Who have I bought my mobile from?

Hello All

I took out a mobile phone contract with Orange five months ago. Last week the touch pad stopped working on the Blackberry. Spoke to Orange and they agreed to replace the phone (I thought with a new one), received phone next day and it wouldn't charge. Spoke to Orange again, and ended up having a little polite rant as they advised I had been sent a refurbished phone (of the same model) as this was their standard policy, I refused to accept this and was then put through to the "directors office".... After about half an hour of arguing the toss with somebody who was clearly under the impression that consumer rights and SOGA played second fiddle to Orange's t&c's they agreed to send me a brand new phone (as a gesture of good will), which arrived yesterday and appears to be working. So I got what I wanted.

However, during the conversation the lady from the "directors office" advised they did not have any obligation to me as Orange had not sold me the phone, they had sold me the service contract and the phone had been "given" to me on behalf of the manufacturer (even though I bought the phone and service contract as a package from an Orange shop in Oxford town centre) and this is what their t&c's state.

I accept there may be a clause in their t&c's which makes reference to this, but can Orange really get away with not complying with SOGA in this way? Surely the point of sale, and hence the point where SOGA takes effect, is when I pay the retailier in the Orange shop? And can they fob me off with a refurbished (second hand) phone? Any advice and comments would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Tony

Thanks Trickygj
I see your point and this could be down to the interpretation of what it means to purchase a product.

From my point of view I walked into a retail shop in a busy district of the retail part of Oxford, so I have assumed everything I bought in that area should be covered by the sales of goods act unless explicitly stated otherwise. When I selected the phone it was on display in the shop with a list of the tariffs next to it, further more, the Blackberry needs a specific airtime contract so the BBM facility will work. The salesman said "if you want this Blackberry you need one of these contracts", at no point did he say "we are giving you this phone on behalf of the manufacturer". At no point did the sales man state "this is a gift".

The original Blackberry given to me by the sales man was in a sealed box and appeared to be brand new with all of the manufacturers paperwork inside, warrantees, t&c's etc.

Thanks
TonyO