Forgive me for being cynical
"the retailers will ........ do mystery shopping exercises to make sure their staff are telling the shoppers the truth."
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
High Street chains vow to play fair on warranties
UK retailers have offered a number of concessions after the Office of Fair Trading had a word about their extended warranties on electrical goods. Dixons, Comet and Argos have all told the OFT, which was worried about unfair competition, that they will set up a warranty comparison website and provide punters with more …
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Tuesday 7th February 2012 13:20 GMT Derk
Not worth it
The vast majority of warranties are utterly useless. Goods have to be fit for purpose and of merchandisable quality. I bought a Sony TV from Amazon, the screen failed 26 months later. Repair shop said it needed a new screen and was not caused by damage or misuse. Amazon offered me an £80 bugger off credit note. Took it up with Trading standards, who sent of letters to Amazon on my behalf (free of charge), Amazon still would not budge. So I told them I was starting a small claims court proceeding against them, with the aid of trading standards. Result? I received a brand new replacement model from Amazon. Trading standards stated that some goods such as expensive TV's, washing machines, must last 5-8 years. All it cost me was £47 for the repair shop to diagnose the fault, and 3 months of letters.
Know your rights! and research your purchase, buy cheap, buy twice!
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Tuesday 7th February 2012 13:24 GMT Gordon 10
Caveat Emptor
WTF? These seems to be another case of nanny statism. Unless Dixon's et al are behaving fraudulently or using pressure tactics what they are doing is perfectly fine.
Its the people who are stupid enough to buy these warantees without doing a cost-benefit analysis who have the problem.
This is just a variation on the "filling may be hot" warnings. Duh - no shit sherlock.
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Tuesday 7th February 2012 13:41 GMT A 15
Something else that bothers me about this warranty culture
This is on a similar line as Derk.
The culture of offering extended warranties implies (subtly) that with no extended warranty, the retailer has no obligation to the customer if the goods break beyond the first year. When I was dealing with trading standards a few years ago, it was clear that the responsibility of the retailers does not end after a year but is very dependant on the type of goods. So a toothbrush, you might expect to last a few months, while a TV could be expected to last multiple years.
Although, in their defence responsibility, does necessarily mean to the extent of a providing a free replacement.
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Tuesday 7th February 2012 13:53 GMT Anonymous Coward
Self-insurance.
So, TV, washing machine, stereo, computer, etc. etc. Each with an extended warranty. Thats a lot spent on warranty. Alternatively take that money and put it in a shoe box under the bed (or in a bank account). If a device breaks then open the shoe box and buy a new one. Spread over several devices you're not likely to spend more on replacements than you have in the shoebox.
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Tuesday 7th February 2012 13:53 GMT Eradicate all BB entrants
They should bloody ....
.... investigate the usage of the word 'extended'. If I purchase something with a years warranty already and they want to sell me a 3 year extended warranty I want 4 in total (not that I would ever buy a warranty). But they get away with it.
Best bargaining tool you can ever use when returning something is to have the local trading standards number programmed into your phone. Instant refund/replacement before the call connects :D
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Tuesday 7th February 2012 15:13 GMT Haku
From what I gather, the Sale Of Goods Act (SOGA) says we have 2 years warranty on goods because we're part of the EU and consumers rights last for 6 years (but doesn't automatically mean a replacement or repair or refund), which means the companies selling 2 year extended warranties are actually conning the uninformed.
http://www.oft.gov.uk/saleofgoodsact
And I totally agree with you on the use of the word extended, if I bought a 2 year exdended warranty it should mean the item is covered for 4 years.
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Wednesday 8th February 2012 12:13 GMT Anonymous Coward
Get those retailers to disclose the commission they get for selling those Warranties..
I KNOW how much it is and you'd all be staggered. The actual premium that goes to the Insurance company from which they pay all the claims, administration, marketing etc and STILL make large profits on this class of business ....is .....tiny.
Thats the reason I NEVER buy extended warranty.
Anonymous because I still earn my living in the industry.
This topic is closed for new posts.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
