Returning Faulty Goods After 30 Days as Not Fit for Purpose

User4000

We purchased a 12Vdc television from Cello Electronics on 15th March 2022 for £179.99 for use in our touring caravan on holidays. We tried the TV at home, the sound was very tinny so we purchased a small sound bar which made the sound acceptable and decided to keep the TV. We did not use the TV again until we went on holiday in our touring caravan several months later. It was then that we discovered the picture would freeze completely for several minutes or the sound would go completely out of synchronisation with the picture. The only way to get the picture back to normal was to retune the channel. We raised this with the supplier/manufacturer and they agreed to exchanging the TV for a new one, which we accepted. When we tried this replacement it also suffered with the same faults as the original one, so we concluded this was due to a faulty design. We informed Cello electronics of the issues and they told us that the problem was due to a poor quality TV signal and that there was no problem with the TV. I requested they accepted the TV back for a full refund as I considered it was not fit for purpose, because the TV signal at the Caravan Club Sites would never be perfect and the TV should be able to cope with this. Cello Electronics told me they would not accept the TV back and that if I didn't like the TV I should sell it privately.

Am I within my rights to reject the TV as not fit for purpose and claim a full refund?

visidigi

Was the picture fine at home? If its just not working at your caravan site that's not grounds for rejection. Because that doesn't mean its faulty.

powerful_Rogue

User4000 said:

We purchased a 12Vdc television from Cello Electronics on 15th March 2022 for £179.99 for use in our touring caravan on holidays. We tried the TV at home, the sound was very tinny so we purchased a small sound bar which made the sound acceptable and decided to keep the TV. We did not use the TV again until we went on holiday in our touring caravan several months later. It was then that we discovered the picture would freeze completely for several minutes or the sound would go completely out of synchronisation with the picture. The only way to get the picture back to normal was to retune the channel. We raised this with the supplier/manufacturer and they agreed to exchanging the TV for a new one, which we accepted. When we tried this replacement it also suffered with the same faults as the original one, so we concluded this was due to a faulty design. We informed Cello electronics of the issues and they told us that the problem was due to a poor quality TV signal and that there was no problem with the TV. I requested they accepted the TV back for a full refund as I considered it was not fit for purpose, because the TV signal at the Caravan Club Sites would never be perfect and the TV should be able to cope with this. Cello Electronics told me they would not accept the TV back and that if I didn't like the TV I should sell it privately.

Am I within my rights to reject the TV as not fit for purpose and claim a full refund?

Sounds like it is fit for purpose, just not fit for your purpose. Maybe buy a signal booster?

Alderbank

powerful_Rogue said:

User4000 said:

We purchased a 12Vdc television from Cello Electronics on 15th March 2022 for £179.99 for use in our touring caravan on holidays. We tried the TV at home, the sound was very tinny so we purchased a small sound bar which made the sound acceptable and decided to keep the TV. We did not use the TV again until we went on holiday in our touring caravan several months later. It was then that we discovered the picture would freeze completely for several minutes or the sound would go completely out of synchronisation with the picture. The only way to get the picture back to normal was to retune the channel. We raised this with the supplier/manufacturer and they agreed to exchanging the TV for a new one, which we accepted. When we tried this replacement it also suffered with the same faults as the original one, so we concluded this was due to a faulty design. We informed Cello electronics of the issues and they told us that the problem was due to a poor quality TV signal and that there was no problem with the TV. I requested they accepted the TV back for a full refund as I considered it was not fit for purpose, because the TV signal at the Caravan Club Sites would never be perfect and the TV should be able to cope with this. Cello Electronics told me they would not accept the TV back and that if I didn't like the TV I should sell it privately.

Am I within my rights to reject the TV as not fit for purpose and claim a full refund?

Sounds like it is fit for purpose, just not fit for your purpose. Maybe buy a signal booster?

It would be useful to know the exact model purchased.
Cello produce a range of sets, the 'Traveller' range, specifically for caravan use. If it is one of those then it would be reasonable to expect it to work OK on a Caravan Club site, if it is a general purpose 'kid's bedroom' set then less so.

I agree about a signal booster, also a good aerial is essential for terrestrial TV. Some of the 'Traveller' sets have satellite decoders built in. My experience is that on most caravan sites terrestrial TV is weak and satellite is vastly better. OP, did you use aerial or portable dish?

OP, what was the signal quality (more important than strength) where you had reception problems?
If I had swapped sets and found the reception was the same I would not say that proved that both sets were faulty, I would think it showed that the aerial was poor or the signal was marginal.

screech_78

I agree with all of the above, but in any event, your consumer rights are from the original purchase date of March 2022. And as it’s over 6
months from purchase, the onus is on you to prove there is a fault. 

And if they did agree to a refund, you’re only entitled to a reduced amount to take into account usage. 

tightauldgit

Does it work in other locations?

If it doesn't work in just that one caravan site then I would suggest that the TV is fine and it's just 'one of those things' if it doesn't work anywhere or in any caravan site then there probably is an issue and you would be within your rights to ask for a refund. 

I don't think any retailer can be held responsible for a poor signal at your specific caravan park but if the item is sold as a suitable for use in caravans but can't get any signal in any park then it's a different matter. 

Is there a way to check signal strength in the settings?

DullGreyGuy

Alderbank said:
If it is one of those then it would be reasonable to expect it to work OK on a Caravan Club site

Even a TV designed for caravan use cannot work magic so unless the Caravan Club promises that every one of their sites and pitches has amazing TV signal strength I'm not sure the relevance of the owners of the site? If the site/pitch has exceptionally poor/no signal then any TV is going to struggle 

As its over 6 months old its for the OP to prove the fault not the seller to disprove it... the signal quality really needs to be judged to have any hope of saying its the TV not the signal.

Alderbank

The only relevance of the Caravan Club is that the OP specifically referred to it. Other campsites are available.

Caravan sites are often in sparsely populated coastal or hilly areas where terrestrial reception is hit and miss. They do however all have wide open skies and I have yet to visit one where the sat reception was less than excellent. You don't need a roof mounted dish either, a tripod always seems to work fine.

I am sure that is why Cello sell 12v TVs with sat decoders to caravanners.

born_again

What sort of ariel is being used in the caravan?

As given odds on the transmitter will never be in exactly the same orientation to location of ariel in caravan. So will need to possibly retune TV every time you move to a new site as also  the frequency of the signal will change.

Think of it like a satellite dish. It has to point to the satellite. Point it the other way & you get no signal.

tightauldgit

DullGreyGuy said:

Alderbank said:
If it is one of those then it would be reasonable to expect it to work OK on a Caravan Club site

Even a TV designed for caravan use cannot work magic so unless the Caravan Club promises that every one of their sites and pitches has amazing TV signal strength I'm not sure the relevance of the owners of the site? If the site/pitch has exceptionally poor/no signal then any TV is going to struggle 

As its over 6 months old its for the OP to prove the fault not the seller to disprove it... the signal quality really needs to be judged to have any hope of saying its the TV not the signal.

Just as an aside - even though it's 6 months old they already had an exchange on one so do they actually have to demonstrate it's inherently faulty or just that the replacement hasn't fixed the issue and so the supplier has used up their one chance to repair or replace? 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

tightauldgit said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Alderbank said:
If it is one of those then it would be reasonable to expect it to work OK on a Caravan Club site

Even a TV designed for caravan use cannot work magic so unless the Caravan Club promises that every one of their sites and pitches has amazing TV signal strength I'm not sure the relevance of the owners of the site? If the site/pitch has exceptionally poor/no signal then any TV is going to struggle 

As its over 6 months old its for the OP to prove the fault not the seller to disprove it... the signal quality really needs to be judged to have any hope of saying its the TV not the signal.

Just as an aside - even though it's 6 months old they already had an exchange on one so do they actually have to demonstrate it's inherently faulty or just that the replacement hasn't fixed the issue and so the supplier has used up their one chance to repair or replace? 

The 6 months clause is detailed under Right to repair or replacement, Right to price reduction or final right to reject comes under another section and merely states if after one repair or replacement the goods still do not conform the consumer may exercise those rights, read in order it doesn't appear as if the consumer need to prove anything to exercise the final right/price reduction although what the actual answer is I don't know.