I did say to the manager that it hadn't been pointed out to me at the time of the first replacement that the guarantee was time limited. An automatic apology was given which I refused - I then made the suggestion that a leaflet should be available for such circumstances to avoid future confusion on the matter and was told that such suggestions should be taken up with head office; at that point my patience ran out and the manager got a told in no uncertain terms what my opinion was. That of course did no good and he just walked away from me !
The link on the SOGA's gives me the ammunition I need and Round 2 (actually Round 3) will take place on Thursday - I'm quite happy to go to Trading Standards and the Small Claims Court if needs be, all for =A349.99 !.
Considering I bought an angle grinder for a touch less than that and got a three year warranty straight from Bosch, I agree. (Methinks angle grinders are probably subject to a slightly tougher life than kettles. Usually.)
A warranty is a commercial contract between you and the warranty supplier (who is often not the seller). There is no requirement to give any warranty on any product and if one is given it can be for any length of time and contain (within the boundaries of fair contracts) almost anything the warranty provider likes. If you buy an item with (say) a 12 month warranty you have essentially bought two things, the item and the warranty, for one combined price.
Any time limited warranty is usually not tied to a unique piece of hardware so if the product had a 12 month warranty , failed at any time and was replaced or repaired you still have the balance of warranty to run. If the item was replaced rather than repaired you don't get another warranty for another 12 months quite simply because you haven't bought one.
Whether or not you think this is unfair is irrelevant and the shop is doing nothing wrong by not explaining it to you.
Separately you have certain rights under the Sale of Goods Act designed to ensure the goods meet the conditions of the contract. If the goods fail it is for the buyer to prove that the goods did not conform to the contract _at the time of sale_ .
For consumer contracts there is an assumption that for the first 6 months any fault which occurs was present at the time of sale unless the seller can prove otherwise, after that time the onus of proof is on the buyer.
The implicit terms in any consumer contract include the need for the goods to be of satisfactory quality and this includes durability. One of the factors relevant is the price you paid, you can't expect a cheap item to last as long as a more expensive and better quality one.
Going to court with nothing more than "It failed, that proves it wasn't durable - I want money back" is quite high risk and unlikely to succeed, you should have some evidence to show why it failed - usually a report from an "expert" although that is fairly loosely interpreted in low value claims. A brief report from a local electrician explaining he had examined the item, what the fault was, how it could have occurred and how it was present at the time of purchase (a poorly fitted seal or an inadequate quality of switch for example) would be sufficient. You must pay for that report but can include its cost in your claim.
If you win you can only win "compensation", you cannot force a repair or replacement. Compensation will be the amount you paid rebated by the time you have had the item. If it is decided a reasonable life would be 3 years, that you paid £50 for it and used it for 18 months then the most you will get back is £25, not £50.
The "six years" in which you can bring a claim is a red herring. It is simply the time set by the Limitations Act after which no claim can be made. It isn't a figure which appears anywhere in the SOGA and is completely irrelevant when considering what the life of an item should be.
Many thanks that is an excellent reply and is a good clarification of many points. I hadn't realised for instance that the 'small claims court' system was linked in with the County Court - see
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was aware of the difference between Warranty and SOGA's and had worked out that Comet were within their rights to limit the warranty to 12 months from purchase. A brief check on like shops will reveal if this is common practice or whether good customer relations are seen as preferable.
In this particular case the type of kettle has failed in the same manner twice within 8 months and therefore has an inherent fault from manufacture. I'm going back to Comet this morning with the BERR SOGA Facts from the link given by 'Man at B &Q'.
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