My Argos MP3 player fiasco! Advice please?

Cian92 · 16-06-2009 09:32PM #1

Right, Maybe a year and a few months ago I bought an MP3 player from argos, after two or three months the sound was only coming from one side of ther earphones. I had no receipt, but was able to prove it was bought in Argos due to stickers on it. I even had the collection point ticket. I received a replacement for it without trouble on 31/05/08. I got a new collection point ticket but no receipt, on top of the ticket was wrote no receipt.

A few days ago the same problem re occured so today I went into argos, and was told argos would not help me as the product was over a year old (only just though). The product should have a greater lifespan than a year so he should have to give me redress. So I asked to speak to the manager who fobbed me off, told me deal with the manufacturer, he was quite rude and refused to listen to any part of the law I told him that he was breaking. He told me it was up to me to deal with the manufacturer which is not true.

I went home and called Philips the manufacturer who told me they would be happy to repair it but I had to get the retailer to sent it to him.. He even gave me a number in relation to the call and if the retailer called him an quoted it, he would explain this to him.

After that I called, the manager, who was even ruder now (there were no customers onlooking now). He stated the most he would do is post on my behalf. I find this inadequate. He also referred to the first replacement as a "goodwill gesture" but at the time it was treated as something I was owed by law.

Should I write a letter,should I send it to this argos and/or argos HQ?

Help please!! (sorry for such a long post)

Venom · 16-06-2009 10:26PM

Cian92 wrote: »

Right, Maybe a year and a few months ago I bought an MP3 player from argos, after two or three months the sound was only coming from one side of ther earphones. I had no receipt, but was able to prove it was bought in Argos due to stickers on it. I even had the collection point ticket. I received a replacement for it without trouble on 31/05/08. I got a new collection point ticket but no receipt, on top of the ticket was wrote no receipt.

A few days ago the same problem re occured so today I went into argos, and was told argos would not help me as the product was over a year old (only just though). The product should have a greater lifespan than a year so he should have to give me redress. So I asked to speak to the manager (a Paul McCormac) who fobbed me off, told me deal with the manufacturer, he was quite rude and refused to listen to any part of the law I told him that he was breaking. He told me it was up to me to deal with the manufacturer which is not true.

I went home and called Philips the manufacturer who told me they would be happy to repair it but I had to get the retailer to sent it to him.. He even gave me a number in relation to the call and if the retailer called him an quoted it, he would explain this to him.

After that I called, Paul McCormac (the manager), who was even ruder now (there were no customers onlooking now). He stated the most he would do is post on my behalf. I find this inadequate. He also referred to the first replacement as a "goodwill gesture" but at the time it was treated as something I was owed by law.

Should I write a letter,should I send it to this argos and/or argos HQ?

Help please!! (sorry for such a long post)

Hell yes you should write of complaint, both to Argos HQ and also to the store in question and make sure to state you are sending it to both parties in the letter. Shops pulling crap like "goodwill gesture" I would of thought had died out by now but I guess some folks just dont grasp that thanks to the wonders of the internet people have a much better understanding of their rights thesedays

jor el · 16-06-2009 11:32PM

Cian92 wrote: »

After that I called, (the manager), who was even ruder now (there were no customers onlooking now). He stated the most he would do is post on my behalf. I find this inadequate. He also referred to the first replacement as a "goodwill gesture" but at the time it was treated as something I was owed by law.

First off, remove the managers name. It's unfair to name him on a public forum without his consent, and it's against the rules.

If the manager said he would send the mp3 player off on your behalf, why is this not good enough for you? Isn't that exactly what Philips want to happen, and what they told you to do? It was a goodwill gesture to accept the first one back without a receipt, as legally, they didn't have to do anything at all.

Since you have no receipt, and you already got a replacement, and the manufacturer is willing to repair this one, and the store is going to send it back, you're pushing your luck asking for anything else. I don't see what else you could possibly want.

Cian92 · 17-06-2009 10:52AM

jor el wrote: »

First off, remove the managers name. It's unfair to name him on a public forum without his consent, and it's against the rules.

Done

jor el wrote: »

If the manager said he would send the mp3 player off on your behalf, why is this not good enough for you? Isn't that exactly what Philips want to happen, and what they told you to do

The way he said it he would just be paying for postage, not sending it off to philips on my behalf, where as I understand its up to the retailer to to give me redress in this case.

jor el wrote: »

It was a goodwill gesture to accept the first one back without a receipt, as legally, they didn't have to do anything at all.

They did have to do something, as I was able to prove it was bought in Argos as I had one of the collection point tickets for buying it. The consumer connect website says you have to have a proof of purchase and this proof of purchase does not have to be a receipt.

jor el wrote: »

Since you have no receipt, and you already got a replacement, and the manufacturer is willing to repair this one, and the store is going to send it back, you're pushing your luck asking for anything else. I don't see what else you could possibly want.

Unfortuneately the replacement also didnt work, this is simply not good enough. I should not have to deal with the manufacturer, the reatiler should have to.

Venom wrote:

Hell yes you should write of complaint, both to Argos HQ and also to the store in question

Should I send it by registered post?

madmik · 17-06-2009 11:38AM

Cian92 wrote: »

Done

The way he said it he would just be paying for postage, not sending it off to philips on my behalf, where as I understand its up to the retailer to to give me redress in this case.

They did have to do something, as I was able to prove it was bought in Argos as I had one of the collection point tickets for buying it. The consumer connect website says you have to have a proof of purchase and this proof of purchase does not have to be a receipt.

Unfortuneately the replacement also didnt work, this is simply not good enough. I should not have to deal with the manufacturer, the reatiler should have to.

Should I send it by registered post?

they are being more than fair with you agreeing to fix it outside of warranty

youve already had a replacement

You didnt have a receipt

stickers and collection tickets are not proof or purchase ,neither do they state the purchase date or prove that you actually purchased the item and cannot be used to check payment details

Cian92 · 17-06-2009 01:14PM

madmik wrote: »

they are being more than fair with you agreeing to fix it outside of warranty

The product should last more than a year, a warranty can't take from your statutory rights.

madmik wrote: »

youve already had a replacement

Which also malfunctioned, thus it was not a proper form of redress.

madmik wrote: »

stickers and collection tickets are not proof or purchase ,neither do they state the purchase date or prove that you actually purchased the item and cannot be used to check payment details

My collection ticket, states how much was paid for the item, the items name, the items purchase date and where the item was purchased, it even tells me the exact time it was purchased.

madmik · 17-06-2009 02:02PM

tickets,branded shopping bags ,cctv footage are often confused with receipts which they are not

MissFlitworth · 17-06-2009 02:10PM

I had a similar problem with an mp3 player before- turns out it was the earphones coming to the end of their life, could be worth a look (you probably have already, it just took me an embarrassingly long time and lots of calling the mp3 player names before I copped that it was the earphones themselves)

If not, best of luck getting it fixed

foggy_lad · 17-06-2009 02:27PM

and i thought argos were good dealing with faulty goods, maybe you just got a manager that wants to be working somewhere else and is taking his/her frustration out on customers?

from your posts you have been very reasonable and can and have proved you bought the item in argos so you do not need a receipt and the manager should know this or be sacked for incompetance!

sending the item off on your behalf is not the same as taking responsibiliy for the faulty product which argos should be doing as they must stand by everything they sell!

stick with it and send off an email to argos HQ stating what you have stated here and remind them of their obligations in regard to your statutory rights! also inform them of how rude you thought the manager was but i think in a lot of stores this is commonplace and could even be supported by headquarters as it turns many people away from taking matters further.

best of luck dealing with argos and also you do not need to send letters of complaint by registered post as it can be resonably assumed that any reputable company has systems in place to recieve mail in the normal way.

jor el · 17-06-2009 02:52PM

Cian92 wrote: »

My collection ticket, states how much was paid for the item, the items name, the items purchase date and where the item was purchased, it even tells me the exact time it was purchased.

That's not a collection ticket, that's a receipt. I thought you were referring to the white ticket that's often on the boxes you get from Argos, the one with just the product number (123-4567) on it.

Why did they put no-receipt on the original replacement then? This is very confusing. With this receipt, the law is on your side. Argos must accept the return and deal with the manufacturer. If they don't, you can seek further redress through the small claims court, or by writing to head office first.

Cian92 · 17-06-2009 03:03PM

jor el wrote: »

That's not a collection ticket, that's a receipt. I thought you were referring to the white ticket that's often on the boxes you get from Argos, the one with just the product number (123-4567) on it.

Why did they put no-receipt on the original replacement then? This is very confusing. With this receipt, the law is on your side. Argos must accept the return and deal with the manufacturer. If they don't, you can seek further redress through the small claims court, or by writing to head office first.

Sorry about the mix up. Unfortuneately Im under 18 so I dont think I can go to the small claims court.

foggy_lad · 17-06-2009 07:16PM

Cian92 wrote: »

Sorry about the mix up. Unfortuneately Im under 18 so I dont think I can go to the small claims court.

you can ask a parent or guardian to do this on your behalf.

Dozen Wicked Words · 17-06-2009 07:21PM

Do they still sell this particular MP3 player. Shame you haven't had much luck with it, sounds like a duff model. For the price of them you would hope for a bit of reliability.

Oh, and not much point in OP removing the managers name if it can be seen in next post down who quoted original OP, is there a way that can be removed as well?

My Argos MP3 player fiasco! Advice please?

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