faulty mobile phone

[footymum]

Cn anyone help me?..I took my 14 year old son to pick a new mobile phone from a local small retailer 9 weeks ago-the shopkeeper was really helpful and even changed the memory card to a slightly larger spec for nothing extra...however,last weekend the screen stopped lighting up even though the lights on the buttons still worked...I took it back and the shopkeeper said that it was probably the software and that he would check it...I left the phone with him and a couple of days later phoned to see what the outcome was..he just said it wsn't the software and to just send it back to Sony Ericcson..we'll probably end up having to do this,but I feel that he's just trying to fob me off and hasn't offered a replacement or anything,he even said he didn't know where to send the phone to...do we have any legal redress,should he be offering a replacement or money back..or have I just lost 2 weeks wages on a dodgy deal??...Footymum

[Buenchico]

Your right to a refund, in respect of faulty goods, only exists up until the point where you've been deemed to have 'accepted' them. The length of the 'pre-acceptance' period isn't defined in law but it's unlikely that you could successfully argue that, after 9 weeks, you'd never formally 'accepted' the phone.

Once you accepted goods, which later turn out to be defective, the retailer is obliged to repair or replace any goods where a defect is due to an 'inherent fault' (e.g. poor quality components or poor manufacturing standards). That obligation lasts for 6 years. During the first 6 months of that period there's an automatic assumption (unless there is clear evidence to the contrary) that any defect is due to an inherent fault. (Thereafter, it's up to the purchaser to show that, based upon the balance of probabilities, the most likely cause of the defect is an inherent fault).

So the retailer is under an obligation to repair or replace the phone, but not to offer a refund. You, as the purchaser, have the right to choose whether you should accept a repair or a replacement but the retailer can reject your choice (and substitute the alternative option) if your choice is not economically viable. That means that you have the right to insist upon a replacement phone. The retailer might argue that providing a replacement would leave him out of pocket (thus invoking the rule about 'economic viability') but, unless his supplier has gone bust, he should be able to seek compensation from his supplier. Tell the retailer that you want a replacement. You shouldn't have to wait while he contacts Sony Ericson. He should provide one from his stock.

Chris

[footymum]

Thank you very much Chris,I'm going back to the shop tomorrow,so I'll let you know how I get on..Kind Regards..footymum