Apple/Argos

[boltonboy]

I purchased an ipod Touch from Argos in June 2011, which like all Argos products, came with a 12 month guarantee.

 

I’ve bought ipods from Argos before, and therefore when it suddenly started to play music with an unusually poor quality of sound a month or two back,

I knew that it would be a two week waiting process whilst they sent it back to the manufacturers

(Apple) for them to determine what was wrong with the product and either repair it or replace it.

 

to save myself the two-week waiting period, I foolishly travelled to my closest Apple store with my ipod

after booking an appointment with one of the so called “Geniuses” to get it looked at.

 

Upon arrival, I explained to them that I hadn’t purchased the ipod directly from Apple but from Argos but they insisted they were still happy to help me.

 

The Geniuses sampled several tracks from my ipod, agreed that the sound quality was unusually poor,

concluded after running several checks that the ipod was in fact faulty, and they replaced it for me with an identical model.

 

When I got home with the replacement ipod, I plugged it in to my computer to transfer songs to it, sampled it and this one was playing music out of just the one earphone.

I tried several different pairs of earphones and the same was happening with each, proving that this second ipod was most probably faulty too.

 

the following week I had to make my second journey to the Apple store,

where they once again followed the same procedures as the first time to conclude that the product was faulty

and they provided me with yet another replacement.

 

Unbelievably, this third ipod is faulty in the exact same way that the original was (unusual distinctive bad quality of sound).

 

I naturally started to worry that the ipods weren’t the root problem, and my computer was.

 

To test this theory, I borrowed my sister’s ipod (which is the same model), transferred my songs to her ipod,

sampled them and the quality on there is absolutely perfect, proving that my hardware can’t be to blame.

 

I contacted Argos to ask about my options with them.

They told me that in engaging with Apple personally to solve the problem, my guarantee with Argos became void.

They told me that Apple should have informed me of this when I was at the shop (which they DID NOT)

and they provided me with a reference number for that phone call.

 

to summarise, I’ve been supplied with three faulty products in the space of 6 months, and for each faulty good I am supplied,

I have to set aside good time and money to get to the Apple store.

 

I don’t want to have to keep doing this for obvious reasons (I’ll be making my third journey in a few days).

 

Can they continue to supply me with faulty goods like this?

 

Do I have a right to demand a better offer than yet another (third) replacement?

 

Had they informed me that I was voiding my Argos guarantee in going to them with the problem,

as I’ve been told they had a duty to, I would have walked straight out the door.

 

I’ve also been told recently that the replacement products Apple offer are often refurbished items, which I find very irritating.

 

I still have my Argos receipt for the item.

 

Any advice would be incredibly appreciated, as this is an issue that’s been driving me crackers for the last two months.

 

Thank you.

[dx100uk]

nothing at all to do with the warranty and i'm surprised argos are

using the excuse

usually they are very good on consumer issues

 

your beef is under SOGA

and it matters NOT what you have done or exchanged.

 

at the end of the day, the 'product' your purchased from them is not fit for purpose

 

http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-customers-fairly/sogahome/sogaataglance

 

the warranty is extra and in addition to soga

 

dx

[dx100uk]

moved to argos forum

 

dx

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.

You have been very patient with this,and yes you do have recourse.

Have you got proof of these failed attempts to get things sorted ?

How was you communicating with them ?

[boltonboy]

Hi Martin and dx, and thanks for your replies.

 

At Apple, customers are expected to book appointments with specially trained staff to have products examined, which involves submitting your details online. So Apple will have it logged that by Wednesday, I will have made three visits to the store. I was expected to confirm my contact details and sign for the replacement ipods, so every ipod I have had replaced should be logged too.

I wasn't given a receipt of any sort.

 

In both cases it took the staff just a few moments to tell me that they would be replacing the ipod. Unless I insist on a different course of action, I'm sure it will be same old story on my third visit, on Wednesday afternoon, and for who knows how many more visits.

 

Thanks again for any advice you can give.

[boltonboy]

I contacted argos store this afternoon, and was told that my only option is to allow them to send the product back to the manufacturer to have it fixed or replaced.

 

The Sale of Goods Act implies that if I can prove to them in the store that the product is faulty (which I can - I have my sisters ipod which I formatted in exactly the same way) I am entitled to ask for a refund.

 

The store manager also told me that the process would take up to 16 working days which to me would be an unreasonable amount of time.

 

What can I demand?

[dx100uk]

you can demand nothing as such

 

28 days seems to be the norm.

 

so 16 is not too bad against that.

 

do a doc to go with the device with your return to apple via them

 

 

 

 

dx

[blitz]

You would need to give the retailer who your contract is with a chance to remedy the situation and either repair or replace the item before rescinding from the contract (asking for a refund). Its usually a lot quicker than 16 working days, it might push it up to the 16 because of Christmas.

 

The returns amount on iPods is extremely low so very surprised that you have had 3 fault ones, it might indeed be down to them being reconditioned.