Who pays for postage on faulty hard drives?

[Beninio]

Hi there,
I bought a hard drive in January which has become faulty. I phoned up Scan and was advised to send my hard drive to a company that deals with the manufacturer of my hard drive (Rexo). The postage with enough insurance to cover the cost should it go missing, comes to nearly £10.00. Am I entitled to get any of this back?
Cheers,
Beninio

[not_my_ip]

Usually you have to cover it with no refund and they will send back new/repaired drive and they will cover all costs

[amjedm]

Usually you have to cover it with no refund and they will send back new/repaired drive and they will cover all costs

What he said.

I had to send a WD drive to Germany a few years ago and had to cover the cost of sending.

Recently had to send a Maxtor for repair and had to cover the cost of sending to them.

[slypie]

I'm sure if it's within 12 months and is a fault with the drive then the retailer pays.

[arthurleung]

I'm sure if it's within 12 months and is a fault with the drive then the retailer pays.

It depends on the retailer. AFAIK SCAN does not pay for postage, while Ebuyer does.

Good thing about Maxtor and Seagate is that you can send to their collection center in the UK so the postage wouldn't be expensive.

[IAmATeaf]

I've always had to pay the postage outside of what would be regarded as the DOA period. Ignoring the actual costs - tis no different to jumping in your car and taking a vacuum cleaner back to your local Comets, you pay for the travel costs.

[slypie]

Whilst it was a long time ago that I did my degree in E-Business and part of that was law I'm sure that the law states if it's within 12 months and the fault is not your own then the consumer shouldn't be out of pocket for repairs or costs incurred sending the item back. The reason (This isn't a go at Scan as plenty of places do it) most retailers don't tell you thats the case is because it costs them money and so aren't forthcomming with the information. I would check with trading standards to be sure but I'm sure thats the case.

[Saracen]

It depends on the basis under which you're returning the drive. It could be, for instance :-

1) Under the Distance Selling Regs
2) Under your Sale of Goods Act rights
3) Under warranty

If, for example, you're returning goods under 1) (Distance Selling Regs) then :-

a) the retailer can include a condition in their terms that the consumer will pay the cost of returning. That will then apply UNLESS you are rejecting the goods under some other contract term, such as your Sale of Goods Act rights, as well. In that case, they're liable regardless of what their T&Cs say, because the DSR explicitly makes them liable.

b) if the retailer doesn't have that in his terms, then he's liable. Most, clearly, will have that term in their conditions.

So ... if the goods are within the period within which you can return them under the DSR, then who pays for the costs will depend on WHY they're being returned. If you've just decided you don't want them, you'll probably pay. If they're faulty, you CAN insist that the retailer pays, because after all, he's in breach of contract for supplying faulty goods.

That's fine from a technical perspective. But from a pragmatic one, is it worth arguing the point? If the retailer absolutely refuses to cover the cost of return, the potentially, the only way to enforce it would be small claims court? Is it worth the hassle? Monetarily, probably not. But some people, including me if I figured I'm being jerked about, will do it out of sheer bloody-mindedness.

On a warranty claim, the cost of return will be borne by whoever the warranty conditions say they are. But, if the goods are faulty, you don't have to use the warranty provision. You can always rely on your SoGA rights. That MIGHT not be the best course of action, but you have that choice and the retailer CANNOT take it away from you, however much some may try to.

For standard Sale of Goods Act situations, again, the cost should be paid by the retailer, and for the same reason .... breach of contract. Convincing them to actually stump up may be a problem, short of a court case, but they're liable for it.

[Beninio]

Thanks guys.
Just a bit peeved taht I have to pay for a faulty drive.

[slypie]

Beninio, you have every right to return the item to Scan and not another place. Again I think scan should refund you your postage costs. I would ring them as under law they have to deal with returns in the first 12 months.

[not_my_ip]

I think slypie is right a bout this 12 month. But it just might be quicker, scan probably after would send it to rexo anyway (would took few more days).
Benino have you try to contact rexo? You need to create RMA first and maybe they will arrange collection.

[Stanman]

Whilst it was a long time ago that I did my degree in E-Business and part of that was law I'm sure that the law states if it's within 12 months and the fault is not your own then the consumer shouldn't be out of pocket for repairs or costs incurred sending the item back. The reason (This isn't a go at Scan as plenty of places do it) most retailers don't tell you thats the case is because it costs them money and so aren't forthcomming with the information. I would check with trading standards to be sure but I'm sure thats the case.

Some one should tell that to Antec, they wanted me to return a PSU to Holland. Luckily sense prevailed and I had to cut the leads going into the PC and email pic showing serial number for replacement./

Also is there not legislation that covers you beyond the year dependiong on how much it cost i.e a £3000 TV should last more than 1 - 2 years, I remember reading something but cant locate it at the moment.

[Saracen]

.....

Also is there not legislation that covers you beyond the year dependiong on how much it cost i.e a £3000 TV should last more than 1 - 2 years, I remember reading something but cant locate it at the moment.

Yes, and no.

You have Sale of Goods Act rights, including that the goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, as described, etc. Those rights become part of the contract, so any breach of those rights is a breach of contract. Under English law, you can generally sue for breach of contract for up to six years. It's five years in Scotland, IIRC.

But that does NOT mean that all goods must last 6 years. The goods should last a time that is "reasonable", given the nature of the goods, price paid, etc. So if you have the £3000 TV mentioned, it should last a "reasonable" time. Exactly how long that is is, ultimately, for a court to decide. Personally, I would certainly expect that it would be several years.

Within that framework, you have various remedies depending on exactly when the goods fail. If they fail before you've "accepted" them, then you're entitled to reject the goods and get a full refund. But that period will be pretty short, often a few days on maybe a month, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

After that, any fault found within the first 6 months will be assumed to have been present on delivery unless the retail can establish otherwise. At that point, you're entitled to repair, refund or perhaps a refund, but it may well not be a full refund.

After that initial 6 months, it will be for you to establish that the fault existed on delivery and those remedies will only be available if you can. In other words, after 6 months, you still have rights but the burden of proof is on you.

[Spanamana]

I think it also depends upon whether you have purchased it as a business or as personal.

With personal purchases I have always got my costs back whether I have delivered to the shop or via mail order. I have successfully pursued that via the small claims court on two occasions.

With business purchases you are confined to the terms and conditions you accepted when you made the purchase.

Good luck

G