Harvey Norman

rafa67

Hi guys

Sorry to wake up again this old post but I wanted your help or advice on something that happenned to me with an Harvey Norman in Ireland.

I bought in January 2015 a nice BOSE bluetooth speaker and recently the cable to charge started to not work anymore with my device.
I went to Harvey Norman with the invoice and I thought they will replace my cable.

I did not subscribe to their nice extension warranty and the guys there started to say to me that the warranty with Harvey Norman is actually expired, it was only 25 or 28 days..don't remember exactly.. and that now, if I want to look for my problem I have to check with the manufacturer (BOSE).. Well they said they can take care of that with the constructor but I'm wondering at which cost for me...for the moment I said no.

Do you think it's normal ? is it legal practice ? In my mind, 1 year "normal" legal warranty does not matter the brand you purchase and that's the shop I bought my speaker who should provide the customer service even if I did not subscribe to their "warranty extension"

All advice are welcome, any law site I can use ? because this story is not over for the moment.

Thank you for your help

delahuntv

rafa67 wrote: »

Hi guys

Sorry to wake up again this old post but I wanted your help or advice on something that happenned to me with an Harvey Norman in Ireland.

<SNIP>

Harvey Norman are wrong. If your device or anything assoicated with the device has developed a fault that is not of your doing they must repair, replace or refund.

They MAY ask you to contact BOSE directly, but this does not exclude them from being reponsible, however it does ensure the problem is dealt with quicker.

ejabrod

You need to look up the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act HERE

Citizens Information

dudara

Posts split out and moved to new thread.

dudara

General reminder - please do not quote entire posts, where possible. These appear as big blocks of text on the mobile site and make it hard for readers to get through the thread.

dudara

AlwaysAmber

I suspect what they were telling you was that they would have replaced it within 28 days, but because it's over that they'll send it to the manufacture to repair.

If that's the case, they can do that.

rafa67

Thank you guys.

So far I wrote to consumerhelp.ie and I will see what they will reply to me

ejabrod

Your contract is with Harvery Norman, not with BOSE (the manufacturer).

delahuntv

I'll guess the poster is not originally from Ireland and reckon something is lost in translation.

Some shops have their own policy of immediate replacement within 28 days if a fault occurs, howver after 28 days normal consumer law would apply and this woul allow for Repair, Replacement or Refund, with a repair being the first option for most electronic goods.

Havey Norman, whilst reponsible, are perferring for you to go directly to BOSE as this will save you time and prevent the item getting lost within Harvey Norman system.

This is allowed, as Harvey norman is still responsible but they are trying to make it as quick and easy for the customer to get a repair or replacement and thus ask the custoemr to contact the manufacturers customer care centre to get the fault rectified.

So maybe the poster should contact BOSE customer care and they may find the issue is corrected very quickly.

rafa67

After an e mail and a phone call with Consumerhelp.ie they confirmed me that my statutory right ( that everyone has) of 1 year link myself to Harvey Norman and not to Bose. I'm suppose to get repair or replacement of my cable from HN and I can be even entitle to ask for a refund for my device from HN.

So their 28 days warranty looks not really legal and sounds to me more like a commercial attraction for people to subscribe to their "Extra warranty".

I called HN again (customer service). The lady is suppose to call me back later...maybe she is reading that post

I may accept they send everything back to BOSE if HN accept to lend me a substitute speaker the time mine is coming back.

slimjimmc

Where does this 1 year 'link' come from? Bose provide at least 2 year guarantee on all products sold in Europe so it can't be that and consumer law does not put any 1 year limit on your rights nor the seller's obligations.

And this '28 day warranty' doesn't make sense either. Some shops have a policy that they will automatically replace defective goods in the first 28 days but will try to repair after that period (most places will return it to the manufacturer for repair under their warranty). This is perfectly legal because it does not weaken your rights and it doesn't mean the shop can wash their hands of the problem after 28 days.

Under consumer law you have the right to a repair or replacement if a defect was present at the time of sale, even if that defect doesn't appear until some years later during the reasonable life of the item.

If neither a repair or replacement is possible or causes you significant inconvenience then you can seek a refund. If HN choose to send the speaker away for repair and that repair can be done within a reasonable timescale (e.g. imo 2-3 weeks is reasonable) then they are meeting their legal obligation to you. They don't have to give you the loan of another speaker.
You can refuse their offer and take them to the Small Claims Court but I doubt the court would see 2-3 weeks for repair of an electronic device as being unreasonable.

I really do think there is some misunderstanding at play here between the OP, HN and the consumer advice line the OP spoke with.

rafa67

If you read my post, my electronic device is ok, it's my cable that is not working anymore. My device is working with another cable someone kindly lend to me for a short time.
I don't know about policy with BOSE and I don't really care. What matter to me is the customer service HN can provide to me, I'm link to them with my purchase, not to BOSE.

The 1 year warranty is coming from the statutory law for any purchase anywhere so I don't know why HN are talking about their 28 days warranty. I found stupid to lose 2 or 3 weeks sending my device with the default cable to BOSE for a cable story.

After some calls HN accepted to give my a free cable, I need to go there to pick it..what a pain

rafa67

Anyway thank you all for your replies, story almost end

Menas

Glad it worked out for you Rafa67. I have stopped shopping at Harvey Norman due to their 'not our problem' approach to customer service.

slimjimmc

Sound good OP, what was the outcome?

Just to clarify, there is no 1 year warranty under any law, your statutory rights are much stronger. Whoever told you there is a 1 year warranty was mistaken. In some EU countries your consumer protection is limited to 2 years but under Irish consumer law your rights can last a lot longer.