Sending back faulty hardware

Johannesburg - With Christmas and the holiday season coming up, consumers will be shopping up a storm for their loved ones.

But what are their rights when they find that the tablet, earings or toy they bought doesn't even last six months?

Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman, Adv. Neville Melville said the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) has ushered in a new era of consumer-centricity and imposes a built-in or automatic warranty (guarantee) on all goods sold.

"Under the CPA, goods must be reasonably suitable for the purposes for which they are intended, and must be of good quality, in good working order and free of any defects," he explained.

"They must also be useable and durable for a reasonable period of time."

Melville said the CPA brings about a drastic change to the South African law because it includes the requirement that goods must be useable and durable for a reasonable period of time, embodying a new right not recognised under the common law.

"For the first time in South African law, the consumer has a right to continued good quality," said Melville. "In the case of something like a television. fridge or a car, this might mean it should last for a number of years."

If the goods you've bought fail to comply with any of these requirements within six months of being delivered, you are entitled to return them, and ask for one of the three R's - to have the item repaired, replaced or to get a full refund of the price paid.

It is not clear from the CPA what the remedies are if the goods are not durable beyond six months. This is something that will need to be clarified by the National Consumer Tribunal or the courts.

"It's important to note that a supplier cannot force a consumer to choose to have the goods repaired, if the consumer prefers a refund or replacement," said Melville.

"The consumer can insist on a cash refund instead of a store credit or vouchers or on a replacement with something similar at no additional cost."

The supplier may also not force the consumer to purchase a more expensive model or brand and must cover the costs of repairing, collecting or replacing the defective goods.

As always, there are exceptions to the rules, and the rules around refunds do not apply if the consumer was specifically told that the particular goods were offered in a specific condition.

"If you're buying second hand goods, for example, keep this in mind," he warned.

The rules also don't apply if the goods were altered by the consumer contrary to the instructions or tampered with by the consumer.

"Remember that not every defect entitles a consumer to return goods for a refund or replacement," noted Melville.

"The defect must be material - or it could be an imperfection which renders the goods less useful."

The rules regarding refunds apply irrespective of the store's refund policy or the terms of the manufacturer's guarantee.

"In other words, the store's refund policy or the terms of the manufacturer's guarantee cannot override the CPA requirements, but they can go further than or offer more rights to the customer than the CPA does," added Melville.

For example, a store may accept goods returned for a refund within a specific period and with their original packaging even if there is nothing wrong with them and the customer has merely changed their mind, although the CPA only requires a supplier to accept a return if there was something wrong with the goods.

Things retailers look out for before accepting goods for refund

Original packaging

In the case of a defect, the CPA does not require a consumer to return the goods in their original packaging in order to get a refund.

The suppler may, however, insist upon the return of the goods in the original packaging if the goods are returned because the consumer has merely changed their mind and there is nothing wrong with the goods and they are permitted to return the goods in line with the store's returns policy.

Till slips

While the CPA makes no specific reference to till slips, the high levels of crime in South Africa and the fact that the CPA implied warranty is only for six months are reasons justifying the requirement of the production of a till slip when exchanging an item.

But it's also up to suppliers to assist by keeping proper records.

Condition of the goods

The supplier is likely to consider whether the condition of an item suggests it is a recent purchase and may try to determine whether the defect could have been caused by the customer.

"If you have any queries about your legal rights as a consumer or wish to complain about a supplier, you can contact the CGSO for assistance," said Melville. "Each case is treated on its own merits, is independent and free of charge."
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http://www.fin24.com/Companies/Retail/Consumer-protection-regarding-defective-goods-20131112
 
Swa said:
By that reasoning once clothing has been put on it's a used item.
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Hilarious how V isn't fair when comparing to a kettle purchase, yet it's completely acceptable to compare to clothes.

You forget that clothes do not come packaged, generally speaking. It's all about the perception of the customer. Used clothes are easy to sell as new because the customer is unlikely to perceive that they're used. Therefore the customer will pay the asking price if they like it.

Clothing stores also have fitting rooms, it's the nature of the type of goods to try on before buying.

Electronics and most other goods cannot be tried and returned if they're working. If they're accepted back, it's excellent service, something one only gets from big retail stores, not online shops.

A monitor has been unboxed, seals broken, cables unwrapped, protective plastic removed, etc.

Stop being a dunce.
 
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Zewp Do you mind posting a picture of the back light bleed? if you still can.

And to the other people what is accepted in your eyes?

I have zero back light bleed on my screen in till I up the brightness quite a lot . That is whats acceptable for me.
 
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DTBA said:
Zewp Do you mind posting a picture of the back light bleed? if you still can.

And to the other people what is accepted in your eyes?

I have zero back light bleed on my screen in till I up the brightness quite a lot . That is whats acceptable for me.
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Must be a high end screen if you have no backlight bleed? Even my Dell Ultrasharp has backlight bleed. It's the nature of LCD (LED-LCD is often worse).

It's difficult to go by pictures of backlight bleed, because one has to factor in slower shutter speed dramatising the problem.
 
PostmanPot said:
Must be a high end screen if you have no backlight bleed? Even my Dell Ultrasharp has backlight bleed. It's the nature of LCD (LED-LCD is often worse).

It's difficult to go by pictures of backlight bleed, because one has to factor in slower shutter speed dramatising the problem.
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ASUS VE247H

I agree that a camera could make it worse but I just wanted to have an idea.

I found hits unacceptable.
976657.jpg

Its just to give a idea of how bad it really is
 
DTBA said:
ASUS VE247H

I agree that a camera could make it worse but I just wanted to have an idea.

I found hits unacceptable.

Its just to give a idea of how bad it really is
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It sure looks it, however dark room = slower shutter speed. :p
 
PostmanPot said:
It sure looks it, however dark room = slower shutter speed. :p
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I agree but what I have seen, after turning my screen to full brightness. I took my camera out and took picture adjusted my exposure so its close as possible I can get to as what I can see.


This is on 100% brightness on my screen and for me its acceptable I don't really use my screen above 50%
http://postimg.org/image/5eakf4t7r/
 
PostmanPot said:
Hilarious how V isn't fair when comparing to a kettle purchase, yet it's completely acceptable to compare to clothes.
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His comparison was a complete reductio ad absurdom. It isn't near the situation described here.

PostmanPot said:
You forget that clothes do not come packaged, generally speaking. It's all about the perception of the customer. Used clothes are easy to sell as new because the customer is unlikely to perceive that they're used. Therefore the customer will pay the asking price if they like it.
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Which is even more applicable to an electronic item that was plucked in and found to not work satisfactorily.

PostmanPot said:
Clothing stores also have fitting rooms, it's the nature of the type of goods to try on before buying.
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For very good reason. Even so they can be returned because there's some issues that only become apparent after wearing and examining them for longer periods.

PostmanPot said:
Electronics and most other goods cannot be tried and returned if they're working. If they're accepted back, it's excellent service, something one only gets from big retail stores, not online shops.

A monitor has been unboxed, seals broken, cables unwrapped, protective plastic removed, etc.
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We are not talking about a product that's working satisfactorily and I've gotten plenty of products missing some packaging. As long as it's in the box and not damaged. Takealot wouldn't have had a problem with something like this. If other online stores can't compete on price they should at least try to offer something the mass produce ones don't. I'll gladly pay 10% more for a product knowing they'll take it back if I don't like it afterwards but it seems good service is non-existent in this country.

PostmanPot said:
Stop being a dunce.
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You first.

PostmanPot said:
I doubt you understand CPA correctly. In any case, LG will soon confirm whether it's defective or not. I'd guess they'll say it's not defective but hope otherwise for the OP, but fear for them because this is usually subjective where most people are happy/do not notice the bleed.
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It's not my understanding but that of an expert. If it's indeed something acceptable (unconfirmed) to most people they shouldn't have a problem selling it like that to someone else. If they try to stick it with the OP because they'll get the same hassle from someone else then it's clearly not an acceptable defect.

PostmanPot said:
Must be a high end screen if you have no backlight bleed? Even my Dell Ultrasharp has backlight bleed. It's the nature of LCD (LED-LCD is often worse).

It's difficult to go by pictures of backlight bleed, because one has to factor in slower shutter speed dramatising the problem.
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I have an Acer AL1917. It's one of the cheapest budget monitors out there and has no bleed so it's not really something that's so hard to accomplish.
 
DTBA said:
I found hits unacceptable.
View attachment 218686
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I'll see if I can grab a picture tonight, but mine is more or less the same. There's slight backlight bleed in three of the corners which is acceptable, with a similar amount to yours in the bottom left.

Wootware kept giving me the runaround so I told them that they sold me a defective monitor and I'm not going to take 'maybe' as an answer when it comes to whether I'm going to get a replacement or not. Either they guarantee me a replacement, or they give me a replacement themselves or they give me a refund so I can go buy it from TakeAlot, who would have sent a courier themselves to collect the item from me.
 
Swa said:
Yes and it's also just a week with it being broken of arrival. Car breaking down 4 weeks later is a warrantee issue.
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This is pretty much my reasoning. If this was a month old monitor I would be fine with going through the RMA process, but it's not. It's a week old monitor that didn't perform as it should right out the box. That justifies not going through the RMA process, in my eyes. I should not be suffering because of them selling me a defective product and much less should they be telling me that there's a possibility I'm going to be stuck with it if the manufacturer disagrees.

If I were using this monitor for purely office use it would be perfectly fine, but I use it for movies and videogames too, where the backgrounds are often dark.
 
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Wootware said they'll test it and if they feel the backlight bleed is excessive, they'll replace it immediately. If not, they're sending it in to LG.

Will give them the benefit of the doubt for now. Either way, that's the last LG product I buy. The build quality overall is just so poor compared to all the Samsungs I've had over the years.
 
Zewp said:
Wootware said they'll test it and if they feel the backlight bleed is excessive, they'll replace it immediately. If not, they're sending it in to LG.

Will give them the benefit of the doubt for now. Either way, that's the last LG product I buy. The build quality overall is just so poor compared to all the Samsungs I've had over the years.
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This sounds much better. One can understand if they feel you're being anal to send it away for manufacturer opinion. But if they can see it's borked they can replace it on the spot. Why not?

Sounds promising, good luck Zewp
 
I'm concerned about what they might consider excessive, because the issue isn't that excessive. It's just bad enough that I consider it unacceptable. If they don't consider it excessive, then no way will a bunch of LG employees whose job it is to look for reasons not to replace it think it's excessive either.

Overall, I'm just really sad I didn't take my SO's advice and buy from TakeAlot. Nothing against Wootware as I think they're a great bunch of people overall, but TakeAlot would never have me in a situation like this.
 
Zewp said:
I'm concerned about what they might consider excessive, because the issue isn't that excessive. It's just bad enough that I consider it unacceptable. If they don't consider it excessive, then no way will a bunch of LG employees whose job it is to look for reasons not to replace it think it's excessive either.

Overall, I'm just really sad I didn't take my SO's advice and buy from TakeAlot. Nothing against Wootware as I think they're a great bunch of people overall, but TakeAlot would never have me in a situation like this.
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I too feel your pain. I'm just glad mine seemed to have worked out great. I would have drove down to CPT and shove my goods back up their arses if they had issues with me returning faulty wares. I'm an extremely anal person when it comes to buying this and I don't get what I pay for. Since I have taken a very firm stand, it's like I always get perfect goods. Maybe you need to just have a go at a few dealerships before luck favours you when it comes to things like this :o
 
They claim that during their testing the monitor exhibited no excessive backlight issues, which I find very odd. However, they have offered to replace, refund or credit me for it so I must say kudos to them in that regard. I'm not sure what they're going to do with the monitor and I'd feel pretty bad if they are absorbing the loss in this case because it's a manufacturer's defect, but after a week of use and lots of testing on different settings/angles I'm not convinced that there's no issue with that monitor.
 
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