Retailers are desperate to keep us shopping – that’s understandable. But some are not being up front with customers about their rights.
Try taking a broken electrical item back to a shop more than a year after you bought it. Chances are that, unless you bought an expensive extended warranty, the shop won’t help you. You’ll often be told items are only guaranteed for a year from purchase. That’s wrong.
Under EU law, retailers are required to replace or repair faulty goods for up to two years after the date of purchase. And if you live in England and Wales, you are protected for up to six years by the Sale of Goods Act (Soga).
Under Soga, consumers are entitled to a full refund if a product is found to be faulty (does not “conform to contract”) within a “reasonable time”. This is usually taken to mean around three to four weeks. But if the item breaks due to a fault within six years of purchase (five years in Scotland) and you can prove the fault isn’t down to wear and tear, you’re entitled to a free repair or replacement.
All of this is kept pretty quiet by retailers, who are happy to leave consumers to find such things out for themselves. Even then, expect resistance. Peter Ward wrote to The Guardian to describe the ordeal he endured at Tesco to get a replacement TV. It took two 30-minute phone calls to a premium line and a half-hour stand-off in his local store – he was threatened with eviction and arrest – before the store manager called head office and then admitted that Ward was indeed entitled to a replacement. But he added: “I’ve still had no apology for being treated like a criminal”.
Dealing with faulty goods can be made even more confusing by manufacturers’ guarantees. Stores will deny any liability, saying the customer needs to speak to the manufacturer. Fine – if a product comes with a manufacturer’s guarantee, then you have double cover. You can seek redress for a fault from them or the retailer. In my experience, repairs are often carried out more quickly by manufacturers.
Another point of confusion occurs when stores sell their own extended guarantees. “In the past, some electrical chains have made more money on selling these insurance policies than on the goods they offer,” says Sean Poulter in the Daily Mail. For example, retailers can easily charge around £100 for a three-year warranty on a £300 washing machine. But in the vast majority of cases, these guarantees are worthless as they offer no more protection than you get from Soga and your existing home contents insurance. So avoid them.
Finally, be aware that one part of Soga is rather murky – what to do if your replacement product breaks. Soga doesn’t specifically deal with this event, but the consensus view, according to the Which? consumer lawyers, is that you are covered by Soga from the original date of purchase. That’s the date you bought the first faulty product. So if your replacement product breaks within a few months of you receiving it, but you are more than six years past the original’s purchase date, you’re probably stuck with it.
The Sale of Goods Act 1979 explained
When you buy goods you enter into a contract with the seller. What you buy must be, as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. The latter means the goods must be both fit for everyday purpose and, “any specific purpose that you agreed with the seller”, says Which?. So if you ask for a printer that will be compatible with your computer, and the one a shop advises you to buy isn’t, then this rule has been breached. Note that you normally enter a contract with a retailer, not a manufacturer, unless you buy something under a hire-purchase agreement – in which case the hire-purchase company is responsible for the goods.
If goods are faulty, you are entitled to reject them and get a full refund if it is within a “reasonable time” from purchase (see above). After that point you are entitled to get the faulty item repaired or replaced. The retailer usually gets to choose, based on what is the cheaper option. Either way it must act “within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience”. So, for example, you can’t be left stranded without a fridge for weeks on end.
Should the retailer be unable to repair or replace the product, perhaps because it isn’t possible, or would be disproportionately costly, you can claim a partial refund minus an amount for the usage you enjoyed before the item broke.
In general it is down to the consumer to prove that goods are faulty and should have lasted longer. So don’t try turning up in Sainsbury’s with a five-year old banana then demanding a replacement, claiming it’s no longer fit for purpose.