i believe there is a loophole that basicly says the seller is allowed to use an agent as a repairer, the agents they use are the manufacturers, but the seller is ultimately responsible if the manufacturer fail to repair in "reasonable time" The seller can be liable for something like 6 years, but the person who bought it has to prove they didnt break the item themselves after 6 months, but ofcourse usually warrentys protect you for longer than that.
Yeah the thing that confuses me Jamie, is why are OcUK allowing me to go to a competitor to get it sent off for RMA? If there are problems with my product, surely OcUK should be the one shipping it off to Asus and claiming money back from THEM, that is how most RMA processes work as far as I am aware.
The fact of the matter is, the end user is having to fork out large amounts of cash for something they have already purchased with the product (or atleast thought they had purchased). I have always had to foot the bill for sending my product to OcUK for repair (£8 or so) which is fine, but paying £21 for a RMA number and further £8 to ship for RMA is a joke.
Hopefully someone will provide some recourse here, but does sound like something unfair is happening to the end consumer.
European Directive States:
Where the term "guarantee" is used, it covers only commercial guarantees, which are defined as follows: "any additional undertaking given by a seller or producer, over and above the legal rules governing the sale of consumer goods, to reimburse the price paid, to exchange, repair or handle a product in any way, in the case of non-conformity of the product with the contract".
It continues to state:
The seller is liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity which exists when the goods are delivered to the consumer and which arises within a period of two years from delivery. However, the lack of conformity cannot be accepted if, at the moment of conclusion of the contract of sale, the consumer knew or could not reasonably have been unaware of the lack of conformity.
I now argue that OcUK did infact mislead with conformity on the following description of a "Warranty" on the product stating a THREE YEAR warranty without these restrictions being placed. This influenced my decision to purchase the ASUS product, if I had know the warranty was infact different to other competitors I would have chosen a different manufacturer.
When a lack of conformity is notified to the seller, the consumer will be entitled to ask:
- for the goods to be repaired or replaced free of charge within a reasonable period and without major inconvenience to the consumer;
- for an appropriate reduction to be made to the price, or for the contract to be rescinded, if repair or replacement is impossible or disproportionate, or if the seller has not remedied the shortcoming within a reasonable period or without major inconvenience to the consumer.
I'm no legal eagle, only done a few bits while at University... hopefully someone can chime in and correct me if I'm wrong? This issue STILL continues to this day -
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-219-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1515 as referenced here stating a "3 YEAR WARRANTY".
OcUK if you wish to discuss this in private and remove this post I understand, as this chat may have exceeded the limits that should be in the public domain. I have posted a webnote and hope for your reply soon.
**
