Manufacturers not support goods sold through auction sites

teamdrury

I purchased a Hib bathroom cabinet new through an eBay trader. This was all fine however the mirrored door has started to develop a fault and when I attempted to contact the eBay trader they were no longer operating. So I contacted Hib who were initially very helpful. When I explained where I purchased the cabinet they have become very frosty and refused to provide any customer support despite the item being less that twelve months old. The Hib guarantee is two years.
This is very unsatisfactory and I’d welcome any advice from anyone who may have dealt successfully with a similar experience.

powerful_Rogue

What are the T&C's relating to the warranty? Sometimes it's only if purchased through and approved seller.

RefluentBeans

powerful_Rogue said:

What are the T&C's relating to the warranty? Sometimes it's only if purchased through and approved seller.

From what’s on their site there’s no mention of that. https://hib.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360016028817-What-warranty-do-you-offer-with-your-products-

OP - warrantee’s are sometimes hard to enforce, so persistence is key. Keep trying, and escalating up the chain. If they’re not willing to do anything, ask why. They can’t just say ‘eBay’. Unless there were added terms in the box. 

Often guarantees are lengthy pieces of documentation, this one is less than a page. So there’s 3 things to consider I think:

1. Can the guarantee be transferred if the original seller purchased it and resold it. There's nothing on HiB's site that suggests it can't. But I don't know if its implicit that guarantees transfer, or if it needs to be explicitly stated. I'm not familiar enough with contract law to advise on that. 
2. Was the guarantee offered by HiB - if there was a leaflet/documentation in the box, it should've described if the product came with a warranty from the manufacturers. There have been instances where 'near perfect' products (often demo/showroom/returned units) have been sold to third parties as a bulk package but no manufacturer warranty is offered. If the product description (on eBay) said it had a warranty, it doesn't necessarily hold the manufacturer to that warranty, hence why the documentation in the box is important. 
3. Is the product genuine - these units are not cheap. and I assume the reason you went to eBay over direct or with a known store (e.g. Victoria Plumbing) was that it had a discounted rate. If the seller has now disappeared, and the price was too good to be true, there may be concerns that it's not a legitimate seller. In this case - the manufacturer has absolutely no liability as they didn't make the product, so you can't hold them to it. 

I would go back to them and ask if they're rejecting the claim, why they're rejecting the claim; then come back here. Without knowing that, all I can say is to be persistent and let them know you're not going anywhere. 

Alderbank

RefluentBeans said:

powerful_Rogue said:

What are the T&C's relating to the warranty? Sometimes it's only if purchased through and approved seller.

1. Can the guarantee be transferred if the original seller purchased it and resold it. There's nothing on HiB's site that suggests it can't.

I'm not sure I agree with you.

The link you provided to Hib includes:

What warranty do you offer with your products?
...
Guarantee is not transferrable

I can see why you missed it. Their spelling leaves something to be desired

RefluentBeans

Alderbank said:

RefluentBeans said:

powerful_Rogue said:

What are the T&C's relating to the warranty? Sometimes it's only if purchased through and approved seller.

1. Can the guarantee be transferred if the original seller purchased it and resold it. There's nothing on HiB's site that suggests it can't.

I'm not sure I agree with you.

The link you provided to Hib includes:

What warranty do you offer with your products?
...
Guarantee is not transferrable

I can see why you missed it. Their spelling leaves something to be desired

Thank you for pointing it out. Not sure how I missed it! I blame not enough coffee 😉

Then it changes if the seller on eBay was reselling units. I doubt that the eBay seller was an official outlet for them, so they may just consider it reselling and not extend the warranty to the end consumer. Again warranty rights still genuinely confuse me, and can really get into the nitty gritty of contract law. So please do correct me if I’m wrong! 

user1977

teamdrury said:

when I attempted to contact the eBay trader they were no longer operating. 

What do you mean by "no longer operating"? You can still enforce your consumer rights against them if they exist (and you can find them!) - it doesn't matter whether they are still trading or not.

RefluentBeans

user1977 said:

teamdrury said:

when I attempted to contact the eBay trader they were no longer operating. 

What do you mean by "no longer operating"? You can still enforce your consumer rights against them if they exist (and you can find them!) - it doesn't matter whether they are still trading or not.

Depends if it was a business or an individual. If the business has gone bankrupt I don’t think there’s much you can do to enforce them. And if it’s an Individual then there are no consumer rights with private sales. 

user1977

RefluentBeans said:

user1977 said:

teamdrury said:

when I attempted to contact the eBay trader they were no longer operating. 

What do you mean by "no longer operating"? You can still enforce your consumer rights against them if they exist (and you can find them!) - it doesn't matter whether they are still trading or not.

Depends if it was a business or an individual. If the business has gone bankrupt I don’t think there’s much you can do to enforce them. And if it’s an Individual then there are no consumer rights with private sales. 

But if it was a sole trader they can still be pursued. "Sorry mate, I don't do that stuff any more" isn't a defence.

tightauldgit

RefluentBeans said:

powerful_Rogue said:

What are the T&C's relating to the warranty? Sometimes it's only if purchased through and approved seller.

From what’s on their site there’s no mention of that. https://hib.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360016028817-What-warranty-do-you-offer-with-your-products-

OP - warrantee’s are sometimes hard to enforce, so persistence is key. Keep trying, and escalating up the chain. If they’re not willing to do anything, ask why. They can’t just say ‘eBay’. Unless there were added terms in the box. 

Often guarantees are lengthy pieces of documentation, this one is less than a page. So there’s 3 things to consider I think:

1. Can the guarantee be transferred if the original seller purchased it and resold it. There's nothing on HiB's site that suggests it can't. But I don't know if its implicit that guarantees transfer, or if it needs to be explicitly stated. I'm not familiar enough with contract law to advise on that. 
2. Was the guarantee offered by HiB - if there was a leaflet/documentation in the box, it should've described if the product came with a warranty from the manufacturers. There have been instances where 'near perfect' products (often demo/showroom/returned units) have been sold to third parties as a bulk package but no manufacturer warranty is offered. If the product description (on eBay) said it had a warranty, it doesn't necessarily hold the manufacturer to that warranty, hence why the documentation in the box is important. 
3. Is the product genuine - these units are not cheap. and I assume the reason you went to eBay over direct or with a known store (e.g. Victoria Plumbing) was that it had a discounted rate. If the seller has now disappeared, and the price was too good to be true, there may be concerns that it's not a legitimate seller. In this case - the manufacturer has absolutely no liability as they didn't make the product, so you can't hold them to it. 

I would go back to them and ask if they're rejecting the claim, why they're rejecting the claim; then come back here. Without knowing that, all I can say is to be persistent and let them know you're not going anywhere. 

From that link though the OP would fall at the first hurdle

All HiB products come with a 2 year warranty against manufacturing faults from date of purchase from HiB

It also does say the warranty is non-transferrable (if that matters in this case) 

RefluentBeans

user1977 said:

RefluentBeans said:

user1977 said:

teamdrury said:

when I attempted to contact the eBay trader they were no longer operating. 

What do you mean by "no longer operating"? You can still enforce your consumer rights against them if they exist (and you can find them!) - it doesn't matter whether they are still trading or not.

Depends if it was a business or an individual. If the business has gone bankrupt I don’t think there’s much you can do to enforce them. And if it’s an Individual then there are no consumer rights with private sales. 

But if it was a sole trader they can still be pursued. "Sorry mate, I don't do that stuff any more" isn't a defence.

My point is whether the sale is a private sale. If I buy 5 bathroom units but decide I don’t like them, outside of any returns period, and then sell them on eBay as ‘brand new and unused’ that does not make me a trader. Especially if I sell for less than I purchased them for (opposed to selling for the same price I purchased them). 

In that situation I shouldn’t have to be held liable for the products quality as they’re fundamentally second hand, even if unused. 

Not every purchase is covered by the CRA. We have no description of the sale from OP, so hard to comment on it outside of hypotheticals

RefluentBeans

tightauldgit said:

RefluentBeans said:

powerful_Rogue said:

What are the T&C's relating to the warranty? Sometimes it's only if purchased through and approved seller.

From what’s on their site there’s no mention of that. https://hib.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360016028817-What-warranty-do-you-offer-with-your-products-

OP - warrantee’s are sometimes hard to enforce, so persistence is key. Keep trying, and escalating up the chain. If they’re not willing to do anything, ask why. They can’t just say ‘eBay’. Unless there were added terms in the box. 

Often guarantees are lengthy pieces of documentation, this one is less than a page. So there’s 3 things to consider I think:

1. Can the guarantee be transferred if the original seller purchased it and resold it. There's nothing on HiB's site that suggests it can't. But I don't know if its implicit that guarantees transfer, or if it needs to be explicitly stated. I'm not familiar enough with contract law to advise on that. 
2. Was the guarantee offered by HiB - if there was a leaflet/documentation in the box, it should've described if the product came with a warranty from the manufacturers. There have been instances where 'near perfect' products (often demo/showroom/returned units) have been sold to third parties as a bulk package but no manufacturer warranty is offered. If the product description (on eBay) said it had a warranty, it doesn't necessarily hold the manufacturer to that warranty, hence why the documentation in the box is important. 
3. Is the product genuine - these units are not cheap. and I assume the reason you went to eBay over direct or with a known store (e.g. Victoria Plumbing) was that it had a discounted rate. If the seller has now disappeared, and the price was too good to be true, there may be concerns that it's not a legitimate seller. In this case - the manufacturer has absolutely no liability as they didn't make the product, so you can't hold them to it. 

I would go back to them and ask if they're rejecting the claim, why they're rejecting the claim; then come back here. Without knowing that, all I can say is to be persistent and let them know you're not going anywhere. 

From that link though the OP would fall at the first hurdle

All HiB products come with a 2 year warranty against manufacturing faults from date of purchase from HiB

It also does say the warranty is non-transferrable (if that matters in this case) 

That’s what I thought. But other traders (Building Depot and Victorian plumbing) also claim a 2 year warranty apparently from HiB. I’m guessing there are some terms on the paperwork that came with it, that probably lay out more specifics.