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Trading Standards & Refund of less than order value

Durzel

Durzel

Durzel

Soldato
Joined
10 Oct 2003
Posts
5,518
Location
Wiltshire
Hi,

Not sure if anyone can help with this - it doesn't involve OCUK but another PC components retailer.

I recently RMA'd my XFX 5970 BE as it exhibited the "cold bug" (completely unstable when cold, fine when warmed up). Initially I thought it was a problem that would be fixed with drivers or a BIOS update but it soon became apparent that it was a hardware issue.* For ADHD readers this is basically was what it would do, but it would also hard-lock the moment you tried opening a 3D app if it was below 40 degrees. Once warm the card was completely stable.

Anyway I had been putting up with this by basically delaying the bootup of my PC by making it wait in the BIOS, or on the "Choose Boot Device" menu every time I booted it up. As you can imagine in these cold temperatures we've been having lately I would have to leave it longer and longer before it would get up to operating temperature, and I'd got sick of it.

Anyway, I RMA'd it and received notification today that it had been confirmed faulty and a replacement order issued. Unfortunately - as I already knew from the website - the card is discontinued/out of stock.

After telephoning the retailer and waiting about 15 minutes before I even spoke to someone I was told my options were basically to find something else on the website of equivalent or lesser value, or they could issue me a refund.

Sounds fine right? Well, apparently the catch is that they would only refund me £461.81 even though the initial purchase price including VAT & delivery was £546.29. When pressed I was told that this was in line with trading standards practices, that because I had owned the card for 10 months that I was only entitled to a reduced refund.

Now to me this seems illogical - the card is faulty and if I had the option I would just have a replacement. I didn't send the card back looking for a cash refund, and if I were to try and replace it like-for-like somewhere else I'd end up out of pocket anyway.

Can someone tell me if this is standard practice of whether I'm being done over? I would appreciate some informed opinions on this rather than just "that sucks dude" if possible.

Thanks in advance.

* I believe it has been rectified by Sapphire but I'm not prepared nor do I think it is appropriate for a customer to have to flash a different manufacturers BIOS onto a card.
 
Hello... I bet you bought from Scan.

They are *&^%s some times. You are not the first to mention this. You have 2 options... take the money or try taking them to court. Don't waste your breath e-mailing saying it's not fair or you are not happy - they will just annoy you further.
 
No, not Scan. Not that it matters I guess but after a quick Google search I guess people have had the same problem with them too.....

I wasn't sure if I could mention them - suffice to say they have a similar name (at least the first part) to the famous auction house.
 
You can't mention them.

So you got it from that site, they are usually a top shop from my experience, I would think it's right what they have offered you.
 
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Durzel said:
Can someone tell me if this is standard practice of whether I'm being done over? I would appreciate some informed opinions on this rather than just "that sucks dude" if possible.
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I had something similar with non-computer stuff last year. As far as I could tell, it depends upon what was in the T&C's that you signed up to when you ordered the original card. They *are* allowed to make a deduction for handling and P&P, as long as they tell you up front before you buy. If they don't, then a default set of rules apply with no deductions. However, as far as "wear and tear" goes, I think they are allowed if you'd had reasonable use of the item and they can't provide a direct replacement: See consumerdirect

Hope that helps :confused:
 
Divide by Zero said:
Personally, I would NEVER rma something with Scan... always back to maufacturer.
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I spoke to XFX who confirmed the fault and said as I was within the warranty period I would need to speak to the retailer I bought it from.

I've checked the Terms & Conditions including the "Refund Policy" on the retailers website, nowhere does it state explicitly that reduced refunds will be given for items.

That said I have a sinking feeling that the comment made on the phone to me about Trading Standards policies about giving reduced refunds for defective products that have "had a period of use" or whatever is probably legitimate, at least if what I've read about similar people moaning about the other retailer already mentioned is correct.

Flying Gribble said:
However, as far as "wear and tear" goes, I think they are allowed if you'd had reasonable use of the item and they can't provide a direct replacement: See consumerdirect

Hope that helps :confused:
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I think this is the sticking point really. If I'm honest I have had reasonable use out of it - it wasn't completely defective. That said I couldn't return it immediately because when I bought it 5970s were very scarce and I wouldn't have been able to get a replacement anyway, and I've procrastinated about it over the summer because it wasn't such a big deal to leave it to warm up a bit.
 
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I found this interesting so I did some searching but couldn't find any answers on the trading standards website or the OFT website (think thats office of fair trading). Found a funky site called Consumer Direct but even then didn't find anything, except a number if you wanted advise 08454 04 05 06 :D :D :D

Im going to ring them up pretend I got the same problem see what they say... :)
 
From Trading Standards

This refund may only be partial as the trader can take into account any successful usage you have had from the item.

The obvious question is "have you had successful usage from the item?".
 
TBH you done alright, you get shot of an soon to be outdated card that would make about £250 second hand and made £460 back, you could go 6950 crossfire or wait for the 6990 to hit with that kind of cash.
 
Unfortunatly this is a bit of a grey area, problem is if you don't agree with it your only real recourse is through small claims, something like 60/40 on winning and extra hassle/expense (tho moneyclaims website reduces some of that).

Sucks you don't have a decent crossfire board or you could have got 6950 CF for that kinda money from a reputable company like OcUK.

and lastly do you really need a 5970 for Eve? :P
 
pcAnywhere said:
From Trading Standards

This refund may only be partial as the trader can take into account any successful usage you have had from the item.

The obvious question is "have you had successful usage from the item?".
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Honestly? Yes. If it had completely defective I would've returned it a long time ago. I guess that's why I'm not totally aggrieved - though it is annoying and I'd rather not lose money on buying a replacement card.

Rroff said:
and lastly do you really need a 5970 for Eve? :P
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:p ..and TF2 etc!
 
standard practice is to refund at a reduced level based on reasonable life span for a VGA card, for example 3 years. This keeps them out of Trading Standards firing line.

As crappy as it may seem to anyone who doesnt consider the bigger picture £460 is not a bad return. Calculating a credit based on 26 months remaining life would give you a figure of £395.

Also, bear in mind that their cost on the 5970 before it was EOL in October would have been about £390

Durzel said:
I'd rather not lose money on buying a replacement card.
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lose money? I can find a number of places with 5970 for less than you received. But would you really spend all that money on an out-dated card?
 
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After telephoning the retailer and waiting about 15 minutes before I even spoke to someone I was told my options were basically to find something else on the website of equivalent or lesser value, or they could issue me a refund.
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Its meant to be equivalent or nearest greater value.
 
pcAnywhere said:
What is interesting is that they didn't offer to repair the item. If it's "just" a bios flash to correct the fault then why aren't they doing that??
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They are a massive outlet and won't mess about with hardware like some of the smaller shops may do, they will just regard it as faulty and be done with it.
 
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