Any advice of how to go about taking action against a faulty item

[jamadaia]

Basically I purchased an item via a well known UK sales board, it was a XFX HD 4890 graphics card.
Got home and it was dead.
Tested it throughly and convinced, I contacted XFX (via there online system, as the guy I bought it form gave me the registered login info) and after days of too and fro they said sorry we cant help you, please speak to your re-seller.
I did explain to them I don't have that option as I am the a second buyer, but they just re-iterated the same.

Now I then went ahead and looked more closely and found the name of the registered user is different to the one who sold me the card. As is the email.
So I contacted the email on the registration and that person replied and as expected said that I don't know anything about this sale, but that is my card and here is a copy of the receipt.
The receipt is a hand written one from a stall seller in Northern Computer Markets.
However the date on that is after the time the product was registered. And also I found an earlier ticket that had been raised by them saying the card is faulty (same way as it is for me).

I have since contacted both of these people and told them this is not on and I am not letting this drop. And that I will pursue legal action over this.

Can anyone give advice as to how I can proceed on this please?
Not been in this situation before so a bit lost.
I do have the address of both parties and mobile numbers, plus full names and all the emails.

[BUFF]

I'm pretty sure that in the UK XFX warranty is not transferable so XFX are off the hook.
It's really between you & the person that sold it to you - I suppose that you could raise a small claims court action if you had to?

[jamadaia]

Ah right, so the original purchaser could still do an RMA right?
Hmmmm think I will just go with the small claims court option thought, as wasted so much time over this already.
Thanks for the info BUFF

[roadkilluk]

If it was a trader from northern computer markets that sold it to you, contact them aswell. One it may mean they wont be able to trade at there events, but two they may be able to help to force them to accept a return or help you persue the action, as it makes them look bad.

[Saracen]

It's not quite clear to me from reading the first post exactly what happened here.

But my first question would be whether the seller was a business, or a private individual?

If it was being sold by a private individual, then my guess is you'll get nowhere, though it will depend on exactly how it was advertised.

Suppose I advertise an XFX HD 4890 graphics card in my local paper. You ring me, we barter a bit on the price, and you send me the money and I send you the card. As a private seller, my only liability is that the card is "as described". If I advertised a 4890 and sent you a 3870, you'd have a claim. But unless I claimed the card was "in full working condition", it's for you to satisfy yourself of that.

The basic principle in private sales is "let the buyer beware", and that's because you need to ask the relevant questions and satisfy yourself as to condition etc because you've got virtually no comeback afterwards, if you don't.

If the "well known" sales board has a set of terms and conditions, and procedures, that both buyers and sellers sign up for and agree to, then you may have some additional recourse via a dispute with them.

If, on the other hand, the seller is a business and you bought via a "distance method" then the Distance Selling Regs should apply, and providing you act quickly enough, and cancel in a permanent form (i.e. not by phone) then you should be able to simply change your mind, cancel and send the card back. You may have to pay the return postage, but should get all your money, including outbound postage, back .... IF they're a business seller.

[jamadaia]

Again thanks so much guys for the help, in particular Saracen for the detailed info.
Yep it was an individual, and they did say it is in 'full working condition' on the advertisement online.
The one booboo I made was not get the full home address of the individual.
I only know the area post code, and so narrow it down to there street.
Also I have the mobile number.
And from what I know, there is no easy way to obtain the full address of the individual that the mobile number is registered too right?

[daii]

do you have enough power to run the card

[jim]

And from what I know, there is no easy way to obtain the full address of the individual that the mobile number is registered too right?

No, I wouldn't have thought so. If it isn't on a contract, it may not be tied to any particular address anyway. And if it is on a contract, the only people who know are the mobile phone company, and they aren't likely to start handing out that type of information.

[t4ct1c47]

You will see a lot of people recommend XFX due to their lifeime transferable warranty in various forums on the internet. However XFX only offers a lifetime transferable warranty to residents of the USA and Canada.

When it comes to other countries, such as the UK, XFX offers practically no warranty what-so-ever. Most retailers that sell XFX products, such as Scan take it upon themselves to offer the standard statutory 2 year warranty which is a legal requirement within the EU. Basically, in order to claim on the warranty you will have to file an RMA with the retailer who sold the card within 2 years of purchaseing it. With this in mind the 2 year warranty is also non-transferable.

In future I think you would be better off looking at other brands, such as Asus who offer three years or BFG who offer 10 years. EVGA also offer a 10 year warranty, but they're a lot more costly than BFG.

On a personal note, I can understand why EVGA cost so much, as their warranty is very long. However, when it comes to XFX, I feel they should be much cheaper and more inline with budget brands like Palit, due to the 2 year warranty.

[jamadaia]

Entirely agree with you, now that I have seen what XFX is like.
Basically if you cannot get to the retailer (as is my case) I am left out in the cold, as XFX plain out refuse. After saying they don't have any liability, and refuse to help. Said that they recommend seeking legal advise
The annoying this is that after some hunting around it appears as though the particular batch I have, came with some additional manufacturing issues. But how on earth does one prove that. Even though course XFX will know this but play dum.
I did point it out to them, but they just dodged the question.
In short XFX are not only unreliable in terms of there hardware, but also don't really give a monkeys about there European consumer base
Wish resellers over here actually stopped stocking there products all together and forced them to come in line with the support they give in the states!

You will see a lot of people recommend XFX due to their lifeime transferable warranty in various forums on the internet. However XFX only offers a lifetime transferable warranty to residents of the USA and Canada.

When it comes to other countries, such as the UK, XFX offers practically no warranty what-so-ever. Most retailers that sell XFX products, such as Scan take it upon themselves to offer the standard statutory 2 year warranty which is a legal requirement within the EU. Basically, in order to claim on the warranty you will have to file an RMA with the retailer who sold the card within 2 years of purchaseing it. With this in mind the 2 year warranty is also non-transferable.

In future I think you would be better off looking at other brands, such as Asus who offer three years or BFG who offer 10 years. EVGA also offer a 10 year warranty, but they're a lot more costly than BFG.

On a personal note, I can understand why EVGA cost so much, as their warranty is very long. However, when it comes to XFX, I feel they should be much cheaper and more inline with budget brands like Palit, due to the 2 year warranty.

[jamadaia]

do you have enough power to run the card

Yep its definetly the card. And form what I see about it on the internet it is not an isolated incident.
Certain batches have a very high failure rate, due to a design fault.

[blueball]

You will see a lot of people recommend XFX due to their lifeime transferable warranty in various forums on the internet. However XFX only offers a lifetime transferable warranty to residents of the USA and Canada.

I have, in the past, sold an XFX card second hand to a user in another country (Denmark). I cannot remember if the XFX website let me transfer the warranty to the new buyer or whether the new buyer had to register but either way the warranty was honoured by XFX. Things may have changed but two years ago that was how it worked.