Letter to the Manager. Is this OK?

cdb · 17th July 2007, 19:08

Any advice on this letter/suggestions are welcome. Or is it OK as is?

Quote:

Dear Sir,

Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)

I purchased a Philips 37” Plasma television from your store on 16th Feb 2005 at a cost of £1283.99. The Television has now ceased to work. I’ve had an independent TV engineer inspect the TV for the fault and he has traced it down to screen level, requiring replacement of the plasma panel at a cost of £646.25 including VAT and labour. Having owned the TV for only 28 months, I can not say I am impressed. The engineer did inform me that the TV was made in week43 of 2003, so I am wondering how long it had been in your shop before I bought it.

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) states in section 14 paragraph 2B:

For the purposes of this Act, the quality of goods includes their state and condition and the following (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—

(a) fitness for all the purposes for which goods of the kind in question are commonly supplied,
(b) appearance and finish,
(c) freedom from minor defects,
(d) safety, and
(e) durability.

I am claiming with respect to (e) Durability.

The item as sold to me has not proved durable. I have two other televisions in my house, one is almost 20years old and the other is about 10years old. When I bought this TV I gave my father the old Philips 32” widescreen it replaced and that now is also 10years old.
I would expect a TV of this value to last at least a similar amount of time.

The action I would like you to take is simply to repair the TV to its former working self at no charge to myself.

I am quite happy for your engineers to take the TV away to be repaired.

In the event that the TV can not be repaired, I would expect a suitable replacement, taking into account the price and features of the TV.

I await your reply within the next 10days.

Please find enclosed copies of the engineers report and original receipt

Yours faithfully

gyzmo · 17th July 2007, 19:16

Just a personal nitpick, but after the salutation I would not mention SoGA - just start with the first line ("I purchased a Philips....").

Otherwise, I think the letter is spot on. Let us know how you get on.

cdb · 17th July 2007, 19:17

OK, I was just using this webpage as a rough guide/starting point.

http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/c...g+a+refund.pdf

cdb · 17th July 2007, 21:12

This is the amended letter I'm going to send, assuming noone adds anything before I post it.

I've just added another line pointing out the contract between me and comet, hoping they won't try and fob me off with Philips.

Quote:

Dear Sir,

I purchased a Philips 37” Plasma television from your store on 16th Feb 2005 at a cost of £1283.99. The Television has now ceased to work. I’ve had an independent TV engineer inspect the TV for the fault and he has traced it down to screen level, requiring replacement of the plasma panel at a cost of £646.25 including VAT and labour. Having owned the TV for only 28 months, I can not say I am impressed. The engineer did inform me that the TV was made in week43 of 2003, so I am wondering how long it had been in your shop before I bought it.

Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) I have a contract with yourselves.

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) states in section 14 paragraph 2B:

For the purposes of this Act, the quality of goods includes their state and condition and the following (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—

(a) fitness for all the purposes for which goods of the kind in question are commonly supplied,
(b) appearance and finish,
(c) freedom from minor defects,
(d) safety, and
(e) durability.

I am claiming with respect to (e) Durability.

The item as sold to me has not proved durable. I have two other televisions in my house, one is almost 20years old and the other is about 10years old. When I bought this TV I gave my father the old Philips 32” widescreen it replaced and that now is also 10years old. All three TVs are fully functioning and in daily use.
I would expect a TV of this value to last at least a similar amount of time.

The action I would like you to take is simply to repair the TV to its former working self at no charge to myself.

I am quite happy for your engineers to take the TV away to be repaired.

In the event that the TV can not be repaired, I would expect a suitable replacement, taking into account the price and features of the TV.

I await your reply within the next 10days.

Please find enclosed copies of the engineers report and original receipt

Yours faithfully

MARTIN3030 · 17th July 2007, 23:12

I would head the letter......... re;Sale of Goods act

Keep us posted

MARTIN3030 · 17th July 2007, 23:16

oops also noticed
Should not as amended be as ammended ?
If you do a google search tho it seems both are there !
You learn somethin every day !

cdb · 17th July 2007, 23:20

1 Done.

2 Amend (google > Define ammend gives no definitions)

ForestChav · 20th July 2007, 00:20

"Amend" is the correct spelling

cdb · 24th July 2007, 19:21

I got a reply today. The manager passed me straight on to the service centre.
The guy I spoke to there said I have 2 options.
One is to have it repaired, they work on a sliding scale from 18months to 3 years (recission I guess) and I would have 35% off the cost of the repair, so still alot of money (£300+)
The second option, If I understood it correctly. I pay them £75, admin or whatever and they provide me with a new product on a like for like basis.

No prizes for guessing which option I'm going for.

He said someone will ring me tomorrow and sort it out.

So fingers crossed this is pretty much sorted. I'll let you know if/when I have a shiney new telly on my living room wall.

cdb · 24th July 2007, 19:22

Hmm, duplicate post.

cdb · 26th July 2007, 16:30

I've had the Comet exchange people on the phone and they're giving me an exchange note (what ever they call it) to the full value of the origional TV.
Result!!

Expressit · 26th July 2007, 16:53

Well done, just shows what they are prepared to do if you take the time to write a well constructed letter pointing out their obligations.

stonedecroze · 26th July 2007, 17:01

WELL DONE YOU !!! PROVING AGAIN THAT THE LITTLE PEOPLE CAN WIN

demon_x_slash · 26th July 2007, 19:38

Great news, well done

cdb · 2nd August 2007, 22:17

Justto update..........

I took my TV and accessories back to Comet yesterday and got a nice shiney new Toshiba 42" LCD in exchange. As well as a PS3, bluray r/c and hdmi lead all for an extra £110 over the cost of what Comet gave me to exchange my tell.

I didn't get a warrenty again. I'm in 2 minds. I've just proved you don't need one, but do I need the piece of mind that one gives.

Also the tight woman behind the counter wouldn't reduce the cost of the warrenty to match the new price of the TV. It should have cost £250 with the TV price matched to £870, but she said it goes against the origional price of the telly at £1199 and so will be £299

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