The big faulty goods fob off

Over the years I have spent a lot of time politely arguing with retailers that were either unfamiliar with their responsibilities or did not want to face up to them. I have had successes and failures. It helps to be absolutely clear on your rights and to have a printed copy to hand to support what you say. I have done a bit of impromptu staff training in the local Currys branch. 🙂

I am fed-up with arguments and sometimes just fix things when they fail. My Karcher pressure washer failed when it was less than two years old. Rather than take it back to B&Q I took it apart and sorted out the problem.

Apart from retailers being unwilling to face up to their legal responsibilities, the major weakness is the need to provide an expert’s report to support a claim. That is likely to be expensive, and might bake pursuing a case not economically viable.

My solution is to push manufacturers to provide a decent warranty with their products, for example ten years for a washing machine, TV or other major purchase. A two year guarantee might be appropriate for a phone, because the technology is changing so fast. A guarantee should not cover abuse or very heavy use. For example a washing machine could be guaranteed for ten years or 2000 cycles, which ever comes first. This is analogous to a car warranty of several years or a fixed number of miles.

Some may say that it is ridiculous to expect household goods to last for ten years. It is not if they are well made. If manufacturers are responsible for the cost of repairs, it will not be long before we see a dramatic improvement in build quality. For example, my Karcher pressure washer failed because the manufacturer had chosen to use a piece of bent copper strip rather than a proper microswitch. That may have saved a pound but resulted in a machine that failed after little use and I expect will fail again.

I would be very grateful if Which? would draw attention to the length of the manufacturers’ warranty in test reports and include this in calculating scores and selecting ‘Best Buys’.

I agree this is a major problem. I frequently have to quote Section 48B of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 to errant retailers. Even then, the response continues to be “We won’t pay for any repairs after the warranty has expired” until I make the retailer read the wording of the legislation. I also point out that the warranty is an additional contractual right which does not replace my statutory rights, and that it is irrelevant that this additional contractual right has expired.

The root of this problem appears to be that the contractual rights of retailers upon their upstream suppliers do not mirror the statutory rights of consumers upon retailers. A business-to-business contract can opt the parties out of the Sale of Goods Act, leaving the retailer to foot the bill of any repairs without recompense from the errant manufacturer. For example, my local BMW franchised dealer often refuses to honour my statutory rights after a car’s three-year warranty has expired unless they can persuade BMW to reimburse them, which is a very hit-and-miss procedure.