Rights re repair vs replacement

seaweed

Hi, we bought a 'reconditioned' stairlift last April from a company with good reviews. We paid £200 more than their normal reconditioned price, as the lift was 'nearly new, only used 4 times'. 

After about 4 months it started to intermittently go-slow at the start of it's accent. For various reasons I didn't let the company know until November (7 months), but I do have a video of the fault from September (5 months).

The company have now been 3 times to try and fix the problem, each time it goes wrong again within hours of them 'fixing' it. They now want to try something else that 'should' work. 

But before their last visit I had already said that we were loosing confidence in the lift, and that they should replace it with another one in similar condition (it still looks as new). They claim they don't have anything that's nearly new, and want to carry on trying to repair it. It's very inconvenient to us, we have to be in, and while they're here my partner can't get upstairs. 

What rights do we have? Can they insist on just repairing, or if they really don't have a direct replacement, could we insist on a new one? 

Many thanks. 

Okell

Under the legislation you cannot insist on a replacement.  However, after just one failed attempt at either a repair or replacement, you can reject the stairlift for a refund.  But any refund can be reduced to reflect the use you've had from the stairlift.

But that would mean putting up with not having  stairlift.  Is that what you want?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Okell said:

Under the legislation you cannot insist on a replacement.  However, after just one failed attempt at either a repair or replacement, you can reject the stairlift for a refund.  But any refund can be reduced to reflect the use you've had from the stairlift.

But that would mean putting up with not having  stairlift.  Is that what you want?

As above if the replacement is disproportionate to the repair, which it probably is, that eliminates the right to a replacement. 

Is the issue the stairlift itself or their skill, or lack of, to repair it? 

seaweed

Okell said:

Under the legislation you cannot insist on a replacement.  However, after just one failed attempt at either a repair or replacement, you can reject the stairlift for a refund.  But any refund can be reduced to reflect the use you've had from the stairlift.

But that would mean putting up with not having  stairlift.  Is that what you want?

Thanks. No, we don't really want a refund, just a fault-free stairlift. 

seaweed

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Okell said:

Under the legislation you cannot insist on a replacement.  However, after just one failed attempt at either a repair or replacement, you can reject the stairlift for a refund.  But any refund can be reduced to reflect the use you've had from the stairlift.

But that would mean putting up with not having  stairlift.  Is that what you want?

As above if the replacement is disproportionate to the repair, which it probably is, that eliminates the right to a replacement. 

Is the issue the stairlift itself or their skill, or lack of, to repair it? 

Thanks. It's difficult to answer that, as I don't know whether the fault should be an easy fix or not. They seem to be trying one thing at a time, probably in order of how easy/cheap the fix is to do. May seem logical to them, but inconvenient to us.
Not sure how to proceed, perhaps I should ask them to change several components at the next visit, otherwise it could drag out for ages... 

1stTimer

seaweed said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Okell said:

Under the legislation you cannot insist on a replacement.  However, after just one failed attempt at either a repair or replacement, you can reject the stairlift for a refund.  But any refund can be reduced to reflect the use you've had from the stairlift.

But that would mean putting up with not having  stairlift.  Is that what you want?

As above if the replacement is disproportionate to the repair, which it probably is, that eliminates the right to a replacement. 

Is the issue the stairlift itself or their skill, or lack of, to repair it? 

Thanks. It's difficult to answer that, as I don't know whether the fault should be an easy fix or not. They seem to be trying one thing at a time, probably in order of how easy/cheap the fix is to do. May seem logical to them, but inconvenient to us.
Not sure how to proceed, perhaps I should ask them to change several components at the next visit, otherwise it could drag out for ages... 

the reason things tend to get fixed one thing at a time is more than likely process of elimination. I totally understand how inconvenient it would be to you and am not siding with them but just trying to give the other point of view.

Also good to do it bit by bit because if they did change several components at once then they will not know which one caused the issue? Always good to know if the symptoms appear in future for another customer 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

seaweed said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Okell said:

Under the legislation you cannot insist on a replacement.  However, after just one failed attempt at either a repair or replacement, you can reject the stairlift for a refund.  But any refund can be reduced to reflect the use you've had from the stairlift.

But that would mean putting up with not having  stairlift.  Is that what you want?

As above if the replacement is disproportionate to the repair, which it probably is, that eliminates the right to a replacement. 

Is the issue the stairlift itself or their skill, or lack of, to repair it? 

Thanks. It's difficult to answer that, as I don't know whether the fault should be an easy fix or not. They seem to be trying one thing at a time, probably in order of how easy/cheap the fix is to do. May seem logical to them, but inconvenient to us.
Not sure how to proceed, perhaps I should ask them to change several components at the next visit, otherwise it could drag out for ages... 

Yes it's very difficult, you could mention the right to reject to encourage them to get on with it but at the same time worth treading carefully so not to annoy them to the point they refuse to engage any further. 

You could have another company out to inspect the stairlift and see if they think the answer is x and the current company aren't diagnosing the issue correctly but that is also a pain in bum to organise and then argue about. 

Pressing the company you purchased with a bit harder might be the best answer, ideally you want to be a polite thorn in their side so that they would prefer to get it done and dusted rather than having to keep dealing with the matter.