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Author Topic: Faulty Electrical Goods - gen. info to get money back  (Read 1830 times)

polaris

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Faulty Electrical Goods - gen. info to get money back
« on: May 28, 2009, 07:07:58 pm »


Dear All,

I found this interesting, hope you might as well - courtesy Aol.

Regards, Bernard

The secret to getting your money back on goods over a year old
Sarah Coles
May 28th 2009 at 4:00AM

Filed under: Savvy Shopper

We've all been there; stuck in a stalemate with a customer care robot, because something you bought from the company has broken down, and they refuse to do anything about it.

Most manufacturers give a one-year warrantee, so if it breaks down before the year is out you can get a repair or replacement. However, if you're into your second year, they may well refuse to help – citing the one-year guarantee as the limit of their responsibilities.

There is, however, a little-known EU law, which means you can stand your ground and get a replacement any time within two years of buying the product, and there's another useful law which could get you a refund a few more years down the line too.

The EU law was the secret weapon Peter Ward used when he forced Tesco to back down and replace a faulty TV set that was 18 months old. It's not a new rule, but it's relatively unknown, and getting it enforced will take some force of personality. However, the law is absolutely on your side, so keep arguing, stand your ground, take it to the highest level possible within the company, and you should get your repair or replacement.

If the store refuses to replace or repair, even when you mention the rules, you may have to take them to the small claims court. However, this isn't expensive or difficult. You could always mention that you plan to do this in the latter stages of the negotiation if it's not going well.

The other useful law to know is the Sale of Goods Act. This gives you rights up to six years after you bought the goods This is more of a grey area, because any decision made by a court will depend on what can be reasonably expected. So, for example, if you bought a fridge for £800 you could reasonably expect it to last much longer than one you paid £200 for.

It's worth tackling the store and name-checking the law, but you'll have to make a judgment on what you think is reasonable before taking this down a legal route.

It is possible to enforce your rights to if you stand your ground. But let's face it, this is wrong. We shouldn't have to argue until we're blue in the face to get something to which we are entitled by law. It's spectacularly frustrating.

The EU is planning a consumer awareness campaign, which should help. However, in the interim, if you're not given to extended arguments, you could always buy from John Lewis, which gives a two-year guarantee as standard - without the agro.
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Malcolm Reade

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Re: Faulty Electrical Goods - gen. info to get money back
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2009, 07:23:35 pm »


The EU is planning a consumer awareness campaign, which should help. However, in the interim, if you're not given to extended arguments, you could always buy from John Lewis, which gives a two-year guarantee as standard - without the agro.


Special discounts for MP's?

Malc


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polaris

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Re: Faulty Electrical Goods - gen. info to get money back
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2009, 07:34:34 pm »


Ha Ha! %)
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The long Build

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Re: Faulty Electrical Goods - gen. info to get money back
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2009, 08:09:53 pm »

Interesting to know that.. :-))

I have just had  a fault with the command button with my Fuji s9500 camera , it just stopped working.. Th camera is 3 yrs old so I assumed I would not have a cat in hells chance of getting it fixed, sure enough when I went on the Fuji Website the automatic form wanted £ 90.00 for a repair..  By chance I typed on the WWW "faulty command button s9500" well I was quite surprised by the number of similar problems and what appeared to be a known common fault for this model, the command button  has a small hexagonal plastic rod about 1.5mm !! thick to turn the inner switch dial, this had snapped..
Anyway I emailed the Fuji service tech guys explaining that I was not happy etc etc   and commented that this seemed to be a design fault, they emailed back and said just book it in as a warranty repair and they would look at it, I sent it in on the Thursday and it was returned fixed free of charge the following Monday, pretty good I think..
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barriew

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Re: Faulty Electrical Goods - gen. info to get money back
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2009, 08:49:45 am »

Its always worth checking with something like that. We had a Canon video camera on which the CCD failed well outside the warranty, but when I contacted the repair agent, they said it was a known fault and Canon would fix it free. A similar thing has just happened to my sister's Sony camera in New Zealand.

Barrie
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Roger in France

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Re: Faulty Electrical Goods - gen. info to get money back
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2009, 05:46:52 pm »

I think you will find that you have the American consumer champion Ralph Nader to thank for that. If I remember my early years in Trading Standards/Consumer Protection correctly Nader ran a lengthy and difficult series of cases against General Motors alleging that from the many complaints and problems they had with one car where the position of the fuel tank was inherently dangerous they could never escape liability for problems.

After years of acrimony he won and the precedent has influenced the law in most countries ever since.

However, a word to those who think having a right and achieving a satisfactory settlement follows as night follows day, think again. Having right on your side and securing justice is seldom easy.

More years ago than I care to remember I wrote a chapter in a book supporting the "Middle Way", a situation where the individual consumer has a presumption of right on their side. This was to even up the battle where the consumer has poor if any resources but the trader has size and experience on their side.

Roger in France
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