small claims court: second hand cement mixer siezed up after 5min 2 years later

[chanceanarm]

Two years ago my wife bought a second hand cement mixer from a local tool hire shop. We were about to build a wall in front of our house. The cement mixer was 300 euro. They told us that they had just serviced it before giving it to us.

We stored in a shed and last week took it out to use it for the first time. We checked for oil. put in some petrol and it started no problem !

It ran for about 3 mins before grinding to a halt. It seized up and will not now start again.

We contacted the tool hire company whose first words were along lines of " two years ago ?? ". My wife explained that we hadn't used it in the two years, and had stored it in perfect condition.

They asked us to drop it in to them. Which we did. We have rang twice asking if they have looked at it, but they keep fobbing us off.

Is this a possible case for small claims court ? Or is there too much time lapsed ?

Any thougts would be appreciated !

thanks,
dave

 

[ajapale]

Hi CA,

There would appear to be two or more issues here. Im not sure of the answers.

Are second hand goods covered by the consumer protection leglislation?

If so, what happens if two years elapse before the complaint is made?

Assuming that that the consumer protection leglislation still appplies and you do not get adequate redress (repair, replace, refund). Is the small claims court an option?

I would observe that if it took you two years to test the equipment then yuo should be prepared to give the trader adequate time (a few months at least) to redress the situation.

aj

Ill move this to Good Deals,Bad Deals & Consumer Issues issues form Legal & Financial issues

 

[Marion]

Directive 1999/44/EC

Under the Directive the seller of consumer goods is liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity which exists when the goods are delivered to the consumer. If a defect becomes manifested in the two year period, the consumer has the right to choose the following remedies, in the following order. He can first demand repair or replacement of the defective goods. If this is impossible, inproportionate or cannot be done within a reasonable period or without any significance inconvenience for the consumer, he can demand a price reduction or rescind the contract. The right to rescind the contract is, however, not granted in cases of minor defects. All these rights are free of charge to the consumer. For second-hand goods the guarantee period is limited to one year.

Source: [broken link removed]

Has this EU directive been implemented? Yes.

All 25 EU Member States have implemented Directive 1999/44/EC on the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees, which provides for a minimum level of consumer protection.
[broken link removed]


So, chanceanarm in summary, it would seem that you are not entitled to any consumer rights in relation to the product mentioned because you are outside the period (one year for second-hand goods) guaranteed by the directive.

Marion

 

[Marion]

I did a little more digging:

[broken link removed]

According to the above link in relation to the sale of consumer goods

YOUR RIGHTS AS A CONSUMER
Directive 1999/44/EC on the sale of consumer goods
and associated guarantees has been implemented
by Ireland. As a result of this legislation, consumers
have a right to a minimum guarantee of two years
on products. Within the first six months any lack of
conformity shall be presumed to have existed at the
time of delivery, unless proved otherwise. Within
this period the consumer is entitled to have the
goods brought back into conformity. The consumer
is entitled to ask for the goods to be repaired or
replaced free of charge.

Also important for consumers is that after this period
of six months they are still protected against faulty
products. In Ireland within six years from delivery of
the goods the trader still can be held liable for any
lack of conformity. However, it is then up to the
consumer to prove that the lack of conformity
existed at the time of delivery.

So, the Legal limit of 6 years still applies, but the burden of proof shifts to the consumer. So, in light of this who thinks that chanceanarm has a case?

My opinion is that they would find it difficult to win.

In reality how often does the 6-year rule come into play? Has anybody any experience of winning a consumer case when the product proved faulty say after 5 years/4 years/3 years? It must be extremely difficult (and costly) to prove that the fault existed when it was bought.


Marion