How is this fair - guarantee valid from purchase not delivery?

Question

My dishwasher packed up a few days ago, but as it came with a two year purchase guarantee I wasn't too worried. I bought it online on the 5 Sept 06 and it was delivered on the 12 Sept 06. Now the company I bought it off said that the guarantee was valid from purchase date and not delivery! That's so unfair as I wasn't in physical possesion of the dishwasher until a week later. I have missed the garantee period by a few days.

I know I can't do anything about it as it is in their small print...but grrrrr!

Answer 1

On a practical level it depends on what you mean by “packed up”. It may require simply a service or some routine maintenance but if it really has reached the end of the road my argument would be as follows :



1) Start with your rights under the Sale of Goods Acts The warranty is irrelevant if its effect is to limit your greater rights under the Act.



2) Under the Act the dishwasher must be of satisfactory quality at the time of sale i.e the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking into account the price and any description. Part of the definition includes durability.



3) There is no legal definition of how long a lifespan “durability” implies but most reasonable people would expect a dishwasher to last for more than 2 years (subject to any routine servicing etc. recommended by the manufacturer ).Conclusion : the ‘washer was not as durable as you had a right to expect under the Act. However you would probably need to get an opinion on that from someone in the dishwasher business.



4) You could also argue that even if the warranty were relevant it would be “unreasonable ” under The Unfair Contract Terms Act to count the 2 years from the date of purchase. The “2 year warranty” gave you a reasonable expectation of fault free use and enjoyment of your goods for a full 24 months. Not 24 months minus time in transit awaiting delivery.



I can’t guarantee that any of this will convince the retailer to help you out but I hope it gives you some ammunition. Good luck.

Answer 2

I wouldn't worry at all..the reason being that, in addition to what JZD has already said the various UK consumer legislation, esp the Sale & Supply to Consumer Regs 2002 give you various important rights. Much simplified the law says:

The shop keeper is liable and responsible to you, not the manf.

A manf.'s guarantee can give you added but not lesser rights than the law has set out, it is probably riddled with lots of ifs and buts.

The goods remained at the sellers risk until they were safely delivered to you. ( S20 Sale of Goods Act 1979 as amended by Sale & Supply of Goods to Consumer Regs. 2002. ) also see Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, as amended .. " consumer guarantees .. where goods are sold .. with a consumer guarantee, the guarantee takes effect AT THE TIME the goods are delivered .. " ( words in capitals are my emphasis )

Their two years on your dishwasher is, I would argue less than your existing rights that you might be able to exercise if something goes wrong.

For the first six months if anything goes wrong the presumption in your favour is that the dealer has to prove the goods were not inherently faulty, it's called the reverse burden of proof. .. but !

Even after six months and even up to six years ( 5 in Scotland ) you have certain rights such as repair, replacement, a % of the purchase price back, etc. all on a principle that some goods will obviously have and be expected to have a longer life than others.

If you do need to exercise your various rights eg. repair, replacement etc the dealer has to carry them out without undue delay so they can't leave you without a dishwasher for months on end playing you along.

Their 'small print' therefore can't take away anything from you that the law has given

I suggest you speak to the dealer gently reminding them of the points above, and any sign of them stringing you along visit you local council trading standards/ consumer protection dept. and they'll help/

Answer 3

If you are unlucky enough for your machine to break down in that final week, I think the seller may have difficulty trying to avoid the guarantee by relying on the 'purchase not delivery' clause on the basis that the machine was not in your possession until delivery.



Up until then you had not bought a specific machine, you'd just bought 'a machine'. you can't have a warranty on a non-specific item.

Answer 4

Did you contact the store or the manufacturer? If it was the store, call the manufacturer directly, they may be willing to intervene. If you've already done this and are in the US, call your state's consumer protection department/attorney general's office - they may be able to assist you.

Answer 5

But you ought to have known about that when you bought the dishwasher if you did your due diligence.



So you made the agreement knowing that this would be the case.

Answer 6

Grammaticality, G.O.D ought to propose assured in one day delivery. To bypass over the sessions between the letters, on objective might or won't be meant as disrespectful to the writer. i'm hoping not.

Answer 7

it is unfair but they go by receipt dates as proof. when you fill in the guarantee they always ask for date of purchase not of delivery, though in your case it was only acouple of days off, in some cases you have to wait months for delivery which is when it's really unfair.

Answer 8

i don't blame you for being angry. and no it isn't fair but! we are governed by con artists thieves and liars. so i suppose the example that parliament and new labour set! is bound to be set in stone through out our laughable!! service industry. you try complaining about it and see how far you get......trouble is that labour have made it so that no one is accountable or reachable. the whole of our service industry is based on a set of cheap con tricks. its like being governed by a body of second hand car dealers.

Answer 9

See if Trading Standards can get them to change their mind. You don't say where you are, but in the UK try http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/