Poor Service at Sony Ctr, Jervis S/C

Mr. Skeffington

Purchased a pair of wireless headphones last week and when I took them home I noticed that there were a few intermittant faults:

1) Headphone signal randomly cut out
2) Difficulty connecting to devices

Tested the headphones for a number of hours and was unsatisfied and did not feel that they were fit for purpose.

Went into the Sony ctr today and explained the problem, the sales assistant tested them for about 15 minutes and he said that he did not experience any problems with them. I re-iterated that the faults were intermittant and that I was not concerned with the fact that they worked during his tests, I then requested a refund.

The sales agent said that it was against the shops policy to issue refunds and that he would give me a credit note. At this stage I was loosing patience with the sales agent and I insisted that I wanted a refund. He explained that unless he witnessed the fauld that I would not be entitled to a refund.

I then got really pissed off and asked again for a refund. Again this was refused, I left the store with a hand written note to say that the product was left for testing, the lads in the shop said that they would call me to let me know the outcome.

I do feel that I was mistreated here and that I should have been entitled to a refund. I dont know what course of action to take. I dont want to return to the store and I am really annoyed. Does anyone have any advise on what to do.

Thanks

sionnach

Legally they're only obliged to offer a refund if they're actually faulty. The sales assistant couldn't find any evidence of a fault, i'd say they're perfectly entitled to have it properly tested before offering the refund. All they have to go on at the moment is 15 minutes of it performing fine after a customer's claim it's broken. For all they know you could just be having second thoughts about the product and just chancing your arm on a refund.

My advice, just wait a day or two for them to verify the faulty status. They don't have a policy of taking a customer's word for it and they're entitled to that policy.

Oracle

If the store says they won't give you a refund because they can't find a fault, then it sounds (sorry!) like a case for the Small Claims Court. The procedure is very simple and straightforward, just ring the local court service in your area. They'll send you a form, fill out the details, enclose the fee of €15 and send it back. More details here: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/justice/the-legal-system/courts-system/small_claims_court/?searchterm=Small%20Claims%20Court,

If you don't want to visit the store again you could phone them and ask for the results of their tests and if they are prepared to give you a refund. If they won't don't forget to say you intend taking the case to the Small Claims Court, just say it in a calm manner. Most retailers would rather give a refund in a genuine case than go through the hassle of court. By stating that you intend taking a case you're giving them the opportunity to settle with you now, in a reasonable and less time consuming way.

The policy of the fault must be evident to the staff in the store or else we send it for testing before a refund is becoming more common, the mobile phone shops use it too. While it seems reasonable I think it's not completely fair on the customer who is without the utility of the product, after having paid, and needs to send more time returning to the store. It also has the effect of putting the burden of proof on the customer, when legally if a product is faulty, then the customer is entitled to a refund. It's the retailer, not the manufacturer who is obliged to provide that refund. It's important to know that store policies cannot limit or change your rights in law, although store management and their staff sometimes act as if they do.

Unfortunately I've had to resort to the Small Claims Court myself, and so has a friend of mine. In both the cases the store in question settled by giving a full refund. Some retailers, thankfully a minority, think they can operate whatever way they choose regardless of their legal obligations. It's a pity it takes a court claim to make them behave reasonably and responsibly. Good luck whatever you decide.

miju

in fairness , there would be no case for a small claims fault here yet

customer says it's faulty , shop then tries them for 15 minutes and are working fine with no evidence of said fault , cust insists fault is still there so shop are perfectly entitled to verify fault with manufacturer before issuing refund

Owen

You should try the Sony Centres in Cork, they're owned by a a guy who has a separate HiFi & TV Store, and he regularly shares staff between them. We had a Sony Product promotion at work, and every member of my team did quite well. I walked away with a Projector, HiFi, and top of the range Camcorder, and others did equally well.

All good so far? Here's where it goes pear shaped. The company supplying the goods bought them directly from Sony in Broomhill Road in Tallaght. You'd assume the warranty is Irish, if not European Wide. The Sony Centre in Cork doesn't seem to think so. My projector had trouble with the component in for HiDef, and one of the lad's CD Player's tray packed in. No way in hell would they even entertain sending it back to Sony on our behalf.

I was lucky enough to be able to fix my Projector myself (Reflowing where the phono jack hits the board), but the mechanical issue on my colleague's CD Player is still there.

IMHO, if you buy the rights to the Sony Centre name, you should also have to provide a decent backup service too.

Fanboy

In fairness, if they cant duplicate the fault, they dont need to do anything....they were being kind to give you and exchange/credit note!

You'd have people who bought on impulse, bringing back tv's saying 'it goes blank every 43mins' or someone buying a camera, for a specific event, then bringing it back after the event saying its broken...but you cant actually unless blah blah blah, would destroy the stores sales.

If Sony cant duplicate the fault on the products return, they send back the product to the store, along with a bill for their engineers time. Its not cheap, hence why the stores insist to witness the fault.

wyndham

Mr. Skeffington wrote:

Purchased a pair of wireless headphones last week and when I took them home I noticed that there were a few intermittant faults:

1) Headphone signal randomly cut out
2) Difficulty connecting to devices

Tested the headphones for a number of hours and was unsatisfied and did not feel that they were fit for purpose.

Went into the Sony ctr today and explained the problem, the sales assistant tested them for about 15 minutes and he said that he did not experience any problems with them. I re-iterated that the faults were intermittant and that I was not concerned with the fact that they worked during his tests, I then requested a refund.

The sales agent said that it was against the shops policy to issue refunds and that he would give me a credit note. At this stage I was loosing patience with the sales agent and I insisted that I wanted a refund. He explained that unless he witnessed the fauld that I would not be entitled to a refund.

I then got really pissed off and asked again for a refund. Again this was refused, I left the store with a hand written note to say that the product was left for testing, the lads in the shop said that they would call me to let me know the outcome.

I do feel that I was mistreated here and that I should have been entitled to a refund. I dont know what course of action to take. I dont want to return to the store and I am really annoyed. Does anyone have any advise on what to do.

Thanks

Sounds like you hada the buyer's remorse and just wanted your money back, to which you are not entitled. If they were faulty why not just ask to exchange for a new pair of headphones instaed of demanding your money?

j4vier

can anyone clarify something for me
i heard a variety of opionions here regardging the fact that the customer is entitled to a refund or not and in what circumstances
some people are contradicting others so can any1 tell me what does the law actually say about this? Not opinions please
I mean the law is the law it cannot depend on the different shop u buy things so its good to know where the consumer stands

sionnach

Legally the customer is entitled to a refund if the product is not fit for the purpose intended or of merchantable quality, eg a faulty product.

The problem is that it appears to the Sony Centre that the product is perfectly fine. If a fault can't be found they're under no obligation to refund him.

j4vier

ok that makes more sense. thank you