Legal Advice needed for warranty run-around?
I purchased a minidisc recorder through a company I won’t mention by name. I also bought a 2-year extended warranty. My minidisc unit has broken after the original manufacturer 1 year time, so I sent it in to the warranty company per their instructions. They have contacted me and said that the parts are no longer available and that Sony is no longer making the unit, so they are offering me a settlement of about $225 (the unit itself cost almost $400 and that’s not including tax, the $40 warranty, shipping, etcetera). I contacted them and said I did not accept their settlement as 1) the warranty still posted on the site I purchased the unit from *implicitly* states that the unit will be replaced with a new one if it can not be repaired 2) it nowhere states that Sony has to be the distributor; I can literally find this unit still for sale on approximately 8 websites. This being said, the site I bought it from originally does not have it right now; they deal in bulk and as Sony did indeed discontinue manufacturing it, they are listing it as “out of stock – email me when it comes back in.” The site also said that they were promised by Sony to still receive a large amount of units. Not that the warranty company has much of anything to do with the minidisc dealer.
When I denied their offer the second time, I explained it wasn’t that I was being difficult but that I was reading the line I quoted above with regards to receiving a new unit if it could not be repaired. The woman on the phone said “oh no, you have a repair warranty, not a replacement warranty” to which I said, that’s not what this says…She had no idea it was being represented this way (so she says) so she asked me to fax it to her. Please note that the seller of the minidisc is still offering this two year warrantee with these same terms on their website.
I contacted the minidisc company and they said that it’s out of their hands. Oh, and on their website they also say the warranty company has “52,000 service centers” and yet I live in Boston and had to pay for shipping and insurance to NY state (!!!???) because there was nothing local near me.
Can I take the repair company to small claims court over this? Legal help/advice, please?? I am incredibly frustrated. I bought a $40 warranty just so that I knew no matter what I wouldn’t have to buy another unit for three years.
I am a professional musician and this is really important to me…
By the way, not that it matters, but this unit WOULD be covered by the terms of my warranty; I did not break it, it was a defect. Just about everything that could have gone wrong with it did, all at once.
What state are you in? You can contact the attoreny general for your state and ask them. This office can help you settle this.
A lot here depends on who is providing the warranty. Whoever is providing the warranty is the firm responsible to either repair it or furnish a new unit. If the firm offering the warranty is Sony, then they are the ones who must live up to the terms of the warranty. If it is another company, which it sometimes is, then they are the ones. Read the warranty carefully and find out exactly who is responsible for this. State your claim, pretty much like you did here, in writing and send it to them with copies to the Attorney general in your state and the Federal Trade Commission. Send it to the warranty company certified with a return receipt requested. You are now building up your facts and proof for a court case if they decide to keep giving you the run around. After BSing you for the next four to six months, if they still refuse to honor the warranty, take them to small claims court.
I use to sell contracts on Tandy’s computers. What you need to do is contact the company again and then keep going up the ladder. You could try to get the Pres. of the Company name on line and call him direct. Keep on going up the ladder and “Poof! you will get a new one.”
You can try to sue them in small claims court.
They may fold – it would be cheaper to give you a new player than fight the suit.
Or they might fight tooth and nail, fearing that you might set a precedent.
It’s hard to say which.
If you sue, make sure that you ask for DAMAGES in the amount of the value of a new player, not the player itself – small claims court does not have the jurisdiction to order someone to do something, so the court can’t order them to provide you with a new player.
Don’t even get such an order with the other party’s consent – it’s unenforceable.