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Can anyone here point me in the right direction to clarify the “sale of goods act”. I have a customer who has a Whirlpool washing machine. It is one week out of the 12 months guarantee and the bearings have collapsed. She bought the machine from one of these companies that prey on poor people. She is paying £8 per week for 120 weeks and still has over half the payments to pay.
She spoke to the manager of the shop who told her that he would send an engineer out to inspect the machine at the cost of £65 but would only authorise a repair if she took out a service contract at the cost of another £8 per week.
My understanding, that regardless of whether the initial guarantee has expired, the machine is deemed as not fit for purpose and she is entitled to another machine.
I have spoken to the manager on her behalf but he refutes this and is sticking to his offer.Regards.
Nigel.
Re: Sale of goods act ?
tradesite wrote:My understanding, that regardless of whether the initial guarantee has expired, the machine is deemed as not fit for purpose and she is entitled to another machine.I have spoken to the manager on her behalf but he refutes this and is sticking to his offer.
It is entirely up to his discretion as to what action, if any, he takes. The sale of goods act is quite specific toward this as far as guarantees are concerned. It is therefore necessary for the owner of the appliance, on written proof that the appliance has failed to such a degree to be considered unreasonable, to appeal to “the manager” some form of recompense.
Also, in the light of the extended repayment period that was undertaken in this case, the purchaser would have been wiser to have taken out an extended warranty in order to fully cover that period.
Sale of goods act ?
Has she tried contacting whirlpool service direct assuming this was new when she received it. I believe I’m right in saying that even if it is out of its guarantee period manufactures still have a degree of responsibility?
I’m know one of my esteemed colleges will correct me if I am wrong.
Sent from Steves
iPhone using TapatalkRe: Sale of goods act ?
The basics…
http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/buyi … myths.html
Warranty definition isn’t that clear at all and certainly not specific to any particular product or group of products Martin other than being “reasonable” and the act does not cover for failure. This is especially so when the fault is due to wear and tear which, if the retailer has an ounce of common sense, he will argue is the case with a bearing failure.
You used it a lot, so it broke.
Whirlpool won’t want to know as it’s outside their warranty period so it’ll fall back to an argument with the retailer.
You are correct though Martin on the extended warranty and I’ve seen this before a few times. The argument will be that, if you financed the goods over an extended period then you should have taken precautions to ensure that the goods could be maintained and failures covered.
Think on it like a car, same legislation covers it. If you take a car on HP and a the ECU fails or a wheel bearing goes which isn’t covered by the warranty or, there is no warranty left, the HP company will still want paying for the goods under the agreement you signed. The fact that you can’t afford to get the financed goods fixed or that it isn’t’ working isn’t their problem.
My advice would be to be nice to them and see what they’ll do for the customer.
Or, the cheaper route may be to steer the customer to DAG and have them cover the cost of the failure but, it will mean taking out a policy. However, DAG’s is a whole heap cheaper than £8 a week, more like a little more than that for a month. The £8 a week is outrageous as a cost IMO.
Or, you do it for her at a lower cost.
In the end, I shouldn’t think there’s any way out of it without your customer having to fork out some cash.
HTH
K.
Re: Sale of goods act ?
I have done some research on this and think that all the replies given may be wrong. Check out,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/ma … tocomplain
Regards.Nigel.
Re: Sale of goods act ?
I just cant get over the fact that it’s legal to make someone pay a grand over two and a bit years for a poxy Whirlpool!
No wonder the poor get poorer 😥
Re: Sale of goods act ?
As the product is still not hers as there is money still owed on it I believe that it is still the retailers job to repair it, I was listening to a consumer program on the radio the other year and somebody had a similar problem, they were told that the retailer had to give the product a warranty for the duration of the purchase scheme until the ownership had transferred to the customer, if they are being awkward then the customer can approach the lenders whoever they are as they have joint responsibility of the purchase.
I don’t think wear and tear would be an acceptable excuse from the retailer unless proof can be made that the customer constantly overloaded or was using it for commercial purposes.
Re: Sale of goods act ?
Apart from that article being written six years ago and seemingly not updated…
One of the big issues that I have with all this stuff is that a lot of what I read in the media, online etc is wrong. There really is a staggering amount of bad advice out there and misleading advice that lulls people into thinking they’re entitled to things that they clearly are not.
In this case, if you apply that article to your own business, are you going to warranty a spare part for six years or a washing machine? I ask because exactly the same legislation covers you selling a spare part as a new washing machine, a car or pretty much anything else. And, that’s the slant that that article has on it.
If you ask me, that’s completely unreasonable.
The six year rule is applicable when you (the customer) can prove that the goods were faulty from new once it’s over six months old.
It does not cover for wear and tear.
I agree, it’s a bit rough that the bearings have failed just outside warranty and I would have expected the offer of free spares or something as a gesture but there’s no entitlement to much of anything.
In any event, fighting it will take an age and probably cost more than it’s worth sadly. 🙁
K.
Re: Sale of goods act ?
wsts wrote:As the product is still not hers as there is money still owed on it I believe that it is still the retailers job to repair it, I was listening to a consumer program on the radio the other year and somebody had a similar problem, they were told that the retailer had to give the product a warranty for the duration of the purchase scheme until the ownership had transferred to the customer, if they are being awkward then the customer can approach the lenders whoever they are as they have joint responsibility of the purchase.
That depends on the type of agreement in place…
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/kent … nsible.pdf
It’s more complex than the media makes it out to be at times. 😉
But they do like their headlines about championing consumer rights.
K.
Re: Sale of goods act ?
This is happening all over now! If you want your motor insurance on the monthly, the insurance company requires the customer to take out a loan at any thing up to 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the premium, therefore costing twice as much. If your credit rating is not up to scratch, the insurance will be refused.
My friend took out some insurance on a motorbike. the premium was &750.00 and the finance charges were £600.00. He cancelled the insurance after 5 months but the finance company pursued him for months for their charges adding late payment charges and interest of 14000{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}. The bill went up to over £1000 over 4 months. He managed to get away with paying them £270.00 after dozens of phone calls. He initially offered to reinstate the direct debit (which the insurance company had cancelled) to pay the original balance but the finance company flatly refused and said that the balance must be made in full.Regards.
Nigel.Faulty or wear and tear ?
Would any of you, as engineers, class a set of prescision made washing machine bearings that have collapsed after 12 months, the machine being used twice a week by a pensioner, as wear and tear or faulty goods ?
Regards.
Nigel.
Sale of goods act ?
tradesite wrote:I have done some research on this and think that all the replies given may be wrong.
That Guardian newspaper article is a little outdated to be honest. And the fact still remains that the goods have failed outside the warranty period and in essence the retailer is within his or her rights not to cooperate should they so wish.
The purchaser then left with no option other than to prove that the failure of the appliance and the work needed to rectify it is unreasonable given the short period of use. For such a case to be proven then third party written evidence would be required and submitted directly to the retailer. Only after the purchaser has received a written reply refusing or refuting that request from the retailer can the matter be taken further. Either by contacting the manufacturer or taking the matter to the small claims court.
Re: Faulty or wear and tear ?
tradesite wrote:Would any of you, as engineers, class a set of prescision made washing machine bearings that have collapsed after 12 months, the machine being used twice a week by a pensioner, as wear and tear or faulty goods ?
Merged Nigel, same topic, different angle to the question. 😉
But no, as I said, I’d have personally have expected it to last longer than that given the use.
K.
Sale of goods act ?
Are you going to take the matter any further on behalf of your elderly customer Nigel?
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