Aria avoid issuing RMA for certain line items...

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 01:51:34 +0000, Lordy wrote:

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 01:39:54 +0000, Lordy wrote:


I guess I should call Aria first to get a statement from them re. my
statutory rights....

I sent them a Web-email thingy as follows :

"I tried to generate an RMA for a Digimate monitor an the page says: "Please contact the manufacturer directly using the information below."

My understanding is that dealing with the Manufacturer directly
invalidates my statutory rights. For example the Manufacturer may choose
not to honour the waranty, or may only replace a faulty monitor once, and
if it went to court I have no comeback because Digimate have no legal
obligation to me.

What is your position on this? Where is it in writing that by referring me
to the manufacturer, that I have not broken my sales contract because I
was forced by your website to do this?
Or if I do lose by statutory rights, isnt it bad for your website to be
encouraging this?"

The reply

"Dear Sir,

14 days after the date of purchase the warranty is transferred to Digimate.
This is because the warranty offered by Digimate is better than the
service we can offer. To arrange a return with Digimate please contact
them on 0871 250 8000"

A canned response that doesn't answer the question. I scanned through the
SOGA and I think the wriggle point is that once you have exchanged "the
goods" directly with the manufacturer, the retailer could argue, this is
outside of their control. If subsequent faults develop, why should the
retailer be now responsible for goods they have not supplied and do not
have control over? Although you Statutory rights cant be taken away they
apply to the supplied goods?

I've kept my email and Aria's eloquent response, just in case! Also a
screenshot of their RMA page.

I noticed that Aria dude hasnt been back! They dont really have the range
of stock, mindshareor keen enough prices to afford
this level of customer service do they? (cmp. Ebuyer, Dabs). I doubt I'll
be getting anymore monitors from them ...

Lordy

Lordy wrote:

"Dear Sir,

14 days after the date of purchase the warranty is transferred to Digimate.
This is because the warranty offered by Digimate is better than the
service we can offer. To arrange a return with Digimate please contact
them on 0871 250 8000"

Nice

A canned response that doesn't answer the question. I scanned through the
SOGA and I think the wriggle point is that once you have exchanged "the
goods" directly with the manufacturer, the retailer could argue, this is
outside of their control. If subsequent faults develop, why should the
retailer be now responsible for goods they have not supplied and do not
have control over? Although you Statutory rights cant be taken away they
apply to the supplied goods?

Yes, I discussed this point briefly with the county court judge who
heard my case against them. Though I didn't really have time to discuss
it that much -- not sure if it would have affected his final deciscion.
But he certainly made the point that one could argue that way.

Ah well, if you're very lucky it won't get that far and you won't be
needing one of these:

http://ktown.kde.org/~howells/court.jpg

I've kept my email and Aria's eloquent response, just in case! Also a
screenshot of their RMA page.

Good idea.

I noticed that Aria dude hasnt been back! They dont really have the range
of stock, mindshareor keen enough prices to afford
this level of customer service do they? (cmp. Ebuyer, Dabs). I doubt I'll
be getting anymore monitors from them ...

As someone who has personal experience of it, I'd advise you to send
them a letter by registered mail stating that they are in breach of the
Sale of Goods Act and that you require them to deal with the issue.
State a date that you must have received a response by (two weeks for
the date of the letter is reasonable) and that if no suitable response
is forthcoming you consider legal action against them in the small
claims court.

You seem to have a pretty good idea what to do already, but obviously
keep all correspondence, names of people you've dealt with, date that it
happened etc.

Lordy wrote:
On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 08:11:16 +0000, Dan Hicks wrote:


If something you buy is faulty, your rights under the Sale of Goods Act
are against the retailer. This everyone knows. Any benefits given by a
guarantee are on top of these rights. The retailer cannot replace them
or take them away. This is why you will often see the phrase "this does
not affect your statutory rights" with a guarantee or on a receipt, for
example. And you will still have your Sale of Goods rights even after
the guarantee has run out.


Yup but I was under the impression that after I have exchanged the
original item with a replacement direct from the manufacturer - I no
longer have the goods that were supplied?

Lordy

Just a thought, but if the vendor /tells/ you explicitly to deal direct
with the maker, can one not argue that the vendor cannot then shirk
responsibility? The basis being that you are only persuing the vendor's
choice of fix-it options.

--
Please use the corrected version of the address below for replies.
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Lordy wrote:

I noticed that Aria dude hasnt been back! They dont really have the range
of stock, mindshareor keen enough prices to afford
this level of customer service do they? (cmp. Ebuyer, Dabs). I doubt I'll
be getting anymore monitors from them ...

I've always bought iiyama monitors, from a variety of suppliers -
warranty replacement has always been dealt with direct with iiyama
whose customer service department is fantastic, as is their next day
on-site swap out facility. I would get really ****ed off if I had to
pack up and ship a 21 inch monitor back to the supplier I bought it
from.

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 03:24:10 +0000, Chris Howells wrote:

As someone who has personal experience of it, I'd advise you to send
them a letter by registered mail stating that they are in breach of the
Sale of Goods Act and that you require them to deal with the issue.
State a date that you must have received a response by (two weeks for
the date of the letter is reasonable) and that if no suitable response
is forthcoming you consider legal action against them in the small
claims court.

I'm going to deal with Digimate directly as it is much easier. I just
wanted confirmation that in the unlikely event something went
wrong again and Digimate became un-coperative that my Statutory Rights
would be transfered to the monitor replaced by Digimate.

Eg. Say Digimate suddenly became obstinate, and refused to fix my monitor
a second time, I should be able to seek compensation from Aria.

It's all hypothetical for me anyway. I'm confident that Digimate will do a
good job. And as Aria admit - much better than themselves.

Lordy

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 03:24:10 +0000, Chris Howells wrote:

Yes, I discussed this point briefly with the county court judge who
heard my case against them. Though I didn't really have time to discuss
it that much -- not sure if it would have affected his final deciscion.
But he certainly made the point that one could argue that way.

Did Aria then attempt to use direct replacement via Manufacturer as a
get out clause , from upholding their side of the SOGA?

Lordy

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:34:34 +0000, Chris Howells wrote:

The problem really occurs if you have problems with the replacement. (I
guess it'd be a similar story if it was repaired and not replaced).

If the manufacturer replaced the item the retailer might try to refuse
to deal with you any further, since it would not be the item supplied by
them. Not sure if they can legally do that, but if they maintain that
stance taking them to court is a lot of hassle and you could loose.

Especially as a lot of the e-tailers keep a record of the supplied Serial
Number. They would now have to confirm with the manufacturer that your new
Serial is a replacement and chances are they do not have processes in
place for this scenario. Still, in the wider scheme of things in this
instance, with relatively low value goods, it seems better all round to
deal with Digimate directly.

Lordy

Lordy wrote:

I'm going to deal with Digimate directly as it is much easier. I just
wanted confirmation that in the unlikely event something went
wrong again and Digimate became un-coperative that my Statutory Rights
would be transfered to the monitor replaced by Digimate.

Are you sure that will happen? I'm not completely convinced myself.

It's all hypothetical for me anyway. I'm confident that Digimate will do a
good job. And as Aria admit - much better than themselves.

Good luck. I was pretty irritated that Aria seemingly did everything
bloody possible to delay things when I took them to court, e.g. not
responding to papers until near the time limit. So avoid going that
route if you can.

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:19:01 GMT, Lordy
wrote:

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:34:34 +0000, Chris Howells wrote:

The problem really occurs if you have problems with the replacement. (I
guess it'd be a similar story if it was repaired and not replaced).

If the manufacturer replaced the item the retailer might try to refuse
to deal with you any further, since it would not be the item supplied by
them. Not sure if they can legally do that, but if they maintain that
stance taking them to court is a lot of hassle and you could loose.

Especially as a lot of the e-tailers keep a record of the supplied Serial
Number. They would now have to confirm with the manufacturer that your new
Serial is a replacement and chances are they do not have processes in
place for this scenario. Still, in the wider scheme of things in this
instance, with relatively low value goods, it seems better all round to
deal with Digimate directly.

And what if Digimate supply you with a monitor which either has or
develops dead pixels that meet Digimate's criteria for a good monitor
but not your criteria? Digimate could claim it meets their published
criteria for a good monitor, so you have no claim against them; Aria
would claim they never supplied it so no case to answer.

I think you have to be careful; not saying you shouldn't deal direct
with the manufacturer but be wary of the consequences. Best solution
would be for you to deal with Aria and Aria should contact Digimate.

So where is this helpful Aria guy that replaced Rob????
--
John Perry

http://www.redoak.co.uk
http://www.eze-buy.co.uk

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 09:53:20 +0000, John Perry
wrote:

So where is this helpful Aria guy that replaced Rob????

He has been assimilated into the Borg-like collective of Aria's
customer support. He no longer has free will so cannot help.

--
Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.