unfit for use within 14 days

Splinter

Hi Folks,

was in Talktome on swords mainstreet today and over heard this which really cofused me.
a young lady had purchased a phone 10 days ago in T2M in dundrum and basically the phone was not working (1 button not responding and dropping signal) - the button was checked by the guy behind the counter and yes, faulty. so she asked where she stood and he told her that once a phone is outside 48 hours it needed to go back for repair, she had stated that she was told within 14 days for replacement if not fit for use and the guy behind the coutner claimed that this had changed since the new year.

now i had purchased a phone christmas ever with an issue and came back after 14 days and he told me that 14 day was the standard for replacement... did he basically fob this girl off or is there a change to consumer rights as regarding repair/replacement?

Mark

Gillo

Yeah, if it's a warranty issue he fobbed her off. Depending on where you buy it you're normally at 14 days to a month.

Oryx

I bought a 3 phone this month. The terms were that if I returned it in saleable condition (just if I didnt want it) within 14 days I would get a full refund. It allowed me to check coverage. It wasnt to do with warranty.

I dont think theres anything generally set down in law about a 14 day refund of faulty goods. But confusion may have arisen from similar terms to mine above.

Sam Vimes

48 hours is a bit ridiculous but unfortunately there is no law requiring 14 days or any specific time. if she brought the shop to the small claims court at a cost of €9 she'd probably win

Gurgle

Commander Vimes wrote: »

if she brought the shop to the small claims court at a cost of €9 she'd probably win

Win what?
She will get her phone repaired under warranty. Its faulty, which is a completely different thing to 'unfit for use'.

miju

a phone lasting 10 days would fall well short of a product lasting for a reasonable amount of time.

that girl was entitled to a replacement phone and the guy basically fobbed her off goodo

foggy_lad

is it not law that phones breaking within 28days of purchase must be replaced or total refund given? afaik this is the case which is totally different to three's "change of mind" policy which allows you return a working un-used phone with all packaging etc for a full refund within 14days. store staff let themselves down yet again!

Oryx

foggy_lad wrote: »

is it not law that phones breaking within 28days of purchase must be replaced or total refund given? afaik this is the case which is totally different to three's "change of mind" policy which allows you return a working un-used phone with all packaging etc for a full refund within 14days. store staff let themselves down yet again!

I couldnt find anything about it during a detailed trawl of the sale of goods act lately. Do you have any firm info on that?

Sam Vimes

Gurgle wrote: »

Win what?
She will get her phone repaired under warranty. Its faulty, which is a completely different thing to 'unfit for use'.

win her case in the small claims court. the retailer can offer you a repair, refund or replacement and if you're not happy with their offer, you can take them to the small claims court. them's the rules

how is faulty not the same as unfit for use? i know there's the type of case where someone sells you a toaster and says it'll fly you to work. in that case its definitely not fit for use and no amount of repairing will make it so but something that's faulty is still unfit for use. if it was fit for use there'd be no problem

and having worked in a phone shop i can tell you that repairs only work maybe 50%* of the time so a replacement is always preferable, especially when it was only bought a week ago


*made up statistic. its around that

foggy_lad wrote: »

is it not law that phones breaking within 28days of purchase must be replaced or total refund given? afaik this is the case which is totally different to three's "change of mind" policy which allows you return a working un-used phone with all packaging etc for a full refund within 14days. store staff let themselves down yet again!

no its not law, as i already said. you really have to look up these laws before you claim that other people don't know the law. most stores have it as a policy but its not the law

Doctor DooM

Commander Vimes wrote: »

no its not law, as i already said. you really have to look up these laws before you claim that other people don't know the law. most stores have it as a policy but its not the law

Possibly foggy is getting confused with the cooling off period for contracts?

Garth

Sounds to me like he was suspicious of customer damage to the phone. All phone distributors in Ireland allow a 28 day faulty return period.

Splinter

right so out of curiosity, i rang consumer affairs yesterday and checked this with them. Turns out there is no "unfit for use" period. its at the shops discretion, which is in most cases 14days