Warranty - let it go?

Dis86

Dis86

Dis86

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So, bought a second hand product not long back. The warranty it comes with is fully transferable and so I contacted the warranty company to transfer it in to my name. All without a hitch, received confirmation I'm covered and a booklet explaining the procedure for having the manufacturer collect the product when it's faulty.
Included in this booklet are a set of terms and conditions.

Now a fault has developed and I've requested repair. The company is happy to come and collect but won't carry out the work under warranty as they're saying I've not complied with the terms.

The issue lies in that the terms in the booklet are not the full warranty terms.

The item in question is that the full warranty states service work must be carried out by one of their approved techs or them directly. The booklet I've been sent just states it must use their parts and be carried out at the correct time by a VAT registered company (which it was).

I've since had it in writing from the company that they didn't send me the terms of the warranty when it was transferred and that they aren't available anywhere except upon request or upon taking out a new warranty with them.

So essentially a collection and breakdown service that can only be purchased at the time of the warranty has different terms and conditions to the warranty that it serves and I can be fully covered to have them repair it at home or take it away but not have them repair it if they have to take it away. None of which was stated to me.

Worth mentioning claims could be up to £20k

Am I right in thinking they're being a little bit naughty?
 
Last edited:

kindai

kindai

kindai

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Simple letter stating you expect them to fix it under the warranty terms or you will take them to court for the full value of a replacement item for misrepresenting the warranty by failing to provide the full T+Cs.
 

tom_e

tom_e

tom_e

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T+C do not trump your consumer rights and if it's the same as with cars then as long as the OEM parts are used and it's been carried out by a VAT registered business then they cannot void the warranty.
 

jpaul

jpaul

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It's not very clear what your are saying ...
initially you say the warranty had omitted to tell you they had to do the servicing ( how categoric was that document about T&C's and warranty name/type)

you then seem to say there are two warranty types
Dis86 said:
So essentially a collection and breakdown service that can only be purchased at the time of the warranty has different terms and conditions to the warranty that it serves and I can be fully covered to have them repair it at home or take it away but not have them repair it if they have to take it away. None of which was stated to me.
Click to expand...

but sounds as though you proceeded in good faith , nonetheless, and error is on their part
 

Dis86

Dis86

Dis86

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jpaul said:
It's not very clear what your are saying ...
initially you say the warranty had omitted to tell you they had to do the servicing ( how categoric was that document about T&C's and warranty name/type)

you then seem to say there are two warranty types


but sounds as though you proceeded in good faith , nonetheless, and error is on their part
Click to expand...

So yes, 2 products. The first is breakdown cover, if it won't start they'll come out and try to get it going again. If that fails then they'll take it away. This is the part that they sent a booklet for and requires only correct servicing.

The second part is a full warranty. This requires that the manufacturer carries out the service.

You can't buy the breakdown cover without the full warranty.
 

Dis86

Dis86

Dis86

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Spoke to a solicitor today who also agrees it's iffy and the easiest route he suggested he would go for them through is unfair terms as it was not made clear to me that it was a condition of the warranty.
 

AndrewP

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I've also had trouble with unstated terms and conditions of the breakdown cover part, firstly that a replacement car had to be requested within 48 hours and then that a replacement car was only provided if the car had been recovered - despite the local patrol refusing to recover the car for a battery issue. Not had any trouble with warranty work, though I've only had tyres replaced (with correct approved spec ones) outside of the manufacturer network, and they didn't raise any objections when I mentioned having exhaust bolts done independently either. The warranty is also a financial product covered by that ombudsman's service, as a possible additional avenue to explore.
 

Dis86

Dis86

Dis86

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Update to this;

I might as well have spoken to a brick wall - they just quoted the terms and conditions back at me completely ignoring my points. However they did drop themselves in it slightly as they've confirmed in writing that when I entered the contract with them they did not supply me with the terms and that the terms are not available anywhere other than directly in writing from themselves.

Armed with this I went back for further legal advice and to the ombudsman. The ombudsman, without going through the full process, advised me to attempt further contact referring to a number of industry codes of practice which the company has broken. The solicitor pointed out that they appear be in breach of EU guidelines as well. As a result I had a nice friendly discussion in branch escalating it from shop-floor, to the branch manager, to the regional manager. Once I showed them the documentation online they each effectively stopped arguing (in one case with an audible "ohhh"), stated they couldn't comment any further and directed me to again address my concerns in writing.

So, another letter sent to them setting out my arguments along with the relevant sources and I'm just awaiting a response.

The issue is if I have to take them to court it's likely to cost me more than paying them to re-service it. Frustrating.
 
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