Sales of goods act and Mobile phones

DarkConvict

I agree your rights to come to a certain point. There are black lines and grey areas.

Ultimately the seller of the item must deal with the request, it does not mean it has to be repair/replaced, but you do not have to chase the manufacturer yourself even the that is what the seller says.

Within 6 months the seller must prove the fault was not there at the point of sale. after 6 months the customer must prove the fault was there at the point of sale.

Assuming no warranty, if the screen of a mobile phone stops working because a cable has come loose after 7 months. Then the retailer does not have to repair/replace it by law.
But when there is a warranty they can simply send it off for repair and charge the manufacturer for getting it sorted. They just work as a middle man on your behalf.

theresfogonthetyne

DarkConvict wrote: »

I agree your rights to come to a certain point. There are black lines and grey areas.

Ultimately the seller of the item must deal with the request, it does not mean it has to be repair/replaced, but you do not have to chase the manufacturer yourself even the that is what the seller says.

Within 6 months the seller must prove the fault was not there at the point of sale. after 6 months the customer must prove the fault was there at the point of sale.

Assuming no warranty, if the screen of a mobile phone stops working because a cable has come loose after 7 months. Then the retailer does not have to repair/replace it by law.
But when there is a warranty they can simply send it off for repair and charge the manufacturer for getting it sorted. They just work as a middle man on your behalf.

Maybe I am missing your point here, but I don't quite understand a couple of points you make!

You state "Ultimately the seller of the item must deal with the request, it does not mean it has to be repair/replaced, but you do not have to chase the manufacturer yourself even the that is what the seller says."

This could be incorrect, in a sense that you may be made to prove the product was inherently faulty if the retailer believes that the product wasn't inherently faulty. The law states in black and white that after 6 months the burden of proof is with the customer. So in effect they could be told to obtain a report from an independent approved engineer and if proved inherently faulty then the retailer would have to re-imburse all costs to the customer and have a repair done on behalf of the customer.

You also state "Assuming no warranty, if the screen of a mobile phone stops working because a cable has come loose after 7 months. Then the retailer does not have to repair/replace it by law."

I would certainly disagree with this and say that a cable coming loose under normal use would probably be bad workmanship and that the cable and soldering for example were not made durable and that it be repaired or replaced, with a loan phone issued.

"But when there is a warranty they can simply send it off for repair and charge the manufacturer for getting it sorted. They just work as a middle man on your behalf."

They could do this for you, but they certainly are not obliged to use the manufacturer. They are obliged as a retailer to conform to contract and the SOG, warranties are not part of the law, they are just something that manufacturers provide as extra reassurance to end users to promote their brands. Nowhere does it state that a retailer must send a product to the manufacturer for repair if its lucky to still in warranty.

If i go back to my post above and the drive example. If the laptop drive had a two year warranty, the retailer could still refuse to assist in manufacturer repair for you, if they proved the drive failed for "fair wear and tear". A warranty is simple an addition and not legally required feature of what a manufacturer gives on its products. Retailers are not legally required to provide anything inline with the manufacturers warranty. They are obliged to conform to the SOG.

xycom1

So what do you want to do? Send it to Orange just so that they can forward it on to the manufacturer to be repaired? Orange replacing the handset themselves goes far beyond your legal rights IMO.

Just send it off to be fixed !!!!!!.

fLaMePr0oF

Quentin is correct, application of the Sale Of Goods Act is ALWAYS with regard to the conract between the retailer / supplier and the consumer.

The following document is a summary produced by the DTi for traders, it's possibly single the most useful document you'll ever find in relation to consumer rights and I have used it many times to enforce my contractural rights with retailers...

WWW. REMOVESPACE bis.gov.uk/files/file25486.pdf

Unfortunately, many companies will blatantly ignore the part of the law unless pressed legaly. Thankfully it is easy and inexpensive to apply legal pressure in most cases through The county court online 'small claims' service...

WWW. REMOVESPACE moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

In the vast majority of claims with any merit, the defendant will either capitulate or simply fail to make representation within the allowed period and the plaintif wins by default.

(Make sure to include the £25 filing fee within the amount you are claiming ;o)