Originally Posted by
Saracen
No, it isn't.
With any complaint over "faulty" goods, there are always two aspects :-
1) Any warranty that's been offered
2) Legal rights.
Manufacturers (or shops) can offer warranties but aren't obliged to. If they do, and if the consumer knew about it, then the consumer can rely on it and whoever offered it can be held to honour it by law.
But .... the general situation is that it's the retailer that's responsible, not the manufacturer.
However, the consumer protection legislation that holds the retailer responsible does have limitations. The two major ones are that you can only take legal action (which, ultimately, is how you might have to enforce consumer rights) for 6 years, and it only covers goods that did not "conform to contract" at the time of sale.
So ...... when you first buy goods, if they don't conform to contract you can reject them and get a full refund. But you'll have a short period to do that, and it may be just days. You can also also that right in other ways, such as doing anything with the goods that are inconsistent with not accepting them ... such as selling them or customising them.
After that initial period, goods may still go wrong. If they do, and IF the fault existed when you bought them, then you're still entitled to various remedies, including refund (though maybe not full), repair or replacement. The question is, did the fault exist (i.e. was it inherent in the goods) at the time of sale?
So it comes down to the nature of the fault.
If goods last a period, then fail, did they fail due to damage caused by the user? Or to fair wear and tear? Or to a short life being implicit in the nature of the goods ... I mean, how long do you expect a banana to last?
Generally, with electrical goods, a "reasonable life" would be several years, perhaps up to 10. If the goods fail before that time, and if the reason was, perhaps, sub-standard components that just didn't last the time they should, or a design fault, then they didn't conform to contract.
But then the issue is proving why the goods failed.
For the first 6 months after purchase, there is a statutory presumption that the fault was inherent at time of sale .... unless the retailer can prove otherwise.
After 6 months, that burden reverses and it's assumed that the fault was not inherent, unless the buyer can prove it was.
So, when goods fail (unless it's VERY soon after purchase), you can either rely on either a shop or manufacturer warranty, subject to whatever degree of protection is offered and any limitations placed on it, or you can rely on your legal rights. But those rights apply against the shop and (except for enforcing any warranty offered by the manufacturer) not against the manufacturer.
And to get satisfaction under your legal rights, you might have to PROVE that the fault was due to something inherent when the goods were sold.
That is why most people go the the retailer with problems .... because that's where the law of the land puts the primary responsibility, and it does so for, potentially, up to 6 years. But what it does not necessarily mean is that the retailer has to repair or replace goods. It very much depends on what happened to the goods.
Also, the retailer can't fob you off onto the manufacturer by washing their hands of responsibility, but they can point out that the best course of action might be from the manufacturer, especially if that involves a warranty above and beyond your consumer rights, and they can offer to deal with the manufacturer for you. You can, if you wish, avail yourself of this and then revert to your consumer rights if you don't get a satisfactory resolution.
We all, as consumers, have some fairly strong rights and protections, but they are NOT as strong as many people think. If shops, for instance, think that goods fail because they've been improperly used or somehow damaged by the consumer, then if they're more than 6 months old, they're entitled to decline to repair or replace, and it's then up to the consumer to prove that the goods were inherently faulty. That probably means getting them tested, and probably by an independent engineer.