Empire Direct, problem with extended warranty

Retromatic · 18 Nov 2010 at 17:47

Okay, my partner bought a tv back in Jan 2008 from Empire Direct (This was on an old Visa debit card and at a previous address) recently this has developed a fault, so I decided to look up Empire direct, only to find out they went into receivership ages ago.

I phoned the number on thier site and spoke to someone from Richer Sounds, who informed me that - "when Empire Direct went down, all the warranties did with it" and told me to speak to the recievers as it was thier responsibility to sort it out. So I phoned them and got told that I would be able to claim back as the tv had been paid for via Visa.

My partner phoned the bank, who informed her that the only cover they offer with Visa is credit card only and debit card wouldn't be covered.

Is there anything I can do?

Just as an extra, the fault with the tv is, that when it's first turned on a section on the right side of the screen is semi "rainbow" coloured and gets ghosting like images. This sorts itself out after 5 minutes or so, but obviously shouldn't be happening so I'm hoping there is some comeback with this extended warranty I took out!

Edit - was payed for using Google Checkout, not sure if this makes any difference.
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Fr0dders · 18 Nov 2010 at 20:35

Nothing free

your only protection was with the consumer credit act

which doesnt cover debit card purchases

Sadly if a retailer goes bust, all its contracts for extended warranties do as well. Empire direct have been bought out, but when they do they can choose not to take on the extended warranties or other liabilities of the deceased company

(see here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargai...icle.html?in_article_id=497367&in_page_id=513 )

Your only other alternative is to try a chargable repair from the manufacturer ?

Retromatic · 18 Nov 2010 at 21:01

MrLOL said:
Nothing free

your only protection was with the consumer credit act

which doesnt cover debit card purchases

Sadly if a retailer goes bust, all its contracts for extended warranties do as well. Empire direct have been bought out, but when they do they can choose not to take on the extended warranties or other liabilities of the deceased company (see here http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargai...icle.html?in_article_id=497367&in_page_id=513 )

Your only other alternative is to try a chargable repair from the manufacturer ?

Thanks for the reply. Yeah thought as much - annoyingly I remember at the time I was going to pay on credit card but decided for some reason to just pay via debit card, doh! Oh well, it's not a major deal it's the tv from the spare room but still cost me £1300, so thought I would give it a try.

I'll see how much a quote from the manufacturers is.

Abyss · 19 Nov 2010 at 13:50

Given that the tv is nearly 3 years old I would think carefully before paying out for a repair. Technology in televisions has moved on a lot in 3 years and so have prices.

Given that RicherSounds bought out EmpireDirect I would be tempted to see if they will do a discount on a new tv as a gesture of goodwill.

Fr0dders · 19 Nov 2010 at 21:03

i need to ring samsung this week and have a moan about the capacitors going on my set, takes about 40 seconds to switch on at the moment. If they continue to degrade they wont switch on at all soon, outrageous for a 3 year old TV.

I'm expecting a chargable repair, but given how many others have the issue (have a google) others have reported getting a free / cheap one as samsung try to keep customers happy.

Retromatic · 20 Nov 2010 at 14:30

Abyss said:
Given that the tv is nearly 3 years old I would think carefully before paying out for a repair. Technology in televisions has moved on a lot in 3 years and so have prices.

Given that RicherSounds bought out EmpireDirect I would be tempted to see if they will do a discount on a new tv as a gesture of goodwill.

I hear what your saying, I've already got a couple of better tv's in different rooms in the house, but was hoping to claw back some of the £1300 I originally payed for it but I'm not too bothered. I'm moving one of my other tv's into the lounge and buying a projector at some point for a dedicated "cinema" room but that won't be until late next year probablly.

Retromatic · 20 Nov 2010 at 14:39

MrLOL said:
i need to ring samsung this week and have a moan about the capacitors going on my set, takes about 40 seconds to switch on at the moment. If they continue to degrade they wont switch on at all soon, outrageous for a 3 year old TV.

I'm expecting a chargable repair, but given how many others have the issue (have a google) others have reported getting a free / cheap one as samsung try to keep customers happy.

I had a Samsung 50" Plasma screen repaired earlier this year - I was expecting a charge but they didn't, although I was just out of the 1 year warranty as far as I know they didn't check anything (I never had to show any kind of receipt).

Annoyingly I've got a suspected problem with the capacitors which I mentioned to the guys that picked it up but nothing has been done about it. Mine is that it clicks in standby mode and sometimes turns itself on (although this is rare).

Just a heads up, watch out for a company called DK AVS which were my nearest authorised Samsung repair centre, long story short - thier crap, ask for someone else if you get them.

fezster · 20 Nov 2010 at 14:50

A lot of companies now offer insurance backed warranties, I think. Given the number of businesses which seem to be going under, they probably realised people were losing confidence in them.

Sorry OP, doesnt help your situation.

Retromatic · 20 Nov 2010 at 14:57

fezster said:
A lot of companies now offer insurance backed warranties, I think. Given the number of businesses which seem to be going under, they probably realised people were losing confidence in them.

Sorry OP, doesnt help your situation.

No that's all good

Handy to know for the future!

TALON1973 · 20 Nov 2010 at 22:30

sales of good act covers you for 5 years .. all this 5 year gaurantee rubbish is a smokescreen .. whiel nice its not really needed ... my panny tv has it .. but id still sue inside 5 years if it broke dfown anyway lol ..

can provide links if you want .. i doknow my sales of good stuff .... got an old thread on here when i took on GAME re teh xbox 360

CaptainCrash · 21 Nov 2010 at 12:03

TALON1973 said:
sales of good act covers you for 5 years .. all this 5 year gaurantee rubbish is a smokescreen .. whiel nice its not really needed ... my panny tv has it .. but id still sue inside 5 years if it broke dfown anyway lol ..

can provide links if you want .. i doknow my sales of good stuff .... got an old thread on here when i took on GAME re teh xbox 360

Does your knowledge of the SoGA extend to the rather obvious fact that you can't sue an entity which no longer exists?

Retromatic · 21 Nov 2010 at 12:04

TALON1973 said:
sales of good act covers you for 5 years .. all this 5 year gaurantee rubbish is a smokescreen .. whiel nice its not really needed ... my panny tv has it .. but id still sue inside 5 years if it broke dfown anyway lol ..

can provide links if you want .. i doknow my sales of good stuff .... got an old thread on here when i took on GAME re teh xbox 360

Sure why not, thanks. Who would I pursue though? They've gone under.

CaptainCrash · 21 Nov 2010 at 12:19

Leviathon, you might check out if you can claim anything under the Visa Chargeback Scheme - it's a voluntary scheme by which a debit card's issuing bank provides much of the same protection as enjoyed by credit card holders under Section 75 of the CCA. You mentioned that the bank told your partner that you weren't covered, but many bank staff are still unaware that this scheme exists, so it may have been a mistake.

The one problem is that there's a 120-day time limit on claims - this would *normally* be from when you purchased an item, but there may be some flexibility in the event of a non-honoured warranty claim at a later date (there's still a breach of contract).

It could be worth a shot, anyway - just pop into your bank and ask for a Visa dispute form, fill in the details and send it back with supporting paperwork. The worst they can do is say no, and they may say yes.

AtticusFinch · 21 Nov 2010 at 13:10

You'd have to go for the manufacturer

Leviathon said:
Sure why not, thanks. Who would I pursue though? They've gone under.

On the basis that goods were not provided to the seller as fit for purpose in that they did last as longs as would be expected. I'm not sure of the sale of goods act works in that scenario though. All in all, I think this is just one of life's lessons.

Fr0dders · 21 Nov 2010 at 16:41

CaptainCrash said:
Does your knowledge of the SoGA extend to the rather obvious fact that you can't sue an entity which no longer exists?

Quite !

the clue is in the name - sale of goods act. Not manufacturer

And theres no such thing as a 5 year rule in the SOG. It merely states that the product should be fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time expected for that type of product. It would be pointless stating that everything sold should last 5 years, as some items sold wont last that long by design - rubber for example perishes. Especially if its a rubber product that has to be exposed to be temperature changes by being left outside.

The only rule is that within 6 months of purchase, the onus is on the seller to proove the defect wasn't present at the time of sale, after 6 months, its up to the seller to prove it was there, or to argue to a court that the product should have lasted longer.

TALON1973 · 21 Nov 2010 at 18:59

you dont have to go for the seller ... thats the first target ... you go for the manufacturer is equally at fault ...

the seller would normally get the money off the manufacturer when you claim .. but in this instance you go direct..

muon · 21 Nov 2010 at 19:10

TALON1973 said:
you dont have to go for the seller ... thats the first target ... you go for the manufacturer is equally at fault ...

the seller would normally get the money off the manufacturer when you claim .. but in this instance you go direct..

SOGA only refers to the entity selling the goods directly to you.

But yeh, you could try the manufacturer. Don't know if they are obliged to do anything though.

CaptainCrash · 22 Nov 2010 at 12:17

TALON1973 said:
you dont have to go for the seller ... thats the first target ... you go for the manufacturer is equally at fault ...

I'm pretty sure they're not - if the manufacturer fails in their duty of care (ie they're negligent) there may be a claim in tort, but AFAIK this only applies in the case of consequential losses. Otherwise, the principle of "privity of contract" implies that only the supplier could be held liable for any breach.

If the manufacturer provides an additional guarantee, then they have a contractual obligation to honour it, but that's not much help if the extended warranty in this case was provided by Empire Direct themselves.

I have to admit I'm not 100% sure of my ground here - if you successfully issued a SoGA claim against a manufacturer, I'd be interested to see how you went about it.

Marzipanogram · 22 Nov 2010 at 13:40

I'd also search online if other users have had to same problem as you.
An "inherent fault" might give you more ammo in your fight.

AtticusFinch · 22 Nov 2010 at 13:44

To be clear the SoGA will not apply to the manufacturer here - it is still possible to sue the manufacturer of the goods on the grounds that they supplied goods for the pourpose of sale which were not fit for purpose. This would be an expensive and time-consuming process and will not be worht it it the scheme of thing s though.