EU: Changes to Sale of Goods Act...

Splottboy

According to reports on Radio 5 Live, the EU - Bless 'em - are attempting to get rid of the "Sale of Goods Act", in the case of Refunds. You'd still be able to get a replacement item, but NO Refunds.. Nada, Nien, Zero, Zilch, Zip, Nuffin...
This is so we can be "Equal" with our Continental cousins, as they don't have it.
So...rather than bring them UP to our standard, we have to be DROPPED to theirs!

This means anything that turns out to be duff, you can get Free of Charge, Another duff one.
Even IF the shop/business wanted to Refund you, Big Brother EU won't legally let them.
This surely limits your purchasing power, and also gives the manufacturer the upper hand, as if the item lasts only a short time, they can build in short-term redundancy as they are only going to give you another one...and another one...and another one...
( Great for workers/productivity, as they would always be busy/employed.)

How the Hell did we get into this "another fine mess, Stanley?"
Did Louie, John and Edward become EU Politicians??? Looks like it...

rake

Le Commentateur

If something breaks within 2 or 3 years the manufacturer's warrantry should cover it anyway. Whay would you need a refund in that case?

TBH the stuff I've bought that was made in Germany etc (washing machine, oven etc) have never had any problems whatever.

guilliano

I very much doubt that it will be illegal for a shop to give a refund. More likely they just wouldn't be legally obliged to.

beverick

Le Commentateur wrote:

If something breaks within 2 or 3 years the manufacturer's warrantry should cover it anyway. Whay would you need a refund in that case?

The manufacturers warranty has virtually no relevance to your right to a refund for faulty goods. It only warrants that they will take specific actions in the case of specific events. You may still be out of pocket as a result.

The manufacturers warranty may also last for a day, a week, a year or longer depending on the item. It may be modified or withdrawn at any time.

Should an item be patently unfit for purpose the sale of goods act protects you for the "reasonble life" of the product.

For "right to refund" read "right to reject". Basically, under UK law, if you lose confidence in either the item itself or the retailer's ability to provide a faultless item you are entitled to reject the contract and reclaim your money.

By losing the right to a refund you are being denied the ability to cancel the contract even if the retailer is materially in breach of it.

Le Commentateur wrote:

TBH the stuff I've bought that was made in Germany etc (washing machine, oven etc) have never had any problems whatever.

Le Commentateur wrote:

If something breaks within 2 or 3 years the manufacturer's warrantry should cover it anyway. Whay would you need a refund in that case?

TBH the stuff I've bought that was made in Germany etc (washing machine, oven etc) have never had any problems whatever.

The point is that had the 'stuff' you bought in Germany been fautly you would not have been able to reject it. You would have had to rely on someone repairing or replacing it at some point in the future. So, if your washing machine had broken and the supplier had taken 6 months to fix it then tough. In the UK you'd have been able to get a refund and replace it virtually immediately.

Also, I assume that you would most likley have bought the same goods in the UK but, at the moment, you would have been protected by better consumer rights in the UK had the item been faulty.

Bob

Wooliferkins

Here is the document it is long and involved. If you read the relevant bits you'll find what is trying to be done is very different from what is flying around the media. Rule one in news journalism "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Smokin Joe

That story headlined in the Express this weekend, which is absolute proof that it is complete garbage. They should stick to Diana and Maddy, they get all confused when they start believing they're a newspaper.

Le Commentateur

Isolationist propaganda.