Consumer Law Question
Discussion
Just wanted to check I'm not being given the runaround here.
Anyway, I bought a printer on 26/08/2017 from Tesco. It's worked fine for all it's life.
On August 14th I bought some new ink and printed out a bunch of postage labels. The printer then sat unused until the evening of August 23 when I went to print out my boarding passes for holiday. Obviously the printer decided it wasn't going to work. I emailed the boarding passes to a relative who printed them out for me and I collected them on the 24th August on my way to the airport.
We then went on holiday.
We got back this week and yesterday I dug out the receipt for the printer and found that the 1 year Tesco warranty expired whilst we were away. Great!
I got in touch with them to ask if they could help me considering the circumstances.
This was their reply to me via email:
"As you know, we guarantee all our electrical products for 12 months and, if an item develops a fault within this time, our Electrical Helpline are there to help. Although we believe the products we sell are of the best quality we can offer, there are occasions, like this, when a product doesn't last as long as we'd expect. Although it doesn't happen often, when it does, we want to offer our customers the best service possible.
Under UK Consumer law, when goods that over 12 months are found to be faulty because they were defective in manufacture, the consumer is entitled to a range of potential remedies which may include replacement but also a repair or partial refund.
We also work within the guidelines provided by Trading Standards, which makes sure there is fairness to both the customer and retailer.
Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer to repair your printer as the repair costs would exceed the value and therefore, the repair wouldn't be economically viable.
When, we’re unable to offer to repair or replace a product, a partial refund is normally offered. However, this depends on the circumstances.
We take into consideration the purchase date, the date the fault occurred and the price paid. This provides us with a intrinsic value.
As products like these decreases in value over time, I'm able to offer £15 partial refund this can be sent as a Tesco moneycard, or BACS transfer in to your bank account.
Whilst I appreciate that this is may not be the response which you were hoping for, I trust that having fully explained this to you that you understand our position on this matter. Kind Regards - Emma"
To be fair, the £15 is a nice gesture, I'm just a bit annoyed as I spent £30 on ink the week before it broke and I know a new printer probably won't use the same ink!
However, I was always under the impression that we got 2 years under EU rules or is that ruling trumped by Sale of Goods Act? I previously had a MacBook replaced under the 2 year rule so to hear its now 1 year is a bit confusing.
Am I being a bit daft?
Anyway, I bought a printer on 26/08/2017 from Tesco. It's worked fine for all it's life.
On August 14th I bought some new ink and printed out a bunch of postage labels. The printer then sat unused until the evening of August 23 when I went to print out my boarding passes for holiday. Obviously the printer decided it wasn't going to work. I emailed the boarding passes to a relative who printed them out for me and I collected them on the 24th August on my way to the airport.
We then went on holiday.
We got back this week and yesterday I dug out the receipt for the printer and found that the 1 year Tesco warranty expired whilst we were away. Great!
I got in touch with them to ask if they could help me considering the circumstances.
This was their reply to me via email:
"As you know, we guarantee all our electrical products for 12 months and, if an item develops a fault within this time, our Electrical Helpline are there to help. Although we believe the products we sell are of the best quality we can offer, there are occasions, like this, when a product doesn't last as long as we'd expect. Although it doesn't happen often, when it does, we want to offer our customers the best service possible.
Under UK Consumer law, when goods that over 12 months are found to be faulty because they were defective in manufacture, the consumer is entitled to a range of potential remedies which may include replacement but also a repair or partial refund.
We also work within the guidelines provided by Trading Standards, which makes sure there is fairness to both the customer and retailer.
Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer to repair your printer as the repair costs would exceed the value and therefore, the repair wouldn't be economically viable.
When, we’re unable to offer to repair or replace a product, a partial refund is normally offered. However, this depends on the circumstances.
We take into consideration the purchase date, the date the fault occurred and the price paid. This provides us with a intrinsic value.
As products like these decreases in value over time, I'm able to offer £15 partial refund this can be sent as a Tesco moneycard, or BACS transfer in to your bank account.
Whilst I appreciate that this is may not be the response which you were hoping for, I trust that having fully explained this to you that you understand our position on this matter. Kind Regards - Emma"
To be fair, the £15 is a nice gesture, I'm just a bit annoyed as I spent £30 on ink the week before it broke and I know a new printer probably won't use the same ink!
However, I was always under the impression that we got 2 years under EU rules or is that ruling trumped by Sale of Goods Act? I previously had a MacBook replaced under the 2 year rule so to hear its now 1 year is a bit confusing.
Am I being a bit daft?
ashleyman said:
Am I being a bit daft?
Probably. Here is Which's guide to the CRA http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...If it were me, I'd write back pointing out that the printer failed within 12 months, you bought new ink (which isn't really relevant), the printer cost x and a new printer will cost y and see if they will up their £15. If not, take the money and run.
Bert
ashleyman said:
Sale of Goods Act?
Not relevant to your situation. Your item was purchased after 1/10/2015 so the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies.http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
ETA I'm assuming the date of purchase you gave should actually be 26/8/2016?
Edited by paintman on Friday 8th September 10:23
Kuji said:
Were they genuine (same manufacturer) ink cartridges.
They form an integral (albeit disposable) part of the printer and typically include a small circuit board and they may have failed, not the printer itself.
The issue with the printer is that when you press the power button it turns on for 1 second then turns straight off. I've tried removing the ink and it does the same thing so I can't get the cartridges out. Ink was genuine.They form an integral (albeit disposable) part of the printer and typically include a small circuit board and they may have failed, not the printer itself.
paintman said:
Not relevant to your situation. Your item was purchased after 1/10/2015 so the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies.
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
ETA I'm assuming the date of purchase you gave should actually be 26/8/2016?
Yes. 2016, my bad. Sorry!http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
ETA I'm assuming the date of purchase you gave should actually be 26/8/2016?
BertBert said:
Probably. Here is Which's guide to the CRA http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
If it were me, I'd write back pointing out that the printer failed within 12 months, you bought new ink (which isn't really relevant), the printer cost x and a new printer will cost y and see if they will up their £15. If not, take the money and run.
Bert
I did say this to them and they said they have to go by the date the fault was reported to them. I'll try your suggestion and see what they say. Thanks!If it were me, I'd write back pointing out that the printer failed within 12 months, you bought new ink (which isn't really relevant), the printer cost x and a new printer will cost y and see if they will up their £15. If not, take the money and run.
Bert
Edited by ashleyman on Friday 8th September 10:30
paintman said:
Not relevant to your situation. Your item was purchased after 1/10/2015 so the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies.
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
ETA I'm assuming the date of purchase you gave should actually be 26/8/2016?
As above, you have a right to expect it to last a reasonable length of time (more than a year and a couple of days), but you need to prove it was faulty at the time of delivery which will make it harder.http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
ETA I'm assuming the date of purchase you gave should actually be 26/8/2016?
Edited by paintman on Friday 8th September 10:23
How much did you pay for the printer? Also, if you replace surely you could look for similar models which use the same ink cartridges?
Zetec-S said:
paintman said:
Not relevant to your situation. Your item was purchased after 1/10/2015 so the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies.
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
ETA I'm assuming the date of purchase you gave should actually be 26/8/2016?
As above, you have a right to expect it to last a reasonable length of time (more than a year and a couple of days), but you need to prove it was faulty at the time of delivery which will make it harder.http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
ETA I'm assuming the date of purchase you gave should actually be 26/8/2016?
Edited by paintman on Friday 8th September 10:23
How much did you pay for the printer? Also, if you replace surely you could look for similar models which use the same ink cartridges?
I paid just under £100 for the printer and yes I could find one that uses the same ink but because the printer is broken and won't turn on, I cannot get the cartridges to move out of the home position to remove them!
Edited by ashleyman on Friday 8th September 10:49
Zetec-S said:
but you need to prove it was faulty at the time of delivery which will make it harder.
As an aside, I wonder about what this means in practice. If I have a printer, use it for 9 months and a plastic cog breaks, what does fault present at the time of delivery actually mean? It wasn't faulty at the time of delivery #obvs as it printed happily for 9 months, then it broke.Bert
C70R said:
I think you lot are barmy. How on earth are you going to prove that the printer was faulty on delivery, when it's been working for a year? Why does being outside of its warranty period automatically warrant a 50% refund upon failure?
It doesn't.But the product should be fit for purpose and failing after 12 months of use within manufacturers parementers, isn't.
ashleyman said:
I paid just under £100 for the printer and yes I could find one that uses the same ink but because the printer is broken and won't turn on, I cannot get the cartridges to move out of the home position to remove them!
Hmmm, I can understand why you'd be a bit pissed, £100 on a printer which lasts (just over) a year and then £15 compensation is a bit harsh.As already suggested, perhaps push for 50% refund and one of these to get the old cartridges out
Alucidnation said:
You should drag them through the courts if they won't play ball.
£100 is a lot of money these days and anything bought at that price should last a very, very long time.
I can't tell if you're being serious but I'm not taking Tesco to court over a £100 printer. I just wondered if I was in a good spot taking the £15 and ordering a new one from Amazon whilst smashing the old one to bits to get the ink out. Or if I had missed something and I was entitled to repair/replacement considering my circumstances.£100 is a lot of money these days and anything bought at that price should last a very, very long time.
BertBert said:
Zetec-S said:
but you need to prove it was faulty at the time of delivery which will make it harder.
As an aside, I wonder about what this means in practice. If I have a printer, use it for 9 months and a plastic cog breaks, what does fault present at the time of delivery actually mean? It wasn't faulty at the time of delivery #obvs as it printed happily for 9 months, then it broke.Bert
And, of all companies, JohnLewis completely stone-walled us with legal stuff on a vacuum cleaner that my daughter got as a wedding present. It must have been about the only electrical item they sold that still only has 12mths guarantee. It was 16mths old but had only been used for 6 months. I contacted the manufacturer and they collected it and repaired it FOC.
Had a cooker go at 13 months, what I could gather from Which Magazine, consumer advice and the like was that I had to now prove it was faulty from manufacture and take it up with the shop I bought it from. The shop I bought it from refused to do anything. Gas ring stoped staying lit, the flame safety device was an issue.
Upshot it seemed I had to prove the issue outside the manufacturers warranty. Law is not really helpful perhaps. Decided to crack on with life.
Upshot it seemed I had to prove the issue outside the manufacturers warranty. Law is not really helpful perhaps. Decided to crack on with life.
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