Section 75 CCA - Claim refused

[YorkshireRose]

I purchased a Zanussi oven from an online retailer on 15/12/2022. I paid £589.00 for the oven using my MBNA credit card.

The oven lining has begun to come off in large flakes around the door seal. The oven has been used infrequently (a few times a month) as I live alone, and mainly cook using my combination microwave /oven /grill.
Given the price paid for the oven I anticipated it lasting for approximately 10 years,

As I understand it the Consumer Rights Act 2015 makes it an implied term of the contract with the retailer that goods should be "as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality."

I believe there is a latent defect that has affected the quality and durability of the oven, which must have been present at the time of delivery.

Unfortunately, though the oven only came with a 1 year warranty

The retailer's website states that they don't offer support for faulty items after 30 days and says to contact the manufacturer.

As I have no contract with the manufacturer, rather tha contact Zanussi, I contacted MBNA to make a Section 75 claim

However, this has been declined, MBNAs reply states...

Your payment isn’t covered by Section 75

We are unable to agree to your claim because the goods are outside the warranty period and therefore the merchant have not breached their terms and conditions under 9 - Manufacturer guarantee and extended warranties: 9.1 - Unless we notify you otherwise, all Goods carry a minimum 12 months' parts and labour guarantee issued by the manufacturer which is subject to provisions that the appliance: 9.1.1 - Has been used solely for domestic purposes and is on domestic premises; i.e. not for commercial or trade use. 9.1.2 - Has been used solely in accordance with the instruction book. 9.1.3 - Has not been subject to misuse, accident, modified or repaired by anyone other than the manufacturer's service engineers.

Having done a quick bit of online research I have seen posts where individuals have made successful section 75 claims outside the warranty, period. it seems to me that MBNA are trying to swerve their responsibilities, but I would be grateful please for some help and advice as to my rights.

My thought's were to suggest to MBNA that if they are refusing my claim I will raise a case with the FOS, which will incur a £650 ish fee for MBNA - but I want to be sure of my position before I do

Thanks for reading

[pc52straw]

I thought there was a statutory 2 year warranty that the retailer is obliged to maintain? This matter should be taken up with the retailer in the first instance. And, complain directly to Zanussi if they don't.

I've successfully done this without any court action, with a washing machine. After proving to the manufacturer and merchant that it was clearly defective to the point of being dangerous, and no way was this the result of misuse of the product, the manufacturer itself told the merchant to give me a full refund and take it back to send to the manufacturer for a full safety inspection.

On another occasion I bought an appliance that had a funny electrical smell and I tested it. I followed the manufacturer return to manufacturer authorisation (RMA) process after the retailer washed its hands. The manufacturer sent out a new one and it said I could take it to the tip if I wanted. I said i'd rather send it back along with a report on what the fault was. So they sent a prepaid box out with a form, so their QA department could look at the cause of the fault.

[echat11]

You need to gather evidence, find out if it's a 'known fault', check reviews, complaints, take pictures, what has the manufacturer said? a letter from them saying 'it shouldn't' happen would be good evidence etc.

Then make a further complaint to MBNA. There is no point in saying 'this has happened, but shouldn't have happened', you need evidence.

[Pezza54]

There are implied terms in CRA that the warranty cannot override
Goods to be of satisfactory quality. Satisfactory quality includes durability
In my opinion a flaking lining on a £600 stationary appliance would not be considered durable
My advice is to take some photos, make a complaint with MBNA (referring to CRA) and if you are still unhappy with their response, start a claim with the FOS

[echat11]

Generally Credit Card companies 'drag their feet' on Section 75 claims, so you need to be 'very persistent'.

[YorkshireRose]

You need to gather evidence, find out if it's a 'known fault', check reviews, complaints, take pictures, what has the manufacturer said? a letter from them saying 'it shouldn't' happen would be good evidence etc.

Then make a further complaint to MBNA. There is no point in saying 'this has happened, but shouldn't have happened', you need evidence.

I have photos, and have reached out to the manufacturer - I'll wait to see what their response is before replying to MBNA

Thank you!

[echat11]

Update when you get a response.

[Manxman]

YorkshireRose - sorry but I think you've put the cart before the horse here by going straight to a s75 claim against MBNA without first contacting the retailer

Any s75 claim you make is going to be based on a breach by the retailer of s9 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 that goods must be of satisfactory quality - of which reasonable durability is a component. At first glance it seems a bit odd - to me at least - that you would jump straight into a s75 claim against your card provider without first at least making some sort of complaint to the retailer and seeing what their response was.

Even if their response had been - as per their website - to refer you to the manufacturer (as many retailers do) then you could have informed them that you were taking that reponse as their one and only attempt permitted under the CRA either to replace or to repair the oven, and that if the manufacturer failed to fix the issue on the retailer's behalf, and it failed again, you would be exercising your final right to reject the oven under the CRA for a refund from the retailer.

My feeling is that by not approaching the retailer at all, you've potentially weakened any s75 claim you might have based on a breach of the CRA by the retailer. I appreciate that you were put off contacting the retailer because of what their website said, but I still think you would have been better advised first to approach them and at least given them the opportunity to accept or reject any complaint before going down the s75 route.

[Having said that, unless you completely failed to make it clear to MBNA that the basis of your claim was a breach of s9 of the CRA, and had nothing to do with the length of the manufacturer's warranty, then their response to you makes little sense and I would have thought justifed a complaint to MBNA about how they have handled your s75 claim. And if they don't resolve that complaint to your satisfaction, go to the FOS]

The other difficulty you have, of course, is that as you've had the oven for almost two years the burden of proof is on you to establish that the oven had some "latent defect" when you bought it. I agree with you that the seals on an oven really ought to last longer than two years, but I'm not entirely convinced that the mere fact alone that they've failed "proves" they were defective.



PS - Are you absolutely 100% certain that MBNA processed your claim as being under s75 of the Consumer Credit Act in the first place, and not as a chargeback?

In my experience, if you raise any sort of "payment dispute" with a card provider, their default approach is to treat it as a chargeback and not as a s75 claim - even if you explicitly request a s75 claim. This is because chargebacks are refunded by the retailer where as s75 claims usually end up being funded by the card provider - and they prefer not to throw their own money away.

If MBNA treated this as a chargeback (rather than s75) I think they'd be right to reject it as I believe chargeback can only be applied to goods faulty on arrival - not to faults that only manifest themselves two years down the line.

If I were you the first thing I'd do before complaining to MBNA is to ask them whether they processed this "dispute" on a s75 basis or as a chargeback.

If they told you it was as a chargeback, you could then tell them that you were making a s75 claim and tell them to start again on that basis. Of course you will still have the burden of proof of establising that it was not of satisfactory quality when you bought it...

[Manxman]

Further to my post #8, I'd like to emphasise and clarify that by going straight to MBNA and not contacting the retailer at all, you've taken away from the retailer the single opportunity they are given under the CRA either to repair or to replace the oven. I think you've prevented the retailer from exercising that right.

The more I think about it the more I think you've approached this from the wrong direction by not first going to the retailer, and because of that I'm not sure you've got any complaint against MBNA...

[Manxman]

I thought there was a statutory 2 year warranty that the retailer is obliged to maintain? ...

What statute did you think that from?

[echat11]

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org....-bought-credit

[pc52straw]

Manxman - My bad - it's actually guaranteed in law for the first six months but depending on circumstances the vendor and /or manufacturer obligation can be up to six years.

When we were in the EU, we had a codified statutory right to request that the seller provide remedies — such as repair, replacement, or a refund — for two years at a minimum.

That's why you're right; the very first action should've been to approach the retailer, then try the manufacturer.

There's another less obvious list of reasons for it - health & safety, reputational risk management, and compliance. Post Brexit, there's been no explicit unwinding of those protections - we haven't opted out of CE approval for example, and EU standards still apply to the manufacturers if they sell across Europe.

Think about it: if every defective electrical appliance was handled only via credit card refund and the defective kit simply ended up in the tip, how would the manufacturers find out about safety issues with a product?

[Manxman]

Manxman - My bad - it's actually guaranteed in law for the first six months but depending on circumstances the vendor and /or manufacturer obligation can be up to six years.

When we were in the EU, we had a codified statutory right to request that the seller provide remedies — such as repair, replacement, or a refund — for two years at a minimum.

That's why you're right; the very first action should've been to approach the retailer, then try the manufacturer....

Thanks - I only considered that after posting.