It Pays to Complain!

For all those fully conversant with the terms and conditions of; "The Sale of Goods Act" (as an ex-retailer I am).

"Look away now!"

Over the years we've had many items of electrical goods and furniture replaced free of charge as long as five years after purchase. I never register guarantees nor would I ever pay for an "extended warranty."
But I religiously keep receipts.

This is the latest situation.

The telling of it is rather long-winded, but it may be of some help in the future to anyone unfamiliar about what to do with a similar problem.


We bought a Tefal Actifry in April 2008.

Last night the thing "blew up" (according to Mrs R, I was upstairs, I guess the element shorted out and it went bang and blew the fuse). So I e-mailed Amazon last night complaining about it saying that it shouldn't under the Sale of Goods Act, have only lasted at most, two and a bit years.


I got this snotty e-mail by return.

Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.co.uk.

I would like to inform you that all electronic items purchased from Amazon.co.uk come with a one year warranty from the manufacturer, unless otherwise stated.

You have, until recently, used the product for a period of time which exceeds the manufacturer's warranty period without reporting any fault with it. Based on the length of use and the nature of the product, we have concluded that the issue with the product does not arise from a defect in the product which existed at the time of purchase, and consequently we cannot assist you further.

We recommend that you consult the troubleshooting guide in the owner's manual and / or the manufacturerâ??s website to ascertain if this is a known issue. In many cases we have found that common faults have been recognised by the manufacturer, and that they are able to offer quick solutions or an out of warranty repair service.





So they got "this between the eyes" this morning.

Thank you for your response, but you are completely ignoring your responsibilities under "The Sale of Goods Act 1982 (implied terms) and subsequent amendments as the retailer.

The goods have obviously proved "unfit for purpose" under this act and it is your legal obligation to either replace them or refund my money.

Should you need clarification on this (which I'm sure you don't) please contact your local Trading Standards Department, who will confirm what I am telling you.

You will find them at;
Slough Borough Council.
Landmark Place
High Street
Slough
SL1 1JL

Tel. 01753 475111


They've "rolled over" as I had this e-mail waiting for me when we came home this evening.


My name is ****** ***** and I represent the Executive Customer Relations Group within Amazon.co.uk and in this capacity, your correspondence has been brought to my attention.

Firstly, please allow me to apologise for the issue you have experienced with this item. I have placed a new order # 203-2952186-9178766 for a "Tefal ActiFry Low Fat Electric Fryer", and it will be dispatched as soon as possible to the same address.

As your order was placed using our Super Saver Delivery method, I will upgrade your replacement to First Class to ensure you receive it as soon as possible, at no extra charge to you.

To view the estimated delivery date of the replacement order, please visit "Your Account" at the top of any page on our website or use the following URL:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/youraccount/

There will of course be no additional charge for your replacement order. Once the new order is sent out you will be notified by e-mail to confirm the date, contents and method of delivery.

Please note that, as set out in our returns policy, you need to return the original item to Amazon.co.uk within 30 days of the date of this e-mail. If you do not return the original item to us within 30 days, Amazon.co.uk reserves the right to charge an amount equal to the price of your original order to the payment card you used for the order. For your protection, we recommend that you use a recorded-delivery service if the value of the item(s) is more than 50 GBP.

Any postage charges that you incur for this return will be refunded back to you. To track your recorded item, please use your carrier's online tracking service.



Result!

 

Good result DR
I dont wish to distract from your success but I feel I have to warn yourself and any othe users we have on the forum regarding this failure.
I also have one but it is never left unattended when in use.
Check out this link for details
Oh yes.. have to tried buttonmushrooms yet? amazing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2008/11/chip_pans_up_in_smoke.html

 

This is true, a friend bought one on our recommendation and it happened with hers!
Ours doesn't get that much use, only once a week at most. But they are great, as you only need a teaspoonfull of olive oil in them. They even cook sausages. I expect we'll be receiving an updated version.

 

Too right Doghouse. In another life I worked for a number of years in the Serious Fraud Office and you'd be surprised (or perhaps you wouldn't), at the number of things companies believe they can get away with. On one famous occasion (during a particularly 'difficult' exchange between Comet and myself), I actually turned up in one of their stores, carrying my non-functioning vacuum cleaner in one hand a copy of the aforementioned Act in the other. They certainly 'lived electricals' that day.

An 'extended warranty', is nothing more than a means to screw extra money out of the consumer, and I just love being told something comes with 'a full one year guarantee' (as opposed to what? those full half year guarantees?) - to which I am apt to reply 'Oh! So you don't think your product is going to last any longer than a year then?'

And, if I may, I'd like to make a small addition to your post, by drawing to people's attention to the 'Oh, you'll have to send it back to the manufacturer' ploy. No, I will not. The contract I made was with you and I expect you to honour it. It's the contract between you and your supplier that's been broken and that's something you'll have to sort out with them.

Personally, I think everyone should be given a copy of the Sale of Goods Act (along with one of the Consumer Protection Act 1987) as the definitive 18th birthday present, far more useful than a piece of jewellery.

 

Yes, too often Comet try to fob people off.

We recently bought a TV from them. As usual I was offered a five year "extended warranty" I replied, "You're already given me one, by selling me this TV." They'd no answer. John Lewis now offer a "free five year guarantee" with their electrical goods, thus making "a selling point out of a legal obligation."

In the last few years, we've had a different TV replaced, an HSL chair (several times) a washing machine and an expensive carpet cleaner/shampooer all between two and five years old.

For those who are unaware, when companies print disclaimers on their literature or guarantees and add; "This does not affect your statutory rights" they mean their obligations under "The Sale of Goods Act."

 

Can you advise - I bought a pair of hair clippers from Boots last month (I cut my hair to a grade nothing). They were only a tenner, but since using them a couple of times, I've discovered they are frankly, rubbish - blades seem very blunt and they leave 'tracks' when being used on me! I still have the receipt - what are my chances of getting my money back and what line should I use when speaking to Boots? I don't want a replacement pair, just my money back, so I can go and spend it elsewhere.

 

I think the magic words are something like 'goods not of merchantable quality'. If you stand your ground they should cave in quite quickly, especially with a small item like this.

 

I think it's just me - but I think the Sale of Goods Act says items should give reasonable use for the price paid.
I would think £120 or so for an item that lasted more than a year was a fair deal - I certainly wouldn't push my blood pressure up to fight about it.

For items that never worked at all, then the Act says they must be fit for purpose. If they didn't work I would take them back and ask for my money back.

 

I agree with Alice here. I've never had to have anything replaced ... be it small electrical items, carpets, white goods ... perhaps I am more careful with the products I buy ... and beliewe me I don't buy 'top of the line' because that's where I think the rip off is. I buy brands such as Indesit, Kandy, LG, etc. I had my double Moffit cooker for 23 years and it was still in perfect working order when I left the UK and in pristine condition. I've had to replace washing machines after 10-12 years.

 

Well Alice, as a retired retailer, I think anyone who thinks an item which cost £120 and only lasted a year, was a "fair deal" is a retailer/manufacturer's dream.

The act, fortunately, says differently and allowing for reasonable wear and tear, such things the act says, should last a minimum of five years.

In the case of the hair clippers, I'd return them, saying politely, that they don't do the job you think you could reasonably expect them to do. You need to show your receipt and if you've got it, return it in the original packaging.
It's my experience, that most reputable companies will refund your money immediately.
In my business the practice I instructed my departmental managers to follow was to profusely apologise and regret that the customer had cause to complain and then refund or exchange, whichever was the customer's choice; "with a smile."
The percentage of such returns is small and the retailer usually gets their cost price back from the manufacturer, after all they want to sell the retailer more stock. The PR benefits of such actions are very worthwhile.

I actually use a set of hair clippers that I too bought in Boots.
They are "Remington Ceramic" and they are brilliant.
They save me a fortune on haircuts.

As for "fighting" I just sent two e-mails, hardly "combative."

I've only started this thread because I'm aware that many people put up with shoddy goods. A one year guarantee on such products is a nonsense. Are consumers expected to take "pot luck" that they don't have to replace all their appliances every year?

 

It's great that you got a satisfactory result, Amazon gave you great service in this instance but they weren't ignoring any of their legal responsibilities.

This is a subjective statement and would be disregarded under law. Considering the age of the unit it is your responsibility to prove this, not state it.

As Shiney points out below...After 6 month's use it's up to the consumer to prove that there was an inherent fault due to manufacturing. In this case after two and a bit years anything could have happened to the Tefal Actifry since it left the retailer. It would be your resonsibility to provide an independent engineer's report to show component failure and the breakdown was not due to misuse or abuse/neglect

Using this method works both ways, it covers those of us who look after our products and as a result can ultimately prove that we purchased a faulty product, it also covers retailers from those who purchase items such as washing machines, install them outside without shelter then expect a replacement when it blows up.

From reading your posts and seeing your photos it's pretty obvious you're not the kind of guy who'd buy an actifry and abuse it/swing it round your head by the powercord in the garden or store it in a damp utility room only to be used once a week but there are plenty of people who would and as a result the law is there to protect not only us from retailers and manufacturers, but also to protect themselves from those who have no regard for the good care or maintenance of products they purchase.

Slightly off topic but I've just read an Amazon review of the Tefal and I quite fancy one

 

Having had experience as both a customer and a retailer, (my stores had electrical departments), I'm aware of how difficult the retailer can make it for the customer. Yes I know they can ask for an electrical engineer's report, in fact, I had to do that for the washing machine (that's what "mates in the trade" are for!) But the number of incidents of this in my experience is small and it would be unreasonable to expect the customer to pay out for a report if that would equate to half the cost of the item in question. We would ask for the item to be returned by the customer before entertaining such a claim. Amazon didn't, their practice is to send you a new one and ask you to send the faulty one back in the same box. They did this with a DVD player I bought that went faulty.

 

I agree totally! What gets my goat is the unscrupulous consumers who benefit from such good service yet treat their products almost with disdain, happy in the knowledge that to a large extent they're covered. It's fraud plain and simple. Why should we look after our products/service our machines only for the lazy and ungrateful to benefit from retailer's good faith. It's ultimately all consumers who absorb the cost of this good faith. Fine in the cases of a genuine claim, disgusting when not.

Slightly off topic now, I apologise :flag:

 

No probs,

To be honest, I'm talking of a retail experience which ceased on my retirement twelve years ago (err.. I was only 57). The number of claims we had under the act was pretty negligible. I can't remember seeing it "championed" by any newspaper consumer page, so it still may be unknown to many.

Digressing a bit.

I can remember in the late seventies the local authority set up "consumer shops" where residents could bring their complaints about goods and services. In the end they closed them down as they were inundated with trival and unreasonable complaints that just wasted their time.