Sale of goods act

Posted by: Southweststokie on 08 January 2014

Does anyone know their way around the sale of goods act? I have a problem with a well known Laptop costing £500 that has just died at 14 months old. I am about to take it back to a well know high street retailer who I am expecting will say 'sorry you should have taken out the extended warranty'. I know that all retailers offer warranty with the statement 'This does not affect your statutory rights'. Before I take the unit back I would like to have an understanding of what protection these rights give me, forewarned is forearmed! Can anyone advise me of the basic rights and which clauses of the act refer to them. I know that goods should be fit for purpose and reliable for a reasonable period of time, but how do you define that? A £500 laptop from a top manufacturer should surely be reliable for more than 14 months but how do I best present my case? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Ken

Posted on: 08 January 2014 by Don Atkinson

Ken,

 

Which? gave the following advice recently and I posted it in Graeme's thread about his washing machine (my summary) -:

 

Under the Sale of Goods Act, goods must be as decribed, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. If you discover a fault early on you can reject the item and get a full refund if done within a reasonable time - usually up to 4 weeks.

 

After this you can ask for a repair or a replacement - the retailer is able to choose the cheapest option.

 

You contract is with the retailer, not the maufacturer. The retailer should arrange for the repair to be carried out. The manufacturer would probably be the best option for doing proper repairs, but its the retailer to whom you should address your concern about inadequate repairs.

 

After 6 months, the onus is on you to show the item was not of satifactory quality, fit for purpose, or as described, rather than the retailer.

 

You have six years from when you got the item to take a claim to court (5 years in Scotland)

 

I don't know for sure, but I think the 12 month "warranty" is from the manufacturer and is given "in addition to your rights under the Sale of Goods Act", not in liu of your rights.

 

So point out that, as the vendor of the goods in question you are seeking action from him, not the manufacturer and that 14 months suggests that the goods were never of a satisfactory quality, ie they contained a latent defect that has only now surfaced.

 

If the vendor won't help, then I think you will need to consider obtaining (and paying for) an independent expert to assess the goods and write a report so that you can decide whether to persue the matter in the Small Claims Court.

 

hopefully, others here can be more helpful (and hopeful ?)

Posted on: 08 January 2014 by winkyincanada
Originally Posted by Southweststokie:

Does anyone know their way around the sale of goods act? I have a problem with a well known Laptop costing £500 that has just died at 14 months old. I am about to take it back to a well know high street retailer who I am expecting will say 'sorry you should have taken out the extended warranty'. I know that all retailers offer warranty with the statement 'This does not affect your statutory rights'. Before I take the unit back I would like to have an understanding of what protection these rights give me, forewarned is forearmed! Can anyone advise me of the basic rights and which clauses of the act refer to them. I know that goods should be fit for purpose and reliable for a reasonable period of time, but how do you define that? A £500 laptop from a top manufacturer should surely be reliable for more than 14 months but how do I best present my case? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Ken

What I would do (and this isn't advice - your views are more valid than mine when it comes to guiding your actions) is just suck it up and pay for repairs (or junk it of the repairs were too expensive). My time is worth too much to muck about with protracted arguments. I'd note the brand and perhaps try to avoid in the future.

Posted on: 08 January 2014 by Southweststokie

Winkyincanada,

 

I appreciate your sentiment but I have a bit of a 'bee in my bonnet' about these issues. I am not desperate for an immediate fix as my wife has another laptop to use but it galls me to pay out £500 and have no redress after 14 months. I shall pursue the issue and hopefully use it as a project to learn more about UK consumer rights for the future. Here in the UK some retailers really take the pi** when it comes to consumer after sale satisfaction, once they have your hard earned cash you are an irritation but thanks for your comments.

 

Ken

Posted on: 08 January 2014 by Phil Cork

Hi Ken,

 

in what way has it 'died'? If it looks clearly well looked after and the fault is something that is highly unlikely to have been caused by misuse (ie a failed power supply or failed display etc) then I would hope you might be on better ground?

 

I'd also be tempted to ask for the manager rather than be given the stock line that 'it's out of warranty' by some kid...

 

Good luck,

 

phil

Posted on: 08 January 2014 by Redmires

Ken

 

I find the Martin Lewis website handy. There's a section on consumer rights which is full of useful info.

 

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/?tab=sect25

 

If you paid by credit card, the card provider could be held partly liable (see the "section 75" info).

 

One other thing I would mention is that if it's a certain store I'm thinking of, they have in the past resold laptops with the personal information of the original buyer still on the hard disk. If you can boot the laptop, make sure you wipe everything off the HD before returning it.

 

Posted on: 08 January 2014 by Southweststokie

Phil,

I intend to speak to the manager. It has died in as much it will not power up at all, no lights, nothing. Power supply / battery have all been checked.

 

Redmires,

I will check out Martin Lewis, that is a good prompt and yes it was purchased on credit card and will consider approaching them if I get no cooperation from the seller. The hard drive has already been cleaned as a system restore had been carried out just before it died.

 

Ken