Help - Sony center not replacing faulty unit

romperstomper

Right guys,

Sony Jervis SC are refusing to exchange a new 8gb memory card bought there in Dec by my partner. Its faulty (fails formats etc) and we want is a replacement. IT was bought by cash on the 14th of Dec as a present and unfortunately the receipt was not kept which is how they are trying to weasel out of honouring warranty. I have lodged an online form with the consumer affairs group, but is there ANYTHING else I can do to get things moving here? Just so mad that they are ripping us off and hiding behind 'policy'.

Thanks

Doctor DooM

Unfortunately the burden of proof of purchase is with the consumer.

You have no rights, sadly.


It is extremely poor customer care. I wonder if you wrote a letter to their headquarters would it help.

Karoma

You have no proof of purchase. We don't live in a world where we can just take another's word, unfortunately. Contact Sony support direct and organise it that way?

romperstomper

they don't HAVE to rely on my word, all they have to do is scan its serial to find out if its theirs and they are refusing to do so!

also, i'm SURE that a receipt is not necessary if the goods are faulty. Pretty sure its in the sale or supply of goods act, 1980

Doctor DooM

romperstomper wrote: »

they don't HAVE to rely on my word, all they have to do is scan its serial to find out if its theirs and they are refusing to do so!

also, i'm SURE that a receipt is not necessary if the goods are faulty. Pretty sure its in the sale or supply of goods act, 1980

Incorrect. I worked in retail managenemt for 8 years: They don't HAVE to do anything.

You must provide Proof of Purchase.

However, yes, I am sure they could find it if they tried- however, they may be restricted by rules which they cannot over rule.

Karoma

romperstomper wrote: »

they don't HAVE to rely on my word, all they have to do is scan its serial to find out if its theirs and they are refusing to do so!

Does your partner remember them recording such details of the purchase on their system at the time of purchase?
Otherwise, their system may not record that level of detail.

also, i'm SURE that a receipt is not necessary if the goods are faulty. Pretty sure its in the sale or supply of goods act, 1980

You don't "HAVE" to provide it, but if you don't then they don't "HAVE" to give you a refund or replacement or anything. It's a reasonable "policy", if they cannot confirm it was their stock.



Just contact Sony support (Sony Centres are merely a retail franchise) direct and claim support/replacement under the warranty.

Sam Vimes

romperstomper wrote: »

they don't HAVE to rely on my word, all they have to do is scan its serial to find out if its theirs and they are refusing to do so!

the vast majority of stores don't take a note of the serial numbers of things like that. any place i've worked in certainly hasn't

romperstomper wrote: »

also, i'm SURE that a receipt is not necessary if the goods are faulty. Pretty sure its in the sale or supply of goods act, 1980

in fact the sale of goods act only applies if its faulty. why should they give you a new one when in all likelihood you bought it somewhere else?


if you contact the manufacturer of the card directly you might have a shot but the sony centre are perfectly within their rights to show you the door unfortunately

romperstomper

just out of curiosity, if receipt was provided would they be able to weasal out of it then?
you see i haven't be happy with their service and would want a FULL refund from them.
would they be able to claim any other 'policies' to avoid giving me a refund under those circumstances? thanks

Karoma

In this case: i.e. a memory card, and I'm assuming there was some heated debate so far - if you produced a receipt, you'd get a refund. There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to what exactly you're entitled to, but it would fall under 'repair, replacement, or refund'.
(Repair is not really an option. Replacement would be fair usually, but on the assumption that there has been quite a bit of disagreement between you and the store so far - maybe not. If you continued to put your foot down, you'd most likely get a refund.)

You can contact a consumer protection organisations for a more informed opinion:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/consumer-affairs/consumer-protection/consumer-complaints/replacements_refunds_and_credit_notes

Sam Vimes

you would be entitled to a replacement or a refund and its the shops choice. They'd be perfectly within their rights to give you a new one

romperstomper

are we the consumer EVER entitled automatically to a refund. does it take attempted murder from a shop assistant to mean you don't have to enrich their franchise?

tvnutz

romperstomper wrote: »

are we the consumer EVER entitled automatically to a refund. does it take attempted murder from a shop assistant to mean you don't have to enrich their franchise?

Ye if it is faulty and within 28 days(usually-some shops have 15 days),you are entitled to a refund. But only with the receipt. You have no reason to be angry because you don't have proof of purchase. Serial numbers are not kept in most stores with the exception of large items like tv's. They probably don't have a serial number for a memory card and for all they know you bought it somewhere else. I can't stand when people come in and kick up a stink and going on about consumer rights when they have none because they didn't bother to hold onto the receipt.

Sam Vimes

romperstomper wrote: »

are we the consumer EVER entitled automatically to a refund. does it take attempted murder from a shop assistant to mean you don't have to enrich their franchise?

never automatically no, but if you brought it back with a reasonable time period and they refused a refund, a small claims court judge would probably rule in your favour, depending on the circumstances of course

Nody

tvnutz wrote: »

Ye if it is faulty and within 28 days(usually-some shops have 15 days),you are entitled to a refund.

No, you're incorrect, they are not ENTITLED to a refund, it is the store offering a service beyond the requirement of the law.

To the OP, yes you have; you have the right to decide where you spend your money but once you decided to spend it you can't suddenly decide to change your mind because you're unhappy. Hence if you want to have the possability you have to spend your money in a store offering said extra service.

eamonnq

What sort of memory card is it? A memory stick duo pro? Is it a SONY branded one ? There are a lot of fake cards going around so I think they are well within their rights to ask for a receipt, to at least show that you did purchase it there.


Sony Centre Jervis Street is owned by Peats (Parnell Street).

romperstomper

yes its sony branded. sony packaged. came from that store

Oryx

romperstomper wrote: »

yes its sony branded. sony packaged. came from that store

Trouble is, they cant know that for sure. And they dont remember you as a customer. If you turned out to be a scammer theyd have to take a hit on dud goods. I agree they could be more accommodating, but it may be something the sales staff cannot override, and you dont know how many people have already been trying it on with them, which caused such a rigid policy.

Your rights are still intact, but you have to take it up with the manufacturer.

eamonnq

I think if you don't have a receipt, you have no 'proof of purchase' to show that the item was bought there, you could however get someone to go in and buy another one, and then bring back your faulty one with their receipt!!

TestTransmission

sony itself wont replace a faulty memory card without a pop.thats just the way it is

jor el

romperstomper wrote: »

yes its sony branded. sony packaged. came from that store

Go to sony.ie and register the product with them, using it's serial number. You should then have access to manufacturer warranty details and be able to send it back directly to Sony. You shouldn't need proof of purchase here as they'll know (by it's serial number) that it is under warranty. They may even be able to tell what store sold that particular stick.

That's your best bet.

romperstomper

perfect thanks