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People really should learn their rights, especially the sale of goods act.
The main point of this legislation is that your contract is with the retailer and not the manufacturer. If an article fails (misuse and normal wear/tear excepted) during the first 6 months then it is ALWAYS the retailers statutory responsibility to correct the problem. They CANNOT evade this obligation by referring you to a manufacturers warranty or guarantee. The act takes precedence over ALL waranties and guarantees offered.
6 months is the time generally considered as the 'infant mortality' period. During this period goods that fail are automatically considered to of had a manufacturing defect and retailers are therefore obliged to refund or repair. After 6 months things start to change and you may have to prove that a fault was not due to misuse. There are 'durability' clauses built into the act which can extend the timeframe significantly beyond 6 months but that can be a bit of a grey area (durability is defined as 'the time an article should be expected to last before developing a fault'). For a TV, for instance, the durability period may be 12 months.
Note that during the first 6 months failure would nearly always be considered as a serious breach of contract so a consumer can ALWAYS opt for money back rather than for a repair. A consumer is under no obligation to accept repair during this period.
Also note that during this period it is NOT necessary to provide a till receipt as proof of purchase. It is perfectly acceptable to provide a bank statement or credit card receipt as proof (its always best to make larger purchases as single transactions so the amount matches - if you buy a TV with other stuff at the same time the amounts may not match although with a TV the shop should have a record anyway as they are obliged to fill in one of those TV licensing record thingies).Comment
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