Page 1 of To all the legal eagles out there

I bought a new TV last week from Comet and as per was offered "An extended guarantee" but didn`t take one up. I am sure that it was on these very forums that someone posted saying that they`re not worth the paper they`re written on.

What would happen if after 18 months my TV just gave up the ghost and died?

Would they have to do anything about it??

Cheers

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This item was edited on Monday, 17th November 2003, 16:11

Apparantly so - for up to 6 years with a tv. Unless you buy it from 247electrical and then they shrug their shoulders and tell you its nothing to do with them and to contact philips (which goes against the Sale of Goods Act).

See "The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002" here. The six-year rule only applies if it can be proved by the consumer that the goods were faulty at the time of sale, which may be difficult.

Sam.

Don`t know about the technicalities, but I always thought that you had a case if the goods could reasonably be expected to last longer in normal use. So if it packs up after 18 months and you haven`t been using it underwater or something mad, then you could demand a replacement.

Quote:
What would happen if after 18 months my TV just gave up the ghost and died?
According to the manager of my local electrical retailer, this is HIGHLY unlikely to happen these days. As a general rule, modern electrical kit is very reliable and the chances of it packing in are pretty remote. Those that do develop a fault will most likely do so within the first few weeks, in which case they`re covered by the standard warranty. Very very rarely does kit pack up during the period between the expiration of the standard warranty and an extended one.

By and large, extended warranties play on the fears people developed 15-20 years ago when stuff wasn`t as reliable. Eventually people will get the hang of the fact that they`re a waste of time/money and extended warranties will either just vanish, or turn into standard warranties.

Jim - have a look at this thread - there`s also an excellent article in this months Which about precisely this.

I try to persuade several friends to buy large electrical items off the net and demonstrate the sometimes hundreds that they can save - but they insist on using John Lewis because of their five yr guarantee. Effectively, every electrical item is covered by this legislation and so the five yr guarantee is nothing above the ordinary ?

It does not include wear & tear - but items such as TV/fridges etc are generally recognised as having a greater lifespan than six years.

Spartacus

Edit - Just a further point - these warranties are making up some 75% of some high street chains profits !!

This item was edited on Monday, 17th November 2003, 17:05

We bought a Bosch washing machine from Comet 4 years ago. We took out the extended warranty, (parts & labour) and in this case, mighty glad we did, as it seems there is a design fault in the particular model we got and Comet engineers have been called out 5 times in that 4 year period. Now pondering what to do when ext guarantee runs out next year. Expect we`ll run the machine into the ground and then get another. :(

JohnF

GW6UFO is QRT at the moment

Over the last eight years, I`ve had three tvs with extended warranties. The first, a Ferguson, went TU after about eighteen months (a common chassis fault). I was able to claim the full value of the set and got a Sony replacement with a fresh 5-year warranty. At the end of the five years I was able to claim the value of the warranty back. Just before the end of that warranty, I bought a new widescreen tv with a five year warranty. That set, a Philips, went TU a couple of months ago and I was able to replace that with a Sony widescreen tv/vcr/dvd package without paying any extra other than another extended warranty. As I see it, manufacturers only put a one-year warranty on goods (never mind the legislation - I`m talking about working within their rules), so with both sets that went phut I`d had the warranty period, and I`ve been able to upgrade sets for only the cost of the extended warranty.

J Mark Oates

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