iPod Touch 4 broken after just under 2 years

[Tommo120]

Hello everyone! I was hoping someone could help me out here. I bought an iPod Touch from Amazon approximately 22 months ago and it has recently stopped working entirely. I think it might be the battery that has conked out. I've been doing a bit of digging and I keep reading that products must be sufficiently durable. Would I be correct in saying that applies in this case? Or would I have no chance if I asked for repairs or replacement?

Thanks, Tom

 

[ALewis]

Hello, all items must last a 'reasonable length of time' . Reasonable is for you and the supplier to argue out. If you find 22 months to be unreasonable, you should contact the supplier and notify them of the fault. Typically speaking, after 22 months, you may struggle for a straight up replacement, however a repair would be more than possible. Ask for a replacement nevertheless, as it may work out cheaper for them to provide a replacement than to get a repair (dependant on what's broken).

 

[Tommo120]

Well I emailed them and this was their response:

Dear Mr Fox,

My name is Michael Murphy and I represent Executive Customer Relations within Amazon.co.uk and in this capacity, your correspondence has been brought to my attention.

I am sorry to hear of the difficulty experienced with the New Apple iPod touch 8GB (4th Generation) received in November 2010 from your order # 026-3556512-0141114.

The European Directive 1999/44/EC allows for a claim to be taken (under certain circumstances) for a period up to two years in accordance with European Law, and up to six years under UK law.

This does not imply that an item has a warranty of two years or six years respectively. It merely permits an individual to make a claim under certain circumstances within that time period, e.g. should a fault be proved to have been inherent in the first six months.

Amazon do not provide the warranty for this item. We do, however, cover our obligations under the relevant legislation such as the Sales of Goods Act 1979 in the UK. Under the Sale of Goods Act, a consumer is granted recourse against a seller of goods if those goods were defective at the time of purchase. This may include, in certain circumstances, repair, refund or replacement but only to the extent that doing so is not disproportionate to the value of the goods, having regard to the use the customer has already had of the goods and the nature of the goods.

You purchased your product approximately 23 months ago and, until recently, have used it successfully and reported no fault with the product. Given your satisfactory use of the product for a period of time which exceeded the manufacturer's warranty period, it is not established that the product did not conform to the contract (i.e. was defective) at the time of purchase.

Amazon.co.uk is therefore not under an obligation to offer any additional assistance in repairing or replacing your product.

Please note that the manufacturer is often in a better position than the retailer to deal with technical problems affecting their products. Therefore, should you wish to pursue this matter, we would encourage you to contact the manufacturer to see if they are able to provide you with any further assistance. They may be in a position to offer a repair service or could provide you with information on relevant charges for an out of warranty repair:

- Manufacturer:
- Phone: 8442090611
- Email:

Thank you for your attention to this email.

Not entirely sure what I should reply to that with

 

[ALewis]

Well, the only good thing about their reply is the spelling. Lol

They can waffle around all they wish, however you are not making a claim that the product was faulty at purchase.
Under section 14(2) of the Sale of Goods Act, all goods must last a reasonable length of time.
You need to argue with them that 22/23 months is an unreasonable time for the products durability, and therefore would like a repair or replacement if it would be disproportionate to repair.

It's quite simple, but they look like they just want to give you a nice overview of their obligations but avoiding the point you're making.

Furthermore, you're not talking about any warranty here. Warranties are in addition to your statutory rights.

 

[Tommo120]

Thanks for the help! Sent them another email, hoping he actually reads it this time and doesn't just copy-paste a generic response in an attempt to shut me up