Consumer rights act and warranty on sports watch

Aethondon

HI MSE Forum,

I bought a Decathlon Kiprun GPS 500 sports watch for £200 approx 2.5 years ago. It has stopped working, in that the bevel which you use to control all functions doesn't work, so the watch is functionally useless. It's out of the 2 year warranty but my understanding from MSE guidance was that the "reasonable length of time" on the consumer rights act trumps this, and I don't think a high-tech watch should fail in such a short time. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with online help people I took it into a shop and got this response

"Following the inspection by our repairs team at the Silverburn branch, it has been confirmed that the watch is technically non-repairable. Because the item is outside of its warranty period, we are unable to facilitate a direct replacement or a full refund.

I want to reassure you that our warranty and refund policies are designed to work alongside the Consumer Rights Act 2015. While we acknowledge your point regarding a "reasonable length of time," our warranty policy on our products is two years and unless there is a product recall we are unfortunately unable to offer a replacement or refund after this time has elapsed.

While we cannot offer a replacement, I genuinely value your loyalty to us and would like to help you get back to your fitness routine. As a gesture of goodwill, I would like to offer you a £50 gift voucher. "

I suspect this is as good as I'm going to get from them, but can anyone advise on whose interpretation of the consumer rights act is correct? Has anyone encountered any similar issues?

Thanks in advance,

Donald

eskbanker

They aren't correct - the duration of a warranty period is entirely within their own control and bears no relation to your statutory consumer rights, so it's false to assert that you have no such rights once the warranty has expired.

However, the onus is on you to prove that the watch would have been faulty at the time of sale, e.g. a manufacturing flaw, even if latent, as opposed to damage or lack of care, and if you are able to do so, then you do indeed have rights regarding refund, repair or replacement:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/part/1/chapter/2/crossheading/what-remedies-are-there-if-statutory-rights-under-a-goods-contract-are-not-met

MyRealNameToo

Warranties and CRA are two unrelated matters, the CRA is always with the retailer, in many cases the warranty is with the manufacturer not the retailer but in some cases it can be the retailer or sometimes both manufacturer and retailer offer a warranty.

Under the CRA it would not be a full refund, as the item is over 6 months old. They are entitled to deduct "use" however there is no legal guidelines on how to do this. Some retailers do a straight line over a reasonable lifespan so if you say a watch should last 4 years and it dies after 2.5 you'd expect a 37.5% refund or £75 if it was £200

I'd write back to them reminding them that the warranty period has no relevance to the CRA. Their offer would imply that a reasonable lifespan is only 3.33 years and that you dont feel this is correct and therefore you think £X is a more reasonable offer.

It's up to you if you want it to be cash or happy with vouchers but accepting vouchers will be the easier argument.

Aethondon

Thanks this is extremely helpful.

Aethondon

I think because they also manufactured the watch they are treating warranty and consumer rights act as the same thing.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6659931/consumer-rights-act-and-warranty-on-sports-watch

I have had several sports watches / fitness trackers of various kinds and generally find that 2 - 3 years is about the expected life span. Sort of similar to smart phone life expectancy and, from people I know, what an Apple Watch might get also. For that reason, I always go for lower end versions of the many watches available in a "disposable consumer electronics" mode (conflicting with my generally green desires).

You had a £200 watch so the most your consumer rights would be is a repair or return for partial replacement reflecting the period of beneficial use you have gained from the watch thus far.

It is all well and good me saying the life of a watch of this nature is 2 to 3 years. What life span would you have assumed?

Assuming I was happy to buy the same / equivalent watch again, then I'd probably think the £50 voucher was a fair outcome. You could try to push for a larger voucher / discount against a new watch. You could also enquire as to whether they can offer any refurbished watches at a more favourable price point.

How much would a 2.5 year old £200 smart watch be worth?

MyRealNameToo

How much would a 2.5 year old £200 smart watch be worth?

This is a broadly irrelevant point @Grumpy_chap as under the CRA you are deducting for use not for depreciation. Some things have very little secondhand value so their value drops off a cliff the second you buy it but its use goes on for many years. They arent supposed to be compensating you for the lost value that you could have achieved by selling it if it was still perfectly operational but for the use that you realistically should have expected to get from it but didnt.

Where things could get interesting is the kitchen gadget that gets used a couple of times then put in the cupboard for many years but lest not go down that rabbit hole.

user1977

They arent supposed to be compensating you for the lost value that you could have achieved by selling it if it was still perfectly operational but for the use that you realistically should have expected to get from it but didnt.

But from a pragmatic point of view I'd still consider how cheaply I could get a just-as-old-but-still-working equivalent from eBay or similar, and how much I value my time and stress in fighting it out with the retailer.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925270#Comment_81925270

I commented on the aspect around the expected life span for this type of product earlier in my post.

EDIT - the exact watch the OP has seems to be discontinued but the (presumably successor) Decathlon GPS 900 is £160. If the OP can take the £50 voucher off that price, then it seems a good deal, assuming the OP would be happy with substantially the same again:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/gps-900-by-coros-smart-watch-black/326092/c382m8589437

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925243#Comment_81925243

I've had two Garmin watches in the past 12 years. First one lasted 7 years, this one has been going for 5, and that's with daily wear and exercise tracking. They were both closer to £400, but if cheaper watches only last 2-3 years its a sound investment

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925340#Comment_81925340

I like the Garmin watches but have always tended towards the lower-cost end of the market, so I currently have two which I use.

The first I purchased just before lockdown (March 2020) was £160 and middle of last year the battery life had reduced so it would not last a full event. I raised it with Garmin who offered a refurbished replacement for £60, which seemed a good outcome.

The second I purchased April 2023 and was only £45. The battery has now deteriorated to only a couple of days between charges.

I feel that the Garmin watches experience quite a hard life with sweat, weather, temperature extremes, swimming pool and sea water, tracking GPS, NFC and all the other functions being demanding on the devices.

Overall, though, that works out comparable, your £400 for 7 years is £55 per year. My £160 for 5 years is £32 per year. I have wondered whether the more expensive models are more durable but never saw how they really could be (in the same way as a more expensive smart phone is not necessarily more durable than a budget model).