On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 21:02:24 -0000, "Fraser" wrote:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 04:02:56 -0000, "Fraser" wrote:

Things are very different in the UK for this then, we get 6 years
provided
the fault isn't "normal wear and tear" apparently.


Be careful here. The 6 year period is a statute of limitations which
in effect lets the retailer off the hook at the end of that time.
It doesn't mean that they *have* to fix problems with *any* product
for that whole period.

My bad; over simplification in the post, I understand what the 6 year thing
refers to i.e. raising civil cases. Doesn't mean you'll win!! ;-)


In effect, the manufacturer's warranty period means that problems that
occur during the warranty period should be fixed without your having
to negotiate the issue. Between the end of that and 6 years you
*may* have a case, depending on the product, its position in the
market and what it cost. The issue then comes to whether the
retailer wants to play ball - this may well not be a store manager
decision - and how far you then want to pursue the issue.

Having found the receipt, I now realise that it cost £1050, so that should
help the case. It was a top of the range set, highly rated in What HiFi (or
some other mag), and made by one of the largest TV manufacturers. Should be
a reasonable case that it should last four years (receipt confirms purchase
date as Sept 1999). Hopefully!

Based on that, I would certainly pursue it.


Ultimately, you can take it to the court where you may win something.
Before embarking on that course, I would certainly talk to Trading
Standards for an opinion on what you are likely to get. One factor in
this is whether you are prepared to invest the effort required and
wait the amount of time that it will take to get a hearing.

Definitely a good idea, I'll look them up tomorrow & pay them a visit. It
may well be that they provide the tube, and I the labor. It's actually been
in for repair since October, so I don't expect to be charged a lot for the
work given their slowness in even getting it up onto the test bed (about 3-4
weeks ago).

That's not good service at all.

I think that offering a compromise position won't do any harm either.




You mentioned that the there had always been a green caste over the
picture. This could well have been a manufacturing defect which was
a precursor to the catastrophic failure that has happened now.
Arguably, you should have reported that at the outset, but it's too
late for that now.

Would that be negative to my cause? If so, I could keep quiet about it as I
haven't spoken to Comet yet about it.

I wouldn't mention it unless you get completely stonewalled. If that
happens then I might be tempted to push the point. The problem is
that they can say that you should have reported it earlier. However
since the purchase pre-dates the new legislation, it probably doesn't
matter too much.

I suppose the lesson here is, if you buy something top of the line
then go over it very carefully and if it is not perfect then return
it.



Also, it's not always been there; I'd say around 6-9 months before the
current failure. Before that, there were no issues, other than a little
picture foldback, but there were user-accessable screen position controls
I'd used to minimise that.

All in all, I've had several problems. Could these help my case, or should I
just focus on the current fault?


If you can catalogue them then yes, I suppose you could argue
manufacturing defect or design problems.



There is new legislation as a result of an EU Directive which puts the
onus on the retailer to prove that there was not a manufacturing
defect. However, IIRC, you only have 6 months after purchase to
report a problem due to that. Also, I believe that the UK has not
yet fully implemented all of the Directive provisions into statute,
and possibly Scotland will be different anyway. It may be that this
won't apply anyway since your purchase probably predates the new
legislation. Again TS will be able to help you.

When you say manufacturing defect, do you mean a defect unique to my item,
or would it also include a generic design defect?

AIUI, it can be either, because a design defect could make it unfit
for purpose - assuming it does.

The guy in the repair shop
mentioned it as a known problem with this tube, and in my mind that would be
suitable justification for repair.

Is the repair shop associated with the retailer or a separate
organisation? Either way he's your ally, but if he's a separate
organisation, would he be prepared to state that the tube has a known
design problem? Have you tried searching on the web using the part
number of the tube to see if there is any mention of it? Perhaps
some enquiries at Philips would reveal something.


Another thing to think about before you go too far with this is the
residual value in the product. How long would you expect it to last
before buying a replacement? Let's say 8 years for the sake of
argument. Therefore you have £500 of value left if you assume a
linear write down. So, before committing to a lot of time and
direct and indirect cost if you consider legal action or other
remedies, keep in mind that that is really the value that you are
protecting, not the original purchase price.






Fraser.


..andy

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