact Amazon. Amazon have offered to refund the item and will pay me the £287 that I paid for it. However, I purchased the item on a Lightning deal and the same twin pack would now cost me £440. Am I entitled to insist on a replacement or repair? Amazon won't do a repair, but the item is still in stock and available for sale albeit at a higher price. It feels wrong that I should be put out of pocket because Amazon have sold me an unfit product.

Any thoughts?

Amazon have the option to repair, replace or refund - whichever of these options is the most cost effective. They could also make a deduction for the 9 months use you've already had, so are going above and beyond with their full refund option.

km1500

You are entitled to a refund of what you paid less a deduction for the time you have had use of the item

MorningcoffeeIV

eeperman said:

It feels wrong that I should be put out of pocket because Amazon have sold me an unfit product.

Any thoughts?

Yes.

You're not out of pocket.

You've had two year's free usage of a twin pack of mesh routers.

That's a stonking deal.

born_again

Amazon can do either refund or repair. There choice.

But why won't Asus replace under the warranty?

Manxman_in_exile

born_again said:

Amazon can do either refund or repair. There choice.

But why won't Asus replace under the warranty?

That's the question...

(Assuming the failure is covered by the warranty)

born_again

Manxman_in_exile said:

born_again said:

Amazon can do either refund or repair. There choice.

But why won't Asus replace under the warranty?

That's the question...

(Assuming the failure is covered by the warranty)

Guess we will have to await Op to answer 🤷‍♀️

MarvinDay

When claiming under the ASUS warranty, the documentation states the following:

• If the problem is not solved remotely, You will have to return the Product to the Dealer where you purchased Your Product, and the Dealer will pursue ASUS Warranty for swap the whole Product. This service applies to the following countries: .....
....
THE UNITED KINGDOM, 

https://www.asus.com/support/images/upload/17c6e832-c27e-4e42-94dc-999f5828f69e.pdf
(I've deleted the rest of the countries that the above applies to)
so it appears that it is Amazon at fault here as they should be asking ASUS to replace the router.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that they will refund the OP then get ASUS to exchange the unit so they can then sell it at the now higher price.

eeperman

Thank you everyone for your considered responses, it is greatly appreciated.

Marvin, you are spot on. The Asus warranty requires return of the faulty item to the retailer so that they can engage with Asus for repair/replacement. Amazon are refusing to countenance this so I have written to their head office with a request for either a repair or replacement under warranty or, failing this, a repair/replacement under my statutory rights. I do not believe that an item sold with a 2 year warranty that fails after 9 months is of satisfactory quality (the Consumer Rights Act references durability as a marker of what is satisfactory) and I have the right to partial refund, repair or replacement. They can refuse to repair or replace if this would be impossible or disproportionate, but given that the item is still for sale (albeit at higher price) and under warranty I suggest that it is neither.

We shall have to see how they get one. I suspect that they can't be arsed to manage an entire warranty repair/replacement process and would rather refund so that I go away - as previous posters have mentioned, the fact that they are offering a complete replacement is over and above the statutory requirements and had the item not increased in price so much I would have gladly taken this option. However, my plan now is to see how much of a thorn in their side I can be.

None of this should detract from the Amazon customer service staff who have all been unfailingly polite, but the "system" simply does not offer the option to replace so their hands are tied.

Manxman_in_exile

@eeperman -  the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) doesn't give you any right to a repair or a replacement if Amazon have offered you a full refund*.  As others have said, you aren't even entitled to a full refund more than six month after purchase, so Amazon are offering you more than the legislation entitles you to.

The terms of the Asus warranty sound daft as I don't see how you (as the consumer) can make Amazon comply with it. I think I'd go back to Asus and complain that Amazon won't live up to their responsibilities under the warranty.

*You might have a rather tenuous loss of bargain claim at common law, but you'd have to see what others say.  Nobody has mentioned it yet.

eeperman

Thanks Manxman, 

I was of the impression that I had the right to repair/replacement:

Section 19(3) CRA 2015

If the goods do not conform to the contract because of a breach of any of the terms described in sections 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14, or if they do not conform to the contract under section 16, the consumer's rights (and the provisions about them and when they are available) are—

(a)the short-term right to reject (sections 20 and 22);

(b)the right to repair or replacement (section 23); and

(c)the right to a price reduction or the final right to reject (sections 20 and 24).

Section 23 CRA

Right to repair or replacement

(1)This section applies if the consumer has the right to repair or replacement (see section 19(3) and (4)).

(2)If the consumer requires the trader to repair or replace the goods, the trader must—

(a)do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, and

(b)bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage).

(3)The consumer cannot require the trader to repair or replace the goods if that remedy (the repair or the replacement)—

(a)is impossible, or

(b)is disproportionate compared to the other of those remedies.

I can't see any provision that suggests that the offer of a refund trumps the requirement to repair/replace if I ask for it. The question of it being disproportionate is an interesting one, but I would argue that Amazon have the ability to go to Asus and get the item repaired and replaced by Asus so repair/replacement is neither impossible or excessively expensive.