03. Dealing with problems with goods

If you have a problem with a product, you should first complain to:

• the retailer (the place you bought it from); or  
• if it is under guarantee, the manufacturer.

They may offer to fix it free or replace it without an argument. When you contact them, be clear about whether you want:

• a refund (some or all of your money back).  
• a replacement; or  
• a free repair;

You may also want to ask for compensation if you have lost out because the product was faulty (for example, if you had to throw out food which had spoilt because your freezer broke down).

If the retailer won't do what you want, don't be fobbed off. Sometimes just making a shop know that you are aware of your legal rights is enough to make them sort the problem out.

However, if a retailer refuses to sort out your problem (or won't deal with you at all), you may have to take legal action. Sometimes the threat of legal action, or the first stages (like getting a county court summons), is enough to get them to act.

Your legal rights
There are several laws which you can quote if you make a complaint about something you’ve bought.The most important one is the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (later strengthened by the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994). New regulations (the sale and supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002) give you extra rights if something is faulty.

The law says that goods must:

• fit any description given (for example, on the label or packaging or in an advertisement). So a 'waterproof' jacket really must be waterproof.  
• be of satisfactory quality. This means they must be in good condition, safe to use, strong enough to last a reasonable length of time and have no faults.  
• be fit for their purpose. This includes any purpose you made clear when you bought or ordered the goods. So, for example, if you told a shop that you wanted a printer which would connect to your type of computer, the printer should do this.  
• match any sample you were shown. So if you order a sofa, the fabric must match what you were shown when you ordered it.  
• come with adequate installation or self-assembly instructions (if appropriate).

It is important to know that these rights are against the retailer, not the manufacturer. The retailer is the shop or company which sold the goods to you, and this includes a market stall, mail-order company or website. The retailer cannot pass the buck by telling you to contact the manufacturer about a fault.

You can complain to the manufacturer if you want, and this may be a good idea if the product is covered by a guarantee. (For more information about guarantees see page 6). But you cannot use the Sale of Goods Act to take the manufacturer to court.

What the law says a retailer must do about faulty goods
If you think goods are faulty when you get them home, you should tell the retailer as soon as you can. The Sale of Goods laws say you must be given a ‘reasonable’ length of time to examine goods you buy, and check they are satisfactory. If they aren’t, you can 'reject' them and get your money back, but only if you do this within a ‘reasonable’ time. What is a reasonable time depends on the type of product, but it may not be very long, and could be as little as a few weeks.

Instead of a refund, you could accept a replacement or a repair, or claim compensation (usually the cost of repairing or replacing the goods). But you don't have to take these options if you don't want to. If you do let theretailer repair something that is faulty, you may still have the right to get your money back if the repair doesn't work.

If you’ve left it too long to ‘reject’ the goods and get a refund, or a fault appears later on, you still have rights under the 2002 Regulations mentioned above.

• If the fault appears in the first six months, you’re entitled to a repair or a replacement (but not if the fault is just ‘fair wear and tear’, or is caused by accidental damage or misuse). If the retailer disputes your claim, it’s up to them to prove the product wasn’t faulty in the first place, or couldn’t reasonably be expected to last that long.  
• The retailer can choose to replace an item rather than repair it (or the other way round) if the alternative would be much more costly for them.  
• If the fault appears after six months, you may still be entitled to a repair or replacement. But if the retailer disputes your claim, it will be up to you to prove that the product was faulty when you bought it.

The retailer must pay for any delivery costs involved in repair or replacement, which must be carried out within a ‘reasonable’ time. If it ’s not possible or practical to repair or replace the goods, you will still have the right to some or all of your money back, depending on how much use you have had from the product since you bought it.

You might also be able to claim for ‘consequential loss’ if you’re out of pocket because of a fault (for example, if you had to hire an emergency replacement). But you must have acted reasonably and the amounts claimed must be in proportion. (See also ‘What if a product hurts someone or damages something?’ on page 7).

You have six years from when you bought something to start a legal claim under either the Sale of Goods Act or the 2002 Regulations (this doesn’t mean that all goods must last that long - six years is the time limit for making a claim about something that was faulty to start with).

Buying things elsewhere in the EU
The 2002 Regulations come from a European Union Directive to improve consumers' rights when buying goods. If you buy something in another EU country, you have similar rights against the retailer, except that in some countries these only last for a minimum of two years instead of six as in the UK. Your rights are
against the original retailer - you can’t choose to take a faulty product back to a UK shop instead.

What 'reasonable' means
The word 'reasonable' appears quite often in consumer laws (for example, expecting something to be delivered in a 'reasonable' time, or a job done at a 'reasonable' cost). This can cause problems, because it means different things in different situations. In difficult cases (such as how long something should last with normal use) you may need to get an opinion from a trade association or independent expert.

When the Sale of Goods Act doesn't apply
The Sale of Goods Act doesn't apply when you buy a house or flat. And if you buy something privately (from a person, not a business, like a shop), the legal principle of 'buyer beware' applies, so you should check something carefully before you buy. This is because the parts of the Sale of Goods Act which say something must be 'of satisfactory quality' and 'fit for their purpose' don't apply to private sales.

But you do have some rights when you buy privately. The law says that even private sellers must not 'misrepresent' goods to you by misleading you or lying to you about something. So, for example, a person must not give you false information about the age or mileage of a second-hand car they are selling.

If you relied on something they told you when deciding to buy and it turned out not to be true, you may be able to claim compensation from them. But you may need legal help to decide whether you can do this and how to go about it.

What about something I've bought at auction?
In theory, the Sale of Goods Act has always applied to auctions, though auctioneers often (legally) display a notice excluding most of your rights under the Act. But the 2002 Regulations give you some new rights:

• if you buy new goods at an auction, you have the same rights as if you buy from a normal retailer (though if may be very hard to enforce your rights against people who set up one-day sales and then disappear)  
• you also have these rights against the auctioneer if you buy secondhand goods in an auction which you could not attend in person (such as a telephone-only or internet-only auction). But this isn’t the case
  if you buy at an auction you attend (or could have attended) in person.

Internet sites which allow private sellers to auction items usually make it clear in their terms that your contract is with the seller, so it counts as a private sale and you won ’t have extra rights under the Regulations.