Try this warranty problem

Not mine, I hasten to add...

Company A has purchased 12 'X' brand PCs each with 1 yr on site warranty
from Company B.

Company A has installed the PCs for a customer.

Fast forward 2 months...

Company B (PC assembler) has gone bust.

1 PC develops a fault.

Customer calls the phone number provided for warranty service - the
warranty is handled by a third party maintenance Company ('C')

The maintenance company 'C' says that since 'B' owed them a lot of money
when they went bust, they are not honouring any warranties for the kit.

Customer calls company A and asks them to sort it out. Company A says
that they only acted as an agent for the customer to arrange the
warranty and they paid the money over (to bust company B) and so it's
not their problem and the customer should deal directly with the
maintenance company.

The maintenance company can't prove they were/not specifically paid for
the customer's PC.

Company A had 'paid' (Company B) for the maintenance contract and sent
back the warranty registration form to the maintenance company.

Who is obliged to sort this out...?

Over to the amateur (and not so amateur!?) lawyers....

Linker3000 wrote:
Not mine, I hasten to add...

Company A has purchased 12 'X' brand PCs each with 1 yr on site warranty
from Company B.

Company A has installed the PCs for a customer.

Fast forward 2 months...

Company B (PC assembler) has gone bust.

1 PC develops a fault.

Customer calls the phone number provided for warranty service - the
warranty is handled by a third party maintenance Company ('C')

The maintenance company 'C' says that since 'B' owed them a lot of money
when they went bust, they are not honouring any warranties for the kit.

Customer calls company A and asks them to sort it out. Company A says
that they only acted as an agent for the customer to arrange the
warranty and they paid the money over (to bust company B) and so it's
not their problem and the customer should deal directly with the
maintenance company.

The maintenance company can't prove they were/not specifically paid for
the customer's PC.

Company A had 'paid' (Company B) for the maintenance contract and sent
back the warranty registration form to the maintenance company.

Who is obliged to sort this out...?

Over to the amateur (and not so amateur!?) lawyers....








As this was a sale/purchase between corporate entities the obligations
and responsibilites of each company involved will depend on the contract
drawn up between each company at the time of, and in order to
consummate, the sale/purchase.

So, my guess is - from the information that you have provided - that the
contract of sale was between, as you put it, "a customer" and company A.
Therefore, under contract law it is the responsibility of company A to
resolve any non-compliance of the contract of sale.

As to whether the maintenance company C is under contract to resolve the
non-compliance will depend on several factors and it does NOT follow
that since company B owed them "a lot of money" they are NOT under an
obligation to honor non-compliance claims.

However, the cost to company A to prove the latter claim would probably
be hell of a lot more than the cost of sorting out the problem with the
computer themselves.

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 04:45:33 +0000, Linker3000
wrote:

Not mine, I hasten to add...

Company A has purchased 12 'X' brand PCs each with 1 yr on site warranty
from Company B.

Company A has installed the PCs for a customer.

Fast forward 2 months...

Company B (PC assembler) has gone bust.

1 PC develops a fault.

Customer calls the phone number provided for warranty service - the
warranty is handled by a third party maintenance Company ('C')

The maintenance company 'C' says that since 'B' owed them a lot of money
when they went bust, they are not honouring any warranties for the kit.

Customer calls company A and asks them to sort it out. Company A says
that they only acted as an agent for the customer to arrange the
warranty and they paid the money over (to bust company B) and so it's
not their problem and the customer should deal directly with the
maintenance company.

The maintenance company can't prove they were/not specifically paid for
the customer's PC.

Company A had 'paid' (Company B) for the maintenance contract and sent
back the warranty registration form to the maintenance company.

Who is obliged to sort this out...?

Over to the amateur (and not so amateur!?) lawyers....


Since we are looking at Companies, not individuals, SOGA & DSR do not
apply. Everything depends on the letter of the Contracts.

It is *probable*, not certain, that Company B has a contract with
Company C to undertake warranty repairs on their behalf. It is
unlikely that that there is any form of contract between Company A &
Company C.

In such a scenario, failure of Company B to meet their obligations
under the maintenance contract (i.e. to pay Company C), makes it null
& void.

There is no way of knowing Company A's obligations to their customer
without knowledge of the contract. There are two main scenarios:

1) Customer asks Company A to buy and install 12 X brand PCs for them
- customer is (probably) on his own.
2) Customer asks Company A to sort out a problem they have. Company A
tells them the solution is a network of 12 PCs that they will obtain
and instal for them - customer may well have a come-back on Company A
unless Company A has worded the contract so that it reads as 1) above.

Sensible solution - Company A sorts the problem out for their customer
and writes the cost off in an effort to maintain good relations with
past and future customers.

Regards,
vj

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 13:27:22 +0000, Vittorio Janus
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 04:45:33 +0000, Linker3000
wrote:

Not mine, I hasten to add...

Company A has purchased 12 'X' brand PCs each with 1 yr on site warranty
from Company B.

Company A has installed the PCs for a customer.

Fast forward 2 months...

Company B (PC assembler) has gone bust.

1 PC develops a fault.

Customer calls the phone number provided for warranty service - the
warranty is handled by a third party maintenance Company ('C')

The maintenance company 'C' says that since 'B' owed them a lot of money
when they went bust, they are not honouring any warranties for the kit.

Customer calls company A and asks them to sort it out. Company A says
that they only acted as an agent for the customer to arrange the
warranty and they paid the money over (to bust company B) and so it's
not their problem and the customer should deal directly with the
maintenance company.

The maintenance company can't prove they were/not specifically paid for
the customer's PC.

Company A had 'paid' (Company B) for the maintenance contract and sent
back the warranty registration form to the maintenance company.

Who is obliged to sort this out...?

Over to the amateur (and not so amateur!?) lawyers....


Since we are looking at Companies, not individuals, SOGA & DSR do not
apply. Everything depends on the letter of the Contracts.

What makes you think that the SOGA doesn't apply to business to
business transactions?

Brian

In article , harry8611
@hotmail.com says...


What makes you think that the SOGA doesn't apply to business to
business transactions?

It doesn't necessarily apply if the contract between 2 businesses has
explicitly written any conditions of the SOGA out, in line with the
Unfair Contracts legislation of course.

In article ,
Linker3000 wrote:

Who is obliged to sort this out...?

If I were the customer I'd expect Company A to sort it out as it was
them who I had purchased the kit off.

If I buy a TV and it breaks I don't care who the wholesalers and
distributors and the likes are, I go back to John Lewis as they sold me
the thing and it's their problem how they sort it out.

I don't know if the fact it's a business to business transaction makes
any difference though - I suppose it comes down to what was agreed as
the terms of purchase?

cheers,
Paul
--

Linker3000 wrote:

Company A has purchased 12 'X' brand PCs each with 1 yr on site warranty
from Company B.

Company A has installed the PCs for a customer.

Fast forward 2 months...
1 PC develops a fault.

Who is obliged to sort this out...?

Regardless of whose responsibility it is, if Company A wants to see any
more business from this customer they had better stop faffing about and
get the PC fixed. FFS what's the cost of fixing or replacing a PC
compared to the cost of losing a customer?

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 04:45:33 +0000, Linker3000 wrote:

Who is obliged to sort this out...?

Dont know but if Company A 'step up to the plate' and sort out the '1 pc'
and re-negotiate some kind of warrantee, instead of leaving their customer
high and dry - that should get them some good recommendations / repeat
business which is money well spent compared to advertising.

Unfortunately it looks like Company A has already missed the oppertunity
and exibiting slippery shoulder syndrome

Lordy