Warranty expiring one week after purchase?

derrick

moonrakerz wrote: »

My point is that some people repeatedly post misleading information about the Sale of Goods Act, which leads many people to believe that they have an automatic right to a 6 year warranty - I will say again, that is NOT what the Law says.

I have yet to see one single case where a consumer has successfully used this Law to get anything other than a very minor extension of the normal 12 month warranty and even then the extra is usually claimed to be "goodwill".

The salient point is "purchasers can demand damages" - yes, true - but damages can only be awarded by a Court and we are not talking about the Small Claims Court here, if you think the average "purchaser" is going to take on Dixons and HP in the High Court - sorry, but get real !
Too many people are suckered into quoting this Act and end up just looking stupid having followed ill informed "advice".



I have ! - could I suggest YOU do so, instead of just quoting a very superficial summary of this Act from another website.

I am not quoting from another website, unless you include BERR, Diretcgov, Which etc, who all gave similar advice as I have, I have also read the Act,(and can only give the basics in a forum like this, it is then up to the enquirer to ask for or find out more relevant information), and I would go up against any retailer that would not adhere to the Act if I think they are in the wrong, as I have done so and won, the last one against a large local furniture store who said after I complained after 13 months "it is out of warranty", well 10 months down the line they were eating their words and paying me back all the cost of the furniture plus court costs and expert witness report, all done under SoGA

I also took on and won against Capital One when the computer firm I purchased my computer from with an extended warranty went bust leaving me without the extra 4 year warranty, Capital One at first said they had no liability, well after a few letters and promise to take them to small claims court under SoGA they relented and gave me back the money I had paid for the extended warranty, plus confirmed, in writing, that they would take on any claim up to six years if the products failed under SoGA

Why in this case, would the Op need to even bother with HP? their contract is with the RETAILER, in this case Staples,(where did Dixons come into it?)

What I have tried to say, maybe not in so many words in this post but I have in others, SoGA is a LAW, a warranty is in addition to that law and cannot take away any rights under SoGA, just because a warranty ends does not exonerate the RETAILER from their legal liabilities, a point a lot of them either do not know or choose to play ignorant.

I notice you never responded to my point; - "Why don't you stop telling people that SoGA is not relevant, it is enshrined in law, unlike some of the dodgy warranties, or are you one of the dodgy retailers that do not like consumers knowing their rights?"

Have I hit the truth?

moonrakerz

derrick wrote: »

I notice you never responded to my point; - "Why don't you stop telling people that SoGA is not relevant, it is enshrined in law, unlike some of the dodgy warranties, or are you one of the dodgy retailers that do not like consumers knowing their rights?"

Have I hit the truth?

You are obviously starting to struggle with your argument when you have to resort to insulting innuendo and call me a "dodgy retailer" to try and maintain your argument. Your knowledge of my background (in engineering) is as flawed as your case.

Likewise, you are claiming that I said things that I did not say. Where did I say that the SoGA was "not relevant".

I will say again:- the Sale of Goods Act is bandied around as being a long term "warranty" on anything you buy. Not so ! Unfortunately many people having read posts such as yours march into Dixons, Currys, Argos and say they have 6 year warranty - they have been badly mislead by posters of such simplistic posts such as yours. This does no favours at all to consumers at large.
You only have to look at some of the threads on this site to see a lot of misleading and incorrect information given - albeit in good faith, Maxjet/Oasis/Silverjet being good examples.

You claim to have successfully used the SoGA against Capital One, I would suggest that if this was the Credit house of that name, your case should have been fought (and won) under the Consumer Credit Act - but that wouldn't make your story sound so good !

I have said several times, on this subject, that if your claim under the Sale of Goods Act ends up in court, you will have to prove that the fault was present when you bought the item and not, for example, something that was the result of normal wear and tear or incorrect use. This is nigh on impossible for the lay person to do.
Let me quote from the BERR webite which you seem to rely on as the font of all knowledge:
"In general, the onus is on all purchasers to prove the goods did not conform to contract (e.g. was inherently faulty) and should have reasonably lasted until this point in time". (my highlighting)

Dictionary definition:
in·her·ent play_ adj. Existing as an essential constituent or characteristic; intrinsic.

Fini !

derrick

I am not struggling, and you have not answered,(silence is golden).

You carry on trying to dissuade people from using SoGA, and I will continue to inform them of their legal rights to use it, warranties are not law, SoGA is!

This is a money saving site, which includes giving people advice, that advice might not always be accurate,(as in your case), but it is always up to the posters to confirm said advice.

May be you should try telling Art over on the Consumer Rights sticky on the Shop But Don't Drop board that SoGA is of no use and the 6 year rule carries no weight and see what he says, because if my memory serves me correct he is ex Trading Standards or of some similar background and he is always telling people to use SoGA when retailers won't play ball

I never said that the onus would not be on the consumer to prove a fault and the as you rightly point out is on the BERR website and others that quote SoGA, it is alway up to the consumer how far they want to go, but just because the warranty runs out does not mean you cannot still get justice under SoGA!

Re Capital One, yes I did use Consumer Credit Act, as they were the ones who supplied the credit, but only in so far as they were equally liable and the retailer had gone bust, but the argument was under SoGA for any future claims, a point they acknowledged and confirmed. The following is a relevant paragraph from the final letter from them were you can see they acknowledge their obligations under SoGA; -

I confirm, again as discussed, that you have the right to make a claim under the Sales of Goods Act should there be an issue with your computer at a later stage within 6 years of the purchase date. Should such a claim be received from you, we will assess the validity of it and respond accordingly, accepting our joint liability as a credit provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.



I have the full letter if you would like me to PM it to you in case you do not believe it is from Capital One!