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[1] 2 3 
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 -NickH- |
Tue, 25/10/05@00:22
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I bought a graphics card from pixmania.co.uk earlier this year which has subsequently gone wrong.
I remember at the time of buying that they offered me a ZEN engagement which as far as I could tell meant that they would replace or exchange the product if anything went wrong with the product in the first year.
I declined, as I to my knowledge, the sale of goods act covers exactly this, and that it is not be necessary for me to pay an extra 6% for a statutory right.
When I contacted Pixmania, and they now tell me that as I did not take out the ZEN engagement, I am only covered by their 7 day warranty, after which it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to replace the product.
I have not heard from the manufacturer yet, but I just wanted to run it past this board in case this all comes back to bite me...
If the company is in France but the goods were ordered from a UK website, does the sale of goods act cover me?
Does the EU have similar protection?
There is very little on their site to suggest that they are not a UK company; they have .co.uk address, they use a UK 0870 telephone number, their prices are in sterling and they have a London collection address..
At the moment all of this is hypothetical, as I have every confidence that either Pixmania or the manufacturer will resolve this issue amicably, but I would like to know if I have a leg to stand on if it does all go sour, or if anyone else has a problem with another international company...
Thanks
Nick
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anchor |
Tue, 25/10/05@10:12
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This is the problem dealing with a supplier not based in the UK.
Sales from Pixmania are governed by French Law. Even if French Law provides the same protection as English Law, it would necessitate you bringing the action in a French Court. This is not a route one would be likely to go down for a graphic card.
On the Pixmania site they state: "During the first year of warranty, if you experience any problems with the product you contact the manufacturer's after-sales service".
Good luck.
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spuds |
Tue, 25/10/05@10:27
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This is a subject which needs further investigation and legal clarification due to the complexity of EU rules and regulations.It is still a very grey area, as most other EU countries seem to have very different consumer laws to those of the UK. When the UK joined the EU, everyone was told that all the countries involved would be as one, this doe's not seem to have happened.
Best bet is to contact the people who should perhaps have the answer, or means of finding the answer. ConsumerDirect click here
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-NickH- |
Tue, 25/10/05@21:04
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Thanks for your responses. I will look at the ConsumerDirect site in a minute..
To follow up, I have just had an email from the manufacturer to say that their warranty conditions state that the supplier is responsible for the first year, and that I should point that out to Pixmania.
The funny thing is that the manufacturer is also in France...
I am hoping that if the manufacturer states this in their terms and conditions, then Pixmania should adhere to their suppliers' conditions, regardless of where they are based.
The manufacturer has put me in touch with one of their UK agents who I hope will take this up with Pixmania direct...
I will be back when and if it reaches a conclusion...
Nick
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Stuartli |
Tue, 25/10/05@21:19
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I had the same problem with another French company, Nomatica, about two years ago.
In the end it was resolved through my credit card company, Visa (LloydsTSB Trustcard division), who refunded a sum of nearly £800 plus the £50+ it cost to send the goods back to the south of France.
Yet I've bought goods from the States on numerous occasions and had no problems.
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anchor |
Wed, 26/10/05@09:49
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I sympathise with your predicament -NickH-, but your experience, together with that of Stuartli, strengthens my resolve to buy only from UK companies. That way you get the protection of UK consumer law if things go wrong.
It seems you are being bounced around; Pixmania say you should deal with the manufacturer, who in turn say you should deal with Pixmania.
Hopefully it will get sorted out quickly via the UK agent.
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-NickH- |
Wed, 26/10/05@12:08
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I completely agree with you. In fact, I have never, and never intend to order from non-UK sippliers.
When I ordered the product, I had no idea that the company was not in the UK.
Pixmania, and probably other retailers have gone to great lengths to disguise thier true origins.
As I said, their pickup location is in London, they use a UK telephone number, their prices are in sterling, so 99% of people would order from them thinking they are in fact in the UK.
I am sure that there is very little, if anything that can be done about it, but the fact is that you would have to read the website cover to cover before realising that they are based in France.
I always check that my suppliers have got a UK support line, have a UK postal address, and if humanly possible, only every pay in sterling. Pixmania passed all of these criteria..
I suppose the bottom line is, even when a site looks like it's in the UK, go that extra mile to make sure...
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spuds |
Wed, 26/10/05@12:41
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NickH-- I know this is no direct answer to your original question, but consider how many call centres are based overseas nowadays.It as now got to a certain stage, whether by internet or telephone, that nobody knows who they are actually speaking to, or perhaps dealing with!.
I deal on a regular basis with companies in America,Hong Kong and Germany. At first I was very timid about conducting my business in far away places. Perhaps I have been lucky, but all my dealings so far have turned out 100%.And deliveries from these countries have in most cases exceeded those of UK supply. Something that by modern standards in the UK cannot always be guaranteed with a 100% sureness.
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Stuartli |
Wed, 26/10/05@12:52
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spuds The problem isn't normally with the actual deliveries (just as with UK companies) but returns.
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puma22 |
Wed, 26/10/05@22:49
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Just to add to this, I bought a video camera from pixmania. When it was delivered it did not have an English language version of the istruction book, but every other European languae book had been included (very useful).
The plug was a European one. I dint have any problems with the retunr other than it cost me a lot of money. I had to pay recorded delivery back to France and they didnt refund the original delivery charge. If i remember rightly, it was over 30 quid. only deal with UK based companies now.
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fitcher |
Fri, 28/10/05@13:34
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pix I too, thought I was buying from an english company untill my camera came from france. and was in french ..
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SimonJohn |
Sat, 29/10/05@13:08
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Pixmania - Distance Selling Regulations Anybody who has problems with Pixmania, and has just received a defective product should bear in mind that they can ignore what it says in their returns policy on their website as they are trading in the UK and you are therefore covered by the Distance Selling Regulations 2000.
This requires that they:-
1. Refund you within 30 days of you rejecting the goods
2. That they pick up the goods from you at their expense, not yours.
You are required to:-
1. Notify Pixmania by mail, fax or email that you are rejecting the goods
2. To keep the goods in reasonable condition until Pixmania collect them.
3. To offer up the goods, if Pixmania give notice that they will collect them from your premises.
If Pixmania, refuse to refund your order, then your first port of call is the chargebacks department of your credit card or bank/building society, who should refund you your money as you've been sent defective goods.
I would copy links of as many websites as possible showing that Pixmania have a consistent history of refusing or delaying refunds on defective goods, and am being investigated by a French consumer complaints body.
Other Web links:-
click here
click here
click here
click here
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spuds |
Sat, 29/10/05@20:11
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SimonJohn--This is the problem,Pixmania advertising gives the impression that is an English trading company, but in actual fact it is French based.
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anchor |
Sun, 30/10/05@13:42
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Pixmania Assuming that they are required to conform to UK consumer law, what do you do if they refuse to help?. If you bring a case in a UK court and win, how do you enforce the judgement in France?; Impossible.
There is a EU regulation in place, but from what I read this law is a paper tiger. The links give by SimonJohn certainly give rise to serious concern about Pixmania.
If you get no satisfaction from the graphic card manufacturer in the UK, then speak to your credit card issuer.
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Andy Davues |
Mon, 31/10/05@12:35
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I'm going to try this route... click here
I bought a hard drive enclosure that hooks up to the TV but has several issues so I don't think it's fit for purpose.
Pixmania's whole after sales service seems designed to prevent people from returning items.
Also going to talk to my CC card company about a chargeback first.
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theJudge |
Fri, 18/11/05@11:38
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eBuyersucks.org & eBuyersucks.com Both of these sites seem to indicate that buying goods from a UK e-tailer isn't a lot safer either.
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ginogini |
Thu, 15/12/05@13:06
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Nomatica sucks! Hi,
I would like to receive some advices...
I bought a camera from Nomatica. After months waiting for the product, I deleted my order and I bought the camera in a normal shop. Nomatica should have refunded me. However now they have financial problems, so they said they will give me back my 720 euro only when they will meet a new partner that can refinance the firm. Now there is the French state that is leading on the business. They are continuing to sell their product in all Europe and the States. This is fool because people like me buy products and the possibility to be refunded that is in the contract is a lie.
How can I try to get back my money?
Is there someone that have experienced something like this?
Thans,
m
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anchor |
Thu, 15/12/05@14:03
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Nomatica December 2nd 2005
Nomatica is in the hands of a receiver, who has 6 months to avoid liquidation of the company.
Translation from French:
click here
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anchor |
Thu, 15/12/05@14:06
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ginogini:
You should contact your credit card issuer to request the full refund without further delay.
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Solgoth |
Thu, 15/12/05@14:28
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Pixmania.. arghh! I had problems with pixmania when I bought a £560 digital camera from them a few years back. They supposedly give you another year's guarantee on top of the manufacturer's one year, but when my camera developed a fault and I sent it back to france after the manufacturer's guarantee had run out they informed me that Fujifilm France had said the damage to the camera was accidental and so they wouldn't pay for it. They sent me proof it had been to Fujifilm France. Fujifilm france wanted £250 to fix it which is more than the price would have been for one on ebay at that time.
I protested this to pixmania and said that nothing at all had happened to the camera when it broke, but they didn't pay any attention and just sent the camera back to me without asking.
I only eventually got my camera fixed for free because of an act of charity. Fuji UK said they couldn't do anything about it when I contacted them, because the camera came from France and my camera wasn't under warranty with them anyhow.
So, I have learned not to buy important stuff from companies in other countries, since there's basically nothing you can do if things go wrong. It would have been ok maybe if it had been something with an international warranty, like say an Olympus camera or something.
I suppose at least I did theoretically have the extra year's warranty, but it didn't do me much good.
Plus, I had to pay an extra £50 over the quoted price when I first got the camera because of some sort of extra credit card conversion charge or something, perhaps to do with them charging you in Euros and not £s. This made the price I paid for it hardly better than some high street shops.
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