Faulty Music Equipment **Resolved** :-)

[Undercover Elsa]

I thought I'd start a log of this here for help and reference and in case it helps anyone else.

I bought my son an MBox Mini for Christmas, which is a professional quality music recording interface box. No need to get any more technical than that

It worked fine at first but it's just developed a fault and is now unusable.
Researching online, others have had the same fault too.
He knows his stuff and has run all the checks and it's definitely faulty.

I bought it online from the tech department of a music shop. Their T&C's say that if it was purchased more than 30 days ago:

We will be happy to arrange collection at our cost (within the UK) or your cost (outside of the UK) and we may choose to send the item to the manufacturer or repair in our own service centre. If the repair is uneconomical we reserve the right to offer an exchange or refund at our discretion.

I think a professional piece of kit should last longer than 3 months. Because it's just let him down in the middle of an important project,
he's lost faith in it and is not sure he wants it repairing or replacing, and ideally wants either a refund or an upgrade (paying the difference) to a different version without reported faults.

Anyone well up on SOGA?

I reported this fault on Saturday, marked urgent, but have had no response yet. Meanwhile his project's come to a full stop and he's freaking out.

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

Amazing, as soon as I posted this I had an email
They're sending me a free postage label to return it and once it's been checked by the manufacturer will be willing to consider replacing it with an upgrade for extra cash.
Problem lies in how long it will take the manufacturer. They said "We cannot be responsible for loss of earnings for your son "It is not our responsibility to provide a contingency fund for your Sons livelihood" Cheeky beggars!

[ScabHunter]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

What the retailer is saying is an exact reflection of what SOGA says. They have the right to attempt to repair any item in the first instance.

At the end of last year, my Rega Planar 78 turntable broke down. It was probably spinning just below the speed needed for playing vinyl LPs. I did all of the necessary research into SOGA, and found that it really offered the consumer no protection whatsoever. If this was a bad example, repairing it is not likely to make it any better.

I should stress that Rega Planar 78 turntables are not known for being unreliable. I know several people who run professional audio transfer services who use them, in fact all of the people I know who run such services use them.

In my case, the gross incompetence of Poorcelfarce meant that I got out of the situation with a positive result. When I sent the turntable back to the retailer for repair, I insured it for the full value of a new turntable. Poorcelfarce duly smashed the old one to smithereens leaving it completely unrepairable, and the insurance paid out for the price of a new Rega Planar 78.

I don't think you'll get a lot of joy out of this situation, although if you were prepared to pay extra they may consider an upgrade. SOGA really works against the consumer, not for them.

SH

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

Thanks SH, I think you're absolutely right. It's going to be down to goodwill rather than SOGA I think in this case (my husband has spent a fortune with them over the last few years). If I can get the upgrade instead of a direct replacement I'll be happy to pay the difference for him, might even get a concessionary price if I play my cards right...

[tastyjane]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

Good luck Elsa.

Jane x

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

Thanks Jane

Unfortunately it may be about to get nasty.
They emailed yesterday to say that they've had it on test in the shop for 27 hours and it's working fine, and that there's a £48 charge plus £6 return shipping to pay as no fault was found.

I don't think so.
1. They stated they would return it to the manufacturer for testing (by QUALIFIED engineers) and didn't-indeed they may have invalidated the warranty.
2. They tested it using the wrong software - ie not the software that ships with it.
3. They didn't reproduce the conditions under which the fault occurred.
4. I've scoured their website and taken screen shots of all their T&C's and nowhere does it state about a £48 fee, nor did they tell me about it in advance by email.

My son is furious, it's wasted a week after we told them it was urgent.

Off to write an email.

[SA Gold]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

Sorry to read this UE - keep us all posted on the outcome. Good luck!

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

Have a read through here UE:

Sale of Goods Act Explained

The parts relevant to your situation:

Proving a problem
Included in the law is a section on burden of proof. This outlines whether you are entitled to ask a customer to prove that an item was faulty when they bought it from you.

If you are considering asking a customer to prove that an item was faulty when they bought it from you, it is important to consider what proof an impartial person in a court might feel was required. For example, someone in a court might accept that a simple customer statement saying that their item did not work correctly would be sufficient proof.

If your son can prove it is not working as expected with the software that it was provided with then this should be sufficient to meet this criteria.


Faulty goods that have been accepted
If the item does not conform to contract (is faulty ) for any of the reasons outlined and the customer has accepted the goods, the law says the customer is entitled to claim a repair or replacement of the goods in the first instance.

If either a repair or replacement is not possible, or the cost is greater than the value of the item ( disproportionately costly ), or the customer claims either option is taking an unreasonable amount of time or is causing unreasonable inconvenience, the customer is then entitled to

• keep the goods and claim a price reduction from the retailer to compensate them for the fault in the goods - this would be the difference between the value of the product in perfect condition and the value of the product in the faulty condition, or
• return the goods and rescind the contract . This would mean that the customer returns the goods and you provide a partial refund, calculated to reflect the benefit the customer has received from the product.

Where a customer is entitled to repair or replacement because they have accepted the goods, they can claim price reduction or partial refund if the repair or replacement is

• taking an unreasonable time, or
• causing an unreasonable inconvenience, or
• if the repair or replacement is not satisfactory when they receive it.

When you calculate price reductions or partial refunds, think about what an impartial person in a court would think is a reasonable amount.

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

Thankyou SnV, I may well need to quote that.
Emailed them this morning but not had a response yet. I've asked for it to be referred to the store manager, and for his name and contact details.

My son has a BA Hons in Music & Technology and works as a Music teacher/technician in a state school. His written assessment of the fault was a professional one, half a page long. Their tech gave me 3 sentences and screen pix from a test with the wrong software. Might even have been a different unit for all I know. I reckon we can prove it was faulty. There's also many complaints about the same fault online, nearly all occurring after 3/4 months strangely enough. My son reckons its a poor quality sound card in a posh box.

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

No need. The operations manager just emailed an apology offering to offset the full purchase price against a concessionary price for the bigger pro version of the MBox.
What a star!
I guess they just got sick of me complaining and wanted rid of me

One happy son. Life is good

[IF]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

No need. The operations manager just emailed an apology offering to offset the full purchase price against a concessionary price for the bigger pro version of the MBox.
What a star!
I guess they just got sick of me complaining and wanted rid of me

One happy son. Life is good

Well done Elsa, I'm so pleased for you both

[philnicandamy]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment **Resolved** :-)

superb result...although It shoudlnt have needed so much shouting in the 1st place

idiots!

[ScabHunter]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment

No need. The operations manager just emailed an apology offering to offset the full purchase price against a concessionary price for the bigger pro version of the MBox.
What a star!
I guess they just got sick of me complaining and wanted rid of me

One happy son. Life is good

I'm just going out for the evening, and thought I'd check the forum one last time before leaving. I'm glad I did. This will send me off in a highly positive mood.

At least the Operations Manager takes his job seriously, even if certain other people don't.

Result!

SH

[Pixie]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment **Resolved** :-)

Nice one Elsa

[MrsD]

Re: Faulty Music Equipment **Resolved** :-)

excellent result Elsa

although it shouldn't have involved all the runaround