Extended warranty bought with sofa, but cant claim

[Guest sharonsmith]

Hi all

 

I bought a large corner leather sofa and a reclining arm chair and footstall from Land of Leather in the january sales 2007. I bought the extended warranty cos i was told by ther sales man that if anything went wrong with the sofa, that i could then claim for repair on it. All in all my sofa cost me £1700 (In the sale)

 

I was told that i had to wait 3 months before my sofa could be delivered because they had to make it all at the same time so it come off the same roll of leather. But actually you can see that its been made with different leather as it all has different texture which is very noticable.

 

All down the edges of the seats, the leather has cracked, and started doing so after only having the sofa for 5 months. (my dad has had his sofa for 16 years and still looks new!!!!) I thought that getting a leather sofa, it would last me quite a long time. I have read through the warranty leaflet that i was given, and it tells you everything that you can claim for, but then in the small print, they basically have a clause that gets themselves out of anyone being able to make a claim. Which means that i cant actually claim for anything. But the sales man told me that if i bought this wearranty, that i could claim if anything went wrong.

 

So was i mis-sold this extended warranty policy, and can i get them done for an unenforceable agreement.

 

Im so annoyed about this, and really wish id never purchased the sofa now.

[Bookworm]

they basically have a clause that gets themselves out of anyone being able to make a claim.

That sounds rather surprising, could you post what that clause is? :-?

[Guest sharonsmith]

hi bookworm

 

i am at work when i use this site, so i will have to remember to bring in my warranty stuff so i can post on here. I desperately need to make a claim on it as the cracking of the leather is getting worse, but they way i read it, i cant claim for anything, because of the small print. So i will remember to bring it in with me so that you can help me understand what its saying.

 

Thanks

[TheChancellor]

Hi Sharon

 

Did you bring the problems to the attention of the store after 5 months?

 

If so what was their response? If you complained at that time then you wouldn't need to rely on an extended warranty you would merely tell the store that the goods were not "fit for purpose" or of "merchantable quality" as defined in the Sale of Goods Act.The updated version of the Act would probably still cover you after 18 months - being that it is not unreasonable to expect a new settee costing 1700 quid to last considerably longer than that.

 

Someone on CAG with more expertese will advise better otherwise phone your local Trading Standards dept at the council.

 

HTH

[TheChancellor]

Hi Sharon

 

Did you bring the problems to the attention of the store after 5 months?

 

If so what was their response? If you complained at that time then you wouldn't need to rely on an extended warranty you would merely tell the store that the goods were not "fit for purpose" or of "merchantable quality" as defined in the Sale of Goods Act.The updated version of the Act would probably still cover you after 18 months - being that it is not unreasonable to expect a new settee costing 1700 quid to last considerably longer than that.

 

Someone on CAG with more expertese will advise better otherwise phone your local Trading Standards dept at the council.

 

HTH

 

More fully courtesy of BBC Consumer mag:

 

While laws concerning sale of goods date back 100 years, the only phrase you need to memorise is 'The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)'.

The 'as amended' is important because it refers to laws which have extended the basic 1979 Act and using the phrase tells the trader that not only do you know basic consumer law, you know it has been amended too.

The Sale of Goods Act lays down several conditions that all goods sold by a trader must meet.

 

The goods must be:

• as described
  
• of satisfactory quality
  
• fit for purpose
  

As described refers to any advert or verbal description made by the trader.

Satisfactory quality covers minor and cosmetic defects as well as substantial problems. It also means that products must last a reasonable time. But it doesn't give you any rights if a fault was obvious or pointed out to you at point of sale.

Fit for purpose covers not only the obvious purpose of an item but any purpose you queried and were given assurances about by the trader.

If you buy something which doesn't meet these conditions, you have the potential right to return it, get a full refund, and if it will cost you more to buy similar goods elsewhere, compensation (to cover the extra cost) too.

Note, however, that the right to reject goods and get a full refund only lasts for a relatively short time after which a buyer is deemed to have 'accepted' goods. This doesn't mean that the buyer has not legal redress against the seller, just that he/she isn't entitled to a full refund.

Instead a buyer is first and foremost entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced.

If these remedies are inappropriate, then you're entitled to a suitable price reduction, or to return the goods and get a refund (reduced to take account of any wear and tear).

The act covers second-hand items and sales. But if you buy privately, your only entitlement to your money back is if the goods aren't 'as described'.

If goods which are expected to last six months don't, it'll be presumed that the goods didn't conform to the contract at the time they were bought, unless the seller can prove to the contrary.

In all other situations, it's for the consumer to prove their own case (that is, that the problem existed at the time of the contract). This will prove more difficult the longer you've had the goods. Subject to this, a consumer has six years from the time they buy something in which to make a claim.

[TheChancellor]

p.s. That's why extended warranties are at best un-necessary & at worst a rip-off!

[Guest sharonsmith]

The Chancellor

 

Thanks for all that info, i will take it home and let my partner read it and let him deal with it all cos he is probably better at it all than me. I will definately do it now, cos its getting worse and its just not good, and the sofa is ruined and ive only had it 1 year now, and im still paying a fortune for it, and loads of interest on my payments.