OT: Warranty on replacement item?

[robgraham]

I apologise for going Off Topic on DIY, but the knowledge base is so large here someone will be able to help me I'm sure, and any comment may well assist someone in a similar situation with a DIY tool or the likes !

A kettle was bought from Comet 16 months ago, it failed in January

2008 and was replaced. The replacement has now failed and Comet are refusing to replace it on the grounds that the 12 months warranty was from the original sale date and not 12 months on the replacement item. Is this normal policy in the retail industry ?

I will take the matter up with the manufacturers as the faults are similar and hope I can get some redress there. I did try the Sales of Goods Act line but as was pointed out I would need an engineer's report to go to court with.

Thanks for any help

Rob

[Invisible Man]

you could try uk legal moderated.

A kettle should last for more than 16 months so I would say Comet as the retailer are responsible for sorting it out.

[dom]

TBH - I wouldn't expect a warranty to "renew" beyond the original "paid for" period - or they would effectively be giving an everlasting warranty.

[Exhausted]

i had something similar with comets and Irons i think 3-4 irons failed in a row all about 9 months into the warranty, as i had different receipts (i changed models each time trying to find a reliable one) for each iron they were all replaced, no questions

[Exhausted]

that would only be true if the replacements kept failing. If that was the case i would be very suspicious over the quality of the products being sold. If comets wont help, use some one else in future and claim back via the manufacture.

[Man at B&Q]

Forget the warranty.

If the kettle is of a brand and price that you would reasonably expect to last longer than it has then you are entitled to remedy (from the seller, not the manufacturer) under the sale of goods act for up to 6 years. Comet know this, they are hoping that yuou don't.

[dennis]

That is rubbish. They would need an engineers report to contest it. The fact you have had two similar faults in quick succession would be enough to convince the judge in the absence of an engineers report.

Take it up with trading standards.

[ransley]

Probably junk made in China, buy a new one, next day return the old one for a full refund if you dont mind the trouble. Any saftey recalls on those things.

[PeterMcC]

engineering good enough for the job and very cheap.

When I opened the box, the first thing that I found was an A5 sheet that simply said that, if I were to have a problem with the appliance, I should not go to the retailer but get directly in touch with VAX. This message was also repeated on a sticker on the actual machine.

It is advice that I shall, of course, ignore for the above reasons but I thought that it was a little misleading for anyone who knew no better. If one wanted to be cynical, it could be seen as a way of getting the customer to forego their rights under the sales legislation.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember robgraham saying something like:

In general, I believe it is, whatever the SoG or anything else says, and you can see their point. However - I took a dud DVD recorder back to Argos some months ago and was handed a new one - I asked how long the warranty had left to run, expecting something similar to your experience, and they told me it was the full year - as in, new receipt, new warranty, which I thought quite decent of them.

[stuart noble]

I try and buy this type of thing from ASDA where they refund the money on anything that fails within 12 months. If you then buy the same thing again, it's a new purchase.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember stuart noble saying something like:

Indeed, and such customer treatment guarantees repeat business.

[OG]

On the other hand it is more probably a manufacturer who wants to self-manage the 'customer with a problem' relationship without getting it spoiled by having to go through the retailer's 'complaints system' too.

I'd expect that most problems with VAX cleaners are due to small parts breaking, and going direct to VAX is going to be the quickest and simplest way of getting the problem resolved.

We had a 5+ year old steam iron for which one of the buttons broke. A quick call to Rowenta describing the probem and they sent a replacement by return "Oh, no, we don't charge for that sort of thing".

Big stuff will have been bought on a Credit Card if you have any sense anyway.

[Peter Parry]

Its actually advice which usually means if there is a problem it gets fixed quickly. It wouldn't affect any rights you might have under the SOGA at all.

[PeterMcC]

Agreed - and "forego" was not the best choice of words.

I appreciate that the advice doesn't actually take away any rights - it's the directing the purchaser along a route that takes them away from the retailer, with whom their rights are clear, that concerned me.

[Rod]

[PeterMcC]

Told you it wasn't the best choice ;)

Chambers gives both spellings.

[Rod]

Indeed - several discussions about it/them around the place!

[The Medway Handyman]

It's becoming more & more common with domestic appliances. As things become more & more competitive, people like Comet have the channel power, they will negotiate this kind of deal with the manufacturer to save themselves agro.

With some of the cheaper vacuum cleaners for example, if it fails under warranty you ring the manufacturer who simply send you another one and tell you to chuck the faulty one in the skip - they don't want them back because they then have to recycle them.

I know someone who did this when the original machine wasn't faulty, he just wanted one upstairs & one downstairs.

[The Medway Handyman]

You don't need an engineers report on a kettle FFS. Its only got a switch & an element!