What are my rights?

Morning all,

yesterday at 16:10 my Pioneer Plasma TV switched itself onto standby and won't go back on again. I rang to the dealer who asked when I had purchased it, I said "19 January 2004", he said "It's out of warranty". That's just a one year warranty on £4500 TV, I was shocked to say the least. After speaking to an engineer at a company I was reffered to by the dealer he seems to think the PSU has gone and wants to charge £320 + VAT to fix the problem. Now, is it just me or does this sound unreasonable, I don't think I should have to pay that, on a TV costing this much it shouldn't be having problems after only 13 months. I accept that things do go wrong and it can't be helped, my DVD player had a problem only a few months back but that had a two year warranty so it didn't cost me anything to have it repaired.

So my question is, is there anything I can say or do that will get whoever to do the repair for free, do I have any rights in this matter?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Martin

 

if the warranty was for a year and you didn;t take up an extended warranty then you're on your own. it may be worthwhile writing a polite but firm letter to pioneer uk. stating that you are unhappy with the longevity of their product and would apprieciate some form of recompense. they may go halves with you on the repair or even just fix it f.o.c. for a quiet life. if not then you could try watch dog or the various consumer problem pages in the relevant magazines but this is a long shot as in fact you have no legal right to recompense afaik.
cheers


julian

 

Bad luck.

I reckon the dealer/pioneer should at least go halves with you on cost of repair, plead to their better nature, I reckon (although not certain) that there is nothing legally you could do, you may want to suggest your "ahem" fervent activity on online AV fora (bit weak but you never know) and bad press is bad press.

Sorry I could not be of more help, others may offer a better soultion, although have you had quotes from anywhere else for the repair? You could check out some AV fora to see if they have any ideas.

 

Thanks guys,

I've just found this on the CAB website under a section "Repair or replacement of goods", it says "If you bought your goods on or after 31 March 2003 and one of your rights under consumer law has been breached (see under heading Getting a full refund for goods), you can ask the trader for a free repair or replacement. You can do this at any time within 6 years of buying the goods (within 5 years if you bought them in Scotland), as long as it is reasonable for them to have lasted this long." This would suggest to me that I do have the right for a free repair no matter what the warranty says as I think 13 months is a more than reasonable amount of time for the product to have lasted. What do you think?

Cheers
Martin

 

You have the right to remain silent...(as does the telly)
But seriously, the Sale of goods act states that the goods must be "Fit for purpose", and so a manufacturer cannot limit his liability. If the TV was a £15 cheapy you wouldn't have much comeback, but expensive plasma is another matter - you would almost definitely have the law behind you. If they still dig their heels in the Citizens advice bureau could help or get some fixed fee advice from a local solicitor.
I'm pretty confident you will win this dispute.

 

I'd pop in to speak with CAB personally but you look to have a good case.

 

I strongly urge a call to Pioneer UK on 01753 789500.

Stay very calm, explain the situation and ask them to help you, do not go in all guns blazing as the letter of law is quite clear and they are well within their rights to do nothing. I am well known for my sucessful complaint tactics and my advice is sound disappointed not angry, do not get on a high horse and essentially beg a favour.

Frankly your dealer sounds like a complete wanker I'm very surprised he is not working towards a solution with Pioneer on your behalf, but then he already has your money. Never darken his doors again.

 

Pioneer products are usually extremely well made - I'd DEFINITELY give them a call and see what they say.

Personally though, if it were me, I'd have definitely got extended product cover on something that expensive. Hey - did you buy it with a Barclaycard? Don't they (Barclays) give out free extended insurance if so? Maybe other cc companies are similar? Worth a try.

Failing that, "accidentally" totally write it off then claim on the home contents accident insurance... (just kidding!!)

 

Barclaycard stopped the free insurance some time ago.
My understanding of consumer law is that westen and fendancer are right. Reasonable expectation is now the governing principle NOT a fixed '1 year then you've had it'.

Bob

 

So which of your rights under consumer law has been breached, to activate this provision?

 

Cab

Check with a grown up first, but I think goods sold have to be fit for their intended purpose for a period of six years, and this contract is between the seller and you.

These are then "statutory Rights" which remain unaffected, as you may have pondered while reading your Kit Kat guarantee.

However I think pioneer will respond favourably to a begging phone call\letter.

I've just had a stihl brushcutter repaired FOC four years out of warranty, by pointing out that in professional use it would have failed in a week, whereas my light use it has taken four years for the problem to surface.

As has already been said, don't blow your top

However I mustr echo earlier comments that the dealer is a bit shitty, with summat of that cost you would expect a little more.

If you do end up paying don't forget to name and shame em!!

S

 

Call Pioneer and discuss both the problem and (if poss) your dealer situation with them. Remain calm, friendly and polite at ALL TIMES.
I think Jools' advice is absolutley spot on. Avoid any kind of threat, either explicit or implied at this point.
If you don't get a result with Pioneer, CAB/local solicitor are your next port of call.

 

Yeah, my understanding is that irrespective of the 1 year warrrantee you would expect the product to last longer than that.

This is one reason that you should NEVER pay for an extended warrantee - because according to CAB you have a right regarding expected life.......

Contact to CAB and get the exact legal wording THEN contact Pioneer.

All the best and let us know how you get on.
Donut

 

"Extended Warranties" are a crock-of-shit used by the retail industry to gain extra revenue for something for which they may be legally obliged to replace/repair.

See..........

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

 

If i remember correctly the law is really vague in this area, the tv should last as long as a reasonable person would expect it to. I think a reasonable person would expect a £4500 tv to last longer then 13 months, the question is though would the courts? As someone said before, i also reckon the courts would back you on this, speak to the citizens advice bureau and see what they say.

 

nope,the law is simple,the TV should last as long as you would reasonaby expect it too,thats a lot longer than 13 months

the manufacturer will sort it for free,JVC did for me after a 2k TV went at about 18 months,

 

erm, thats what i said mate

When i said the law was vague, i mean regarding to the definition of a "reasonable person". Obviously in this case it is definitely reasonable to expect a tv of that cost to last longer then 13 months.

 

If all else fails, you could take it to the small claims court. I think that you would almost certainly win. Hopefully it will not get to that stage. However, just in case, do make sure that you log all conversations, get names and write down responses.

Barclaycard are still doing the extra years warranty. I have just bought several grands worth of new kitchen appliances and they confirmed the cover. Whether this applies to plasmas and other tv's I am not sure.

Rod