Comet and faulty DVD recorder

[jasmineuk]

Last November my husband and I bought a Philips DVD reorder. It worked fine until March when we couldn’t get a disk in or out of the drive and the LCD display said ‘Blocked’. We took it back to Comet and they said they had to send it back to Philips, which they did. It came back after a fortnight and Philips apparently said they had never heard of this fault before and they replaced the unit.

In June (7 months after we bought the original machine), this DVD recorder has gone kaput with exactly the same problem (so much for Philips never having heard of this problem). We took it back to Comet and said we didn’t want another Philips DVD recorder as clearly they are rubbish. The manager said that he had to contact Philips to get a code to authorise him to refund our money. We have pointed out that our contract is with the retailer – Comet – but they will not listen to reason and say they have to contact Philips, send the machine back and get a replacement, which we just didn't want now, as we’d prefer a different make. Eventually they sent away our DVD recorder and again another one came back as they can't repair the fault. They will not guarantee the new machine for 12 months - they say it is a 12 month guarantee rom last November when we bought the first one.

We're now on our third DVD recorder and with November a few months away I know it will not last till then. When it goes wrong again, what do we do? I really want either a refund or at least a different make. What are our rights? I pointed out that our contract is with the retailer not Philips but they just would not listen!

[blacksheep1979]

Tell them they have tried to fix the problem on multiple occasions and failed to the extent that they had to give you a new machine each time. Each machines life has only been aprox 3 months and this is unsatisfactory.

Even if it doesn't break until after the 12 months under the sale of goods act a product has an expected lifespan and this can be way over the 12 months that the manufacturers/sellers give - especially electronics from a top brand name.

So when it breaks politely point out the above and firmly ask for a refund (in a loadish but not shouting voice) they won't want a scene in the shop and will probably issue you a refund (or a store credit - offer them this as a halfway point). If that fails then write to head office explaining your problem and state the full timeline and insist on a refund otherwise you may have to take matters futher with trading standards and legal action to recover your money. If that fails issue a LBA and then take em to court.

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[pleinichen]

The simple answer is to not take this sort of sh*t from Comet (as an ex-employee) i can confirm that not only do the management have no idea of consumer legislation but the company also directly refuses to acknowledge there comitment to the consumer as set out in the sale of goods act).

It is your legal right as a consumer to have this matter resolved under the terms of the contract of sale when you purchased the item. This means, very simply, that the retailer has a legal (and written - in the form of you receipt) contract to provide the stated warranty to you. If they are unable or willing to do so then they are in breach of both the "sale of goods and services act" and of Trading Standards Regulations - both the Trading Standards website and any site quoting sale of goods act advice will confirm.

The best trick is to stand your ground in the shop. Make the manage come out, make sure it's in the middle of the shop (in public) and clearly quote the law to him. Make sure you speak loudly and clearly enough for every customer to hear but don't shout or get aggressive. It's about the worst advert for his shop that he could imagine, he will know you are well within your rights and (in the long run) it will be much cheaper and easier for him to just give you your money back and usher you out of the shop then to continue to lose business as other customer leave.

From personal experience i would recommend that you then take your money to somewhere like John Lewis or Richer Sounds - either way you know the service will be much much better.

Don't be mistaken by thinking that this is an objectional manager at your local Comet - it is a standard business practice of a lot of the 'out of town' national retailers.

I had a very similar situation with a pda at Staples and eventually printed the Sale of Goods Act out and handed it to the manager (i highlighted the section that states the contract is between the retailer and the consumer - the only contract the manufacturer has is with their customer, ie. the retail company). Then i asked him for his written refusal to give a full refund so i may sent both to the small claims court and the local paper. You would be amazed at how fast the till opened and the cash was in my hand - he didn't even care that i had paid on visa initially! A little harsher than i would recommend but i was not in a good mood by this point.

If all else fail then take them to the small claims court via www.moneyclaim.gov.uk and get all you money back.

[rosiecotton]

Although I agree that you could have stood your ground and argued for rescission of the contract and a partial refund, I have to be realistic and say that as you have accepted the replacement from the store and taken it away that you will have weakened your argument.

If it goes wrong again, however, you can push the matter under the Sale of Goods Act anyway, regardless of the warranty.

[laddie007]

sorry to here about youre dvd recorder but im not suprised ,there is a forum on the net for these dvd recorders and the ammount of faults there is with them,iva hed 4 of these recorders alltogthor only got 2 and both of them have been back to philips for repair and there playing up again now i have to tap the front to get the led to show up these are the worse product philips ever made and because of that i will never buy a philips product again,in the 4 years that these recorders have been availanle they have still got tha same faults.buy a panasonic there brilliant .

[Park]

From Comet, Barking, Essex I bought dvd/vcr combi believing it was a recorder for £79.99. On opening the box carefully from the manual I found it only records on vhs tape but not on CD or DVD. So next morning I took it back to exchange for what I wanted. The manager refused to exchange it. I was prepared to pay the price difference. The manager said since you have opened the box we will not take it back, exchange, credit note or refund it, even after one day. I reminded Comet about consumer rights within 14 days entitlement of the full refund. He said our policy is, if you open the box then no refund or exchange … I said I have not even taken it out of the box, there is no software involved but he would not budge. How can comet get away with this ?

[ForestChav]

Originally Posted by Park

From Comet, Barking, Essex I bought dvd/vcr combi believing it was a recorder for £79.99. On opening the box carefully from the manual I found it only records on vhs tape but not on CD or DVD. So next morning I took it back to exchange for what I wanted. The manager refused to exchange it. I was prepared to pay the price difference. The manager said since you have opened the box we will not take it back, exchange, credit note or refund it, even after one day. I reminded Comet about consumer rights within 14 days entitlement of the full refund. He said our policy is, if you open the box then no refund or exchange … I said I have not even taken it out of the box, there is no software involved but he would not budge. How can comet get away with this ?

Because it isn't faulty. YOU didn't check that it matches your needs, by checking with an assistant or reading the information about the model properly.

They are only obliged to do something if the item is faulty, not because you thought it did something. Though I suppose out of goodwill they could give you a credit note.

[gyzmo]

1. Please create a new thread instead of hijacking another one.

2. were you led to believe that it was a recorder? If not, then you have no leg to stand on. You made a bad purchase and the law does not protect you from such.

[Park]

Can't find the link to start another topic, sorry but to conclude the topic,
It went kapoot after extensive tape use, smelt like burn then went dead. Took it back, their engineer looked at it and confirmed and gave me refund.