I'll summarise to keep this as short as possible: Bought car and collected on Monday. On Friday, thought I had a flat tyre, took to tyre garage, alloy wheel cracked in many places. Garage said cracks looked old. Also, had a weld, showing signs of previous repair. Called garage i bought car from. Salesman initially very helpful, asking me to email photo of wheel, so he could replace. Sent email saying "I am sourcing a wheel for you" Chased up later - boss refused to replace wheel (cost of £530, plus tyre at £300) I stated this wasn't acceptable. Wouldn't budge. Offered instead to collect the wheel and "repair" It has many cracks, tyre garage says repair is impossible / unsafe Also, no spare wheel (car has runflats) - so sending wheel obviously renders car un-usable. Car was sold with MOT put on car a day before I collected it. Tyre garage asked an off-duty VOSA inspector to take a look - he said it shouldn't of passed MOT and to appeal the MOT cert (he was off duty- but that is his job) I've informed the garage of my position. Basically, that I believe under the sale of goods act, the garage has a duty to replace the wheel, since repair would be impossible. What should I do? They're asking for the wheel back, but i need VOSA to inspect first to see if MOT is invalid?

Afternoon, I purchased a laptop from *a company* in December 2011. Unfortunately, it is faulty, and has stopped working altogether due to a hardware fault. I have spoken to *a company*, who have told me that they will repair the laptop. The problem is that I do not trust the laptop, I am no longer happy with my purchase. I requested a refund instead, and have been told that I cannot have one, as I have owned the laptop more than 30 days (had it two months). I have read through the "Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)", and believe that under this act, because the laptop has developed a fault within 6 months of purchase, the fault is considered to be a fault since purchase. And as such, the product is not of a satisfactory quality or fit for purpose. Am I right in saying that I am entitled to a refund as a consumer? And if so, what should I do if they still refuse? Regards, Gingbeard

Quick story: Bought a ASUS laptop last year for £700 from an online retailer. Out of the box all seems fine and shiny, notice something on the cover around the screen but not very noticeable; looked and felt like glue and dust residue from the protective film. On the second week I went on a business trip with the computer and during the trip someone noticed that the 'something' were very minute scratches and not glue/dust residue. The computer also started to act funny, so as soon as I got back home I called the retailer about both issues (the laptop acting funny and the scratches) who passed me onto their repair agent and the laptop was sent for repairs. The repair agent found an issue with the motherboard and that was covered by the manufacturer's warranty but the scratches were not. I discussed with the retailer but they insisted that I accepted and inspected the laptop in the 7 days given and if I did not spot the scratches then it is my problem. What I have done now: Since the retailer will not budge, I considered going to the small claims but instead I used Section 75 of the Consumers Protection Act with the credit card company I used. However, they have just replied back saying that no contract was broken...!?!?! What I believe the law is: Distance selling rules - I like the item and kept it after inspection period given, so no help here. But if the DSR period is over then the SOGA comes in to force. Sale of Goods Act - (1) The goods are 'faulty' and are not of satisfactory quality. (2) The fault was discovered and realised within the first month, in fact, only two and half weeks so well within the 6 year period. (3) I do not have to prove the fault was my doing as the goods were within 60 days - as I only wanted a repair. The scratches are very minute and hard to spot on the glossy frame and you need to be really close to it and tilting it at an angle to actually see it let alone notice it, therefore it was ignored in the first instance. I asked the repair agents for a report of the scratches who also mentioned that the scratches were not 'noticeable unless you are looking for them'. I wish to contact the credit card company once more before going to small claims, so I need help and practical advice. Please, please, please help me to find similar law cases, especially discovering faults after a time period.

Hello all, I ordered a new car which displayed faults and poor build quality upon collection and then I discovered a gross misrepresentation. I rejected the car within 5 days (the faults) then a further 6 (misrepresentation). THREE & A HALF YEARS LATER the car still sits on my drive - the dealer does not want to know and contemtuously ignores me. The Financial Omb. proves to be useless as it makes up its own law and the Sale of Goods/ Misrepresentation Act apparently means nothing - you need to have a case under the SOGA- but then its like judging a beautiful baby competition on the basis of the size of its mother-in-laws feet! A lawyer whom I consulted asked me why I did not "just return the car"? Can anyone tell me how I would have done this without a court order compelling them to take it back? When I took it to them they simply did not want to know and if I had have left it on the street and posted the keys through their letterbox It would still be mine - I would have been responsible for any fines/accidents etc. re the car and would have abondoned my evidence. Additionally, I have heard that the courts do not like used of the "right of self help"! When I bought the car I had not saved the extra £15000 to take the dealer to court so I am now having to not only hire cars etc. but save to pay the lawyer.... Can someone please comment because this attempt to squeeze this consumer is getting me down! Sorry cannot now edit title - Should be Right of Self Help

I bought a Samsung netbook from Dixons in April '09. It was 400 pounds, so not cheap! A few days later I found the laptop had a fault. The laptop's screen turns itself on even when the laptop is off. So you have to take out the battery. Anyway, annoying and spoiled my enjoyment of the product. I informed Dixons about 10 days after purchase about the problem. They told me to take it in, but I live abroad and only get back to the UK once a year. One year and four days after purchase I contacted them again to say I was in the UK and wanted a repair. They told me that I was out of warranty. I pointed out that I'd informed them of this problem within days of purchase. But they fobbed me off. I left the country without having the laptop repaired. Only recently I found out about the UK sale of goods act, which allows me to claim within six years. I also found out about an EU directive 1999/44/EC which gives me a two year guarantee which presumably Dixons should have honoured. Before I drag the laptop back to the UK, can anyone tell me if I have a claim. I'd love to take them to court if I knew I could win. I should add - last year, when Dixons didn't want to repair 1 year and 4 days after purchase, they told me they would not look at the fault unless I paid my own engineer to check the fault and write out a statement that it was a fault of the design/manufacture. I didn't do that because it sounded like it would be expensive. BTW, I just emailed all of this to Dixons, with the old emails showing purchase, when I notified them of the problem etc.

Hello, I need a bit of a sanity check and some advice, as I have received two lots of advice for a problem I'm having, both of which are valid. The background: I bought a musical instrument in May, and within 2 weeks it stopped working properly. I took it back to the shop and they repaired it. The same fault occurred to a lesser extent several more times, but after leaving the instrument for a while (20-30 minutes usually) it would start working again. The quality of the tone was noticeably reducing, however. In September I was playing the instrument in a performance and it stopped working halfway through, with the same problem as before - this was extremely embarrassing, as you can imagine. I took the instrument back to the shop where I bought it and asked for a refund. The shop said they didn't know what caused the problem so couldn't give me a refund, and would send it off to the manufacturers to have it investigated. I was a bit upset and just wanted my money back - I paid nearly £1000 for it (a brand new instrument), and had lost faith in it completely. Eventually I agreed to the shop sending it back to the manufacturer for investigation. I spoke to Consumer Direct when I got home, and they advised me to write a letter referring to the Sale of Goods Act and saying I rejected the instrument because it was faulty, and had already been repaired by them once. That letter was sent last week. I received a phone call from the shop last Friday to say they had received my letter, and their engineer had had a look at the instrument and wanted to meet me in person. I agreed to this, and visited the shop yesterday afternoon. The engineer explained the cause of the problem - there were two factors, one of which could be resolved by a simple workaround and the other he couldn't identify the cause of, although the result of the problem was clear. He watched me put the instrument together and I played it a bit, and he said that, based on my handling and playing of it there, he could pretty much rule out my handling of the instrument as a cause of either problem (which was gratifying to hear - I know I don't manhandle it, but it's nice that someone else saw that and agreed). The engineer, who turned out to be the shop owner, proposed that he do the quick fix to solve one of the problems there and then, and for me to take the instrument away and play it as normal and try to recreate the second problem. I would then take it back into them as soon as it occurred, or even before it occurred if I didn't feel happy with how the instrument was performing, and they would spend as much time as was needed investigating it and fixing it until the cause of the problem was found. He said I could take it in as many times as I liked until either the problem was fixed permanently, or a conclusion was reached that the instrument was faulty and they would replace it. I spoke to Consumer Direct while I was in the shop to get some more advice, and they suggested how to deal with it. I returned to the shop owner and said that I'd like to go away and think about it. He said that was fine, but if I decided not to work with him then it would result in a court case to get my money back. He said this a couple of times, and talked about the value of the instrument seeing as it is effectively now second-hand. I phoned his shop this morning and asked him to send me a letter with a description of the cause of the problem and the work they had done, and his proposal about fixing the instrument, as I forgot to ask yesterday. The advice: I spoke to Consumer Direct again this morning and explained how things had been left. Their advice was to write back to him and say that if the fix provided was a long-term one then I would accept it, but if it wasn't a long-term fix then I would require a replacement or refund. My mum has a slightly different take on it: that he has already acknowledged that the fix probably won't be long term by saying he'd be willing to spend as much time on it as necessary and that I could take it back as many times as was needed. Her opinion is that I request the refund again and take the company to court if they refuse. My dilemma On one hand I don't want to be going back to the shop once every 2-3 weeks (which was the approximate frequency of the instrument going wrong between the end of May and the beginning of September) for the next year or more. On the other hand, it is a lovely instrument when it works properly and as Consumer Direct said it's all about being reasonable - it's reasonable for them to try and fix the problem. I am asking myself a few questions: - over what time-period is it reasonable for them to expect me to keep going back to the shop so that they can try and fix the instrument? Could I specify this time period if I write back to them accepting their proposal? - if it then goes wrong after this time period, could they force me to have a replacement? - if I decide not to accept their proposal, is it worth pursuing through the court? The shop owner kept mentioning the figure £500 as the value of the second-hand instrument, but as I haven't had the full use of it and have had it for less than 6 months is this likely to be all I would get? I guess the million-dollar question is how do you work out the value of it 6 months after it was purchased brand new? - I don't know if I will get my faith in the instrument back, so would the easy option be to accept their offer and just sell it as a second-hand instrument, if that's the value I would get if I pursued it through the court? What would Woody do? (I haven't named the shop or the instrument because I'd rather it didn't show up in searches for the moment)

i was bought a new computer for xmas from PC World. after three weeks of use it just stopped working. unplugged it all and left it a day and it started up again.but after a short period of use it occurred again. returned it to PC World who were so unhelpful and would not replace the item as it had just gone over the 28 days notice, which in my reconing is b#llocks, but would have their tech guys look at it. three days later recieved a call to come and collect. when we got there we were told they could find no fault with the computer so would take no actions.i argued that this fault will occur again to be told well you will again have to return it. as the store is a good 25 minutes away i insisted i want action taken to replace as i dont want this round trip weekly. i was told if it happened again they would have to send it off, and be without a computer for several weeks. now yet again the fault has occured, so i have taken a film of the fault occuring because i was told they would have to see the fault for themselves, so much for the customer is always right. could somebody please advise me on my next steps as i believe i have a case thru the Sale Of Gods Act where if the purchase is under 6 months i dont have to prove the unit to be faulty. please help someone.......regards shyner.

Howdy folks, I have a swedish 4-wheel drive car. In the summer it started making a rather unusual clicking sound as the key was turned to start it. Knowing my swedish cars well, I knew this wasn't right and immediately had it checked out at the main dealer. It turned out the starter ring gear teeth were beginning to shear off, leaving little for the starter motor itself to "Grab" and left as it was would eventually result in the car being a non-startable ornament. I paid approximately £1300 to get it fixed. - It involved taking out the engine and gearbox. During the repair, they discovered that the "Angle gear" to the rear drive shaft was worn smooth so the car was in fact a 2 wheel drive car. This was repaired for a further eighty odd quid. I think it is fair to say that these faults are inconsistent with this supposedly robust brand. Anyway, being a CAGger, and knowing that Swedish cars of a certain variety are meant to go around the clock before they get major faults like this, I decided to see where I stood. This is what I've been told: 1) This shouldn't happen 2) The material (hardened steel) in the ring gear is not hard enough for the job 3) Trading Standards say I should make a claim for the cost of the repairs using the "Sale of Goods Act" The car was 5 years and 9 months old when it developed the fault. Mileage 73000 mostly motorway so "start to mileage" ratio is pretty small. Service history complete. Car has otherwise been maintained with no expense spared. The reason I am exploring this - the dealer told me I am not a loyal enough customer to justify a contribution towards the repair. (Since 2000, I have bought 7 cars from them!) and the head mechanic at the dealership said, "Off the record, If I worked somewhere else, this would have been repaired for free, but things are tight at the moment". I have the parts. I have had them examined. I have a mettalurgist lined up who is ready to test them and if the steel is too soft as he suspects, is prepared to go to court. This is a component that should not see the light of day until the car is scrapped in a couple of hundred thousand miles' time. So far, I have written to the dealer and the brand UK customer services (Who are totally useless)requesting a refund. The best they came up with was an offer of a deal on a new car! Any thoughts on how to proceed, what to look out for and what stones to turn would be gratefully appreciated. As always, kind regards to all, KV

Hi, a different perspective on this. Im being taken to the small claims court for a private Ebay sale. I sold a Tent in Nov 09 which was collected in person and paid for in cash. 230! days later the buyer tells me it wasnt as described and wants a refund. I said if he had come to me sooner I could have validated his claim, but as its been soooo long (No feedback was given & my Ebay seller aco**** doesn't even have a record of the sale anymore!) that I cant now prove it is my fault or his. Under the sales of goods “reasonable” time is allowed for an (alleged) misdescribed private sale. As its a Tent would 230days (till June) be deemed a reasonable time? Im concerned Im going to get a ccj for a small claim of £120? Ive sent the court papers back stating Im going to defend the case. But Im still worried. But I genuinely feel that for a private Ebay sale, for the buyer to say he isnt happy 230days later is unreasonable. Am I likely to lose? many thanks.

Hi folks, Im looking for some advice about a very serious issue Ive had with a used car. Here's the background.. 3 weeks ago I purchased a 06 plate Mondeo from a car dealership (i think its a family business). The advertisement I initially saw for the garage stated "A1 condition, drives superb. All our cars are sold HPI clear, prepared to a high standard and are faultless". I went and saw the vehicle and purchased it. Up until last week I had only ever driven the vehicle with me in it. Last week I took my family (4 in total) for a drive and as I approached a junction the brakes failed to stop me effectively and the nose of the vehicle ended up in the junction. Luckily the oncoming driver was aware and took evasive action. I took the vehicle to a garage the following day to have it inspected and I was told ALL brake discs and pads, all the way around the vehicle, were substantially worn to the point they suggested it would have failed and MOT and should not have been driven on until its repaired. Considering I purchased the vehicle in the midlands and live in Devon and also noting what the mechanics said about safety, I had the work done there and then and kept all paperwork showing the inspection result. It cost £363. I am absolutely horrified this has happened as it could have been a serious accident. To add insult, as my car crossed into the junction, even by a few feet, I activated a red light camera and now have recieved a penalty ticket from the police! Can anybody please tell me where I stand on claiming my money back from the dealership? Maybe under the Sale of Goods Act? Thank you for any help