Sale of Goods Act question!

You have a two year warranty on all products for an EU law, as it say that if the device is not fit for purpose and fails in these two years they should give you a new one or offer a repair or refund

was it the purple people who wont take it back?
 
eXist said:
which part of irrelevent do you not understand?
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Hmmm...

I had a terabyte of storage which was under warranty until 2014. I now do not have that terabyte of storage, and need to replace it. To do so will mean i have to shell out more than 200% the original purchase price - all the while the drive is still under warranty!

Irrelevant?
 
[TW]Fox;21163717 said:
Nobody has a hard drive 'repaired'!
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Actually I have had a couple repaired under warranty.



steve1873 said:
Hmmm...

I had a terabyte of storage which was under warranty until 2014. I now do not have that terabyte of storage, and need to replace it. To do so will mean i have to shell out more than 200% the original purchase price - all the while the drive is still under warranty!

Irrelevant?
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Basically it comes down to this, you have rights, they are attempting to abuse those rights and pull a fast one to try and score some additional profit.

You have done nothing wrong from a legal standpoint whereas they have, the law is on your side, nail them to the wall.
 
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[TW]Fox;21163717 said:
Nobody has a hard drive 'repaired'!
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Repaired = returned to manufactuer under warranty, if they would return the drive the buyer could do it himself for less than a fiver.

The crux of their argument is that *replacement* is disproportionately costly therefore they are refunding as per SOGA, returning to manufacturer (repair) is NOT disproportionately costly therefore it's likely that the buyer is within his right to request a repair.
 
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When a retailer fails to repair your device under warranty and offers you a partial refund, should they not be sending the faulty product back to you as well?

After all, it is your product. You're getting a refund for the remaining use that you're missing out on, not selling them back the item and thus forfeiting ownership over said item.
 
mmj_uk said:
The crux of their argument is that *replacement* is disproportionately costly therefore they are refunding as per SOGA, returning to manufacturer (repair) is NOT disproportionately costly therefore it's likely that the buyer is within his right to request a repair.
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I would like you to demonstrate that replacing the drive via the manufacturer is not 'disproportionately costly' on a product purchased for £40 for which a refund of £37 has been offered.

When doing so consider:

a) The time and postage costs involved in organising such a replacement with the manufacturer
b) The fact it is likely the retailer has NO contractual agreement with the manufacturer given they probably purchased the item from a supplier instead, adding a fourth party into the situation
c) The fact that the OP's decision to send the item back to the retailer rather than using the manufacturer provided replacement programme, advertised as a feature of the drive, implies he didn't want a replacement
 
[TW]Fox;21168065 said:
I would like you to demonstrate that replacing the drive via the manufacturer is not 'disproportionately costly' on a product purchased for £40 for which a refund of £37 has been offered.
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Simple, it would cost ~£10 or less to return the drive to the manufacturer and then forward the replacement to the customer, that is less than £37. A refund of £37 has been offered it has been forced on the customer against their will despite them returning the item for repair/replacement. Lets not forget here that its obvious what the company are doing, giving him £37 for a drive so they can RMA it then sell the replacement for double that.



[TW]Fox;21168065 said:
a) The time and postage costs involved in organising such a replacement with the manufacturer
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They are responsible for covering those costs though so its a non issue. It would be like the water pump on a car dying the day you buy it and the dealer saying they will replace it but want paying for the labour involved.


[TW]Fox;21168065 said:
c) The fact that the OP's decision to send the item back to the retailer rather than using the manufacturer provided replacement programme, advertised as a feature of the drive, implies he didn't want a replacement
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He did that because that's what your supposed to do, the retailer is your first point of call, and I would say the fact he sent it back for repair/replacement implied he didn't want a refund.

They are supposed to ask wither the customer would prefer refund/repair/replacement first then if his choice is not viable refuse, not just issue a refund out of nowhere and keep the drive so they can pocket the difference. The fact they have not followed correct procedure should work in the OP's favour.


NB: Just out of interest would a mod care to comment on how OCUK would handle this type of situation?
 
[TW]Fox;21168065 said:
I would like you to demonstrate that replacing the drive via the manufacturer is not 'disproportionately costly' on a product purchased for £40 for which a refund of £37 has been offered.

When doing so consider:

a) The time and postage costs involved in organising such a replacement with the manufacturer
b) The fact it is likely the retailer has NO contractual agreement with the manufacturer given they probably purchased the item from a supplier instead, adding a fourth party into the situation
c) The fact that the OP's decision to send the item back to the retailer rather than using the manufacturer provided replacement programme, advertised as a feature of the drive, implies he didn't want a replacement
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It implies nothing of the sort. I returned the drive to the retailer as that is the process i have always been advised to follow within the first 12 months of a warranty. I.e it is the retailers responsibility to arrange the warranty repair. Now this may of course be incorrect - it is however what I have been led to believe and without being a consumer rights expert, i still see no way that i implied anything by returning it to the retailer. Other than i would like use of the terabyte of storage that I purchased.

Yesterday you made a point of saying had hard drive prices crashed through the floor and were priced at £5 would i still refuse the refund? Do you honestly thik they would offer me the refund and not a direct replacement or repair if that was the scenario?
 
This is their latest reply after 3 times contacting them requesting some sort of confirmation as to whether arrangements were being made to return the drive to me. I also used the facility on their website to contact their Managing Director "directly":

Dear ***** ********,

Thank you for your response.

I can see that you have contacted our MD therefore I will close this
eNote.

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact
me.

Thank you.


Kind Regards,

Christina

****** Customer Support Team

That response still gave me no answer, so I have responded as follows:


01/02/2012 14:09

Yes I have contacted your MD as I was not getting the response I requested.
i.e. were arrangements being made to return the drive to me and collect
your partial refund? It is a simple question with a simple yes or no
answer.

As had been indicated to me previously by Simonne, my drive had been
located and I was to give a contact number so I could be called to
authorize return of refund so that the drive could be returned. I provided
contact details but am still waiting to be contacted.

I will be contacting my local branch of Citizens Advice Bureau at some
point this week when time allows and I have also been given the Consumer
Direct hotline also.

I am not expecting something for nothing. I do not believe however, that I
should be left to simply accept a refund forced upon me, which although
proportionate to the price of the drive at time of purchase, does not allow
me to replace the drive without paying an additional ~£50, which I can
ill afford. At the end of the day, I purchased a drive with a full
manufacturer warranty. And I am now left without said drive or the option
to return the drive directly to the manufacturer myself. This is of
significant inconvenience to me and something that I consider
unacceptable.

If you do not wish to replace or repair the drive, for whatever reason,
that is absolutely fine. But at least give me the opportunity to do so
myself by returning my drive to me! To not do so is not only grossly
unfair, but I would also question the legality of it.

***** *******



Seriously, am I being unreasonable? :confused:
 
ubersonic said:
They are responsible for covering those costs though so its a non issue.
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Indeed, SOGA states as much, they are basically arguing that postage to Seagate is disproportionately expensive to them and yet are happy to issue a costly refund, it's clear why they are doing it because they're going to profit when they get the replacement back from Seagate.

So have you contacted the experts (CAB) yet? and have you notified the seller that if you don't receive a warranty repair from Seagate you'll be doing so? they are probably just expecting you to let it drop.

I would tell them that it is not disproportionately costly for them to RMA to Seagate and that their forcing a refund on you has caused you great significant inconvenience compared to it and tell them that if you don't get the drive back or repair under warranty you will be contacting CAB.

IMO a warranty repair is not disproportionately costly so they have no right to force a refund on you and they have breached "48B(2)(a) above to do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the buyer".

I may be wrong though which is why I would stress you talk to CAB.
 
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mmj_uk said:
Indeed, SOGA states as much, they are basically arguing that postage to Seagate is disproportionately expensive to them and yet are happy to issue a costly refund, it's clear why they are doing it because they're going to profit from it.

So have you contacted the experts (CAB) yet? and have you notified the seller that if you don't receive a warranty repair from Seagate you'll be doing so? they are probably just expecting you to let it drop.
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Not as yet. Work and a few other things are preventing me from finding the time. Another poster (moogley i think) has given me the consumer direct helpline, so I'm going to give them a call later, if time allows.

Yes, I have told them on umpteen occasions that it is my intention to seek a warranty repair or replacement directly from Seagate, so therefore require my drive returned. They are not entertaining me and are more or less ignoring my requests, despite the initial cust. services rep indicating that arrangements were being made to have drive returned and collect their refund.

Apologies I misread that. Yes I have indicated to them that I will be contacting CAB and Consumer Direct.
 
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I would imagine that Consumer Direct will tell you to put your request in writing to the said company, and send it by rec delivery. If you do not get a satisfactory response then your only other option would be to send a letter before action which gives them a final opportunity before you start court proceedings.

If the supplier is going to play hardball then it's just a case of how far you are prepared to take it.
 
I would send them a quick message along the lines of:

"Could you please confirm for the record that from your point of view a warranty repair by the manufacturer is disproportionately costly to you and what is your justification for this decision? if I were to have the drive returned to me it would cost me merely the postage to the manufacturer to have the drive fixed, the same applies to yourselves and I feel this is not disproportionately costly. Your decision to force a refund upon me has also caused me significant inconvenience compared to returning the drive to the manufacturer for repair."

Then mention you'll not let it drop and will be contacting CD/CAB etc.
 
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