# Only 6 months warranty on electrical items?



## oopsbuddy (20 Aug 2010)

I bought a laptop for my son last summer (less than 12 months ago) and his charger has died. He brought it back to the shop but was told that the warranty on chargers was only 6 months, and that it was likely that a "power surge" in the house had caused it to quit, probably caused by a power shower. He was obliged to buy a new charger for €75.

I understood that the Sale of Goods Act etc required ALL such goods to have a minimum 12 month warranty, regardless of any small print exclusions. If a power shower would cause it to fail, why only after six months?

Is the shop entitled to exclude any warranty on this? I would have thought most homes have a power shower these days, and that was just an easy thing to blame!

Thanks


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## Leo (20 Aug 2010)

Warranties are in addition to, and so can not limit your statutory rights. Look up your rights on Consumer Connect, print them off and go back to the shop armed with the facts.
Leo


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## potnoodler (22 Aug 2010)

sounds odd coz most electrical goods have an ac adaptor , with laptops they are just external to save space, sounds like they just chancing arm to make you buy another charger, I know I wouldnt let them away with this. power shower excuse sounds like a brush off too 
what store is this


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## Leo (23 Aug 2010)

Power surge has nothing to do with the power shower. Surges come from the supply.


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## Staples (23 Aug 2010)

The duration of the warranty is really a red herring.  An item should be fit for purpose for a reasonable timespan.  What constitutes a reasonable timespan will differ depending on the nature of the product or the duration of its natural lifespan.

Clearly, a laptop charger should last longer than six months but your redress effectively lies in your capacity/ability to argue that it was a faulty part and that its breaking down was not caused by any other factor (damage, power surge, etc).


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## oopsbuddy (23 Aug 2010)

So, from all this, and from advice from a friendly solicitor ("...you should certainly be entitled to make a case for a replacement..." - (a little 'sit-on-the-fence!)), am I right in assuming that through no misuse whatsoever, if teh charger failed to work inside twelve months from original purchase, he is entitled to a replacement free of charge, and as he was compelled to buy a replacement, he should be refunded that cost? Although I'm not sure if I can name the strore, but I probably can, it is a well known electrical retail chain whose name means the opposite of "novice"! Thanks


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## oopsbuddy (23 Aug 2010)

Staples said:


> The duration of the warranty is really a red herring.  An item should be fit for purpose for a reasonable timespan.  What constitutes a reasonable timespan will differ depending on the nature of the product or the duration of its natural lifespan.
> 
> Clearly, a laptop charger should last longer than six months but your redress effectively lies in your capacity/ability to argue that it was a faulty part and that its breaking down was not caused by any other factor (damage, power surge, etc).



But equally, based on the facts, it was purchased less than 12 months ago, it was brought back to the shop where it was bought where it was confirmed that it did not work anymore, and where the seller suggested that its failure was caused by a power surge, often caused by power showers! It was not damaged, and there is no suggestion of misuse (it only does one thing - recharge a deskbound laptop) and therefore it should not be for the shop to "assume" any particular cause, spurious or real, and thereby try to avoid their obligations. I want to give it to them between the eyses with both proverbial barrels, but I just want to make sure of their obligations.


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## Staples (23 Aug 2010)

oopsbuddy said:


> it should not be for the shop to "assume" any particular cause, spurious or real, and thereby try to avoid their obligations.


 
Yes but their obligations only kick in at the point where they have been identifed as the cause of the fault. from what you're saying, they're denying they have any further responsibility to you and depending on the accuracy of their argument they may be right. 

If they supplied a defective part, they're at fault and should provide a replacement. Your potential difficulty is in convincing the retailer that the origin of the fault lies with them and not with you. They would argue that the nature of the part is that it can be liable to break down for reasons outside their control and that they aren't responsbible for what happens the part after it leaves their shop.

I dion't know what causes chargers to break down but if there's a possibility that it can break down as they've suggested, it's ultimately a question on your summation against theirs.


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## Leo (23 Aug 2010)

If there are no obvious signs of abuse on the charger, then the retailer has no option but to honour their obligations under the legislation. The consumer is under no obligation to prove the reason for the failure. 

The primary reason for chargers to break down is down to a failure of cheap internal components. Lots of dodgy batches of capacitors these days due to the push to lower costs.


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## jhegarty (23 Aug 2010)

Did you check the fuse ?

If it's not blown then it would be impossible for them to blame a power surge.


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## Leo (24 Aug 2010)

Fuses have a much higer tollerance for spikes than any semi-conductor components. Fuses, even the fast-blow varieties do not offer protection against surges or spikes. For that you need an adapter with a built in [broken link removed].
Leo


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## oopsbuddy (24 Aug 2010)

Staples said:


> Yes but their obligations only kick in at the point where they have been identifed as the cause of the fault. from what you're saying, they're denying they have any further responsibility to you and depending on the accuracy of their argument they may be right. .



Thanks Staples, I do appreciate the opposite argument, but I am simply asserting that, in the absence of any abuse of the charger (and the shop has inspected it and confirmed (a) it does not work anymore, and (b) its failure MAY have been due to a power surge, so there is no suggestion of abuse), they have sold an electrical item which ceased to work within 12 months of sale, and as Leo has pointed out, although they may only have warranted it for 6 months, they are statutorily obliged to replace it within that period.



Staples said:


> If they supplied a defective part, they're at fault and should provide a replacement. Your potential difficulty is in convincing the retailer that the origin of the fault lies with them and not with you. They would argue that the nature of the part is that it can be liable to break down for reasons outside their control and that they aren't responsbible for what happens the part after it leaves their shop.



In my view, it is simpler than that; they supplied a part which, through no abnormal use, failed, and they should replace it. I go back to the earlier point that if their warranty only lasts 6 months, why would it survive a power surge during the first 6 months, but not afterwards. Either it is up to the job or it isn't, and if it isn't, it should be replaced.


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## AlbacoreA (1 Dec 2010)

Unless they are superman with X ray vision how do they know it was a power surge?

They should have replaced it IMO.


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