Supply and Fit - Terms and conditions?

[bugbear]

In the case where a tradesman does a "supply and fit", e.g. a nicely boxed in extractor fan, where does any warranty claim go, should the fan fail?

In the normal "high street" case it's well known that it's the retailer (and NOT the manufacturer or wholesaler or anyone else in the supply chain).

For "supply and fit" is the tradesman deemed a retailer (for the purpose of warranty), or is the customer's claim against the manufacturer?

BugBear

 

[flh801978]

I would say that in the interests of customer relaitions if you have supplied anything (+profit) and it breaks , its down to you to get it repaired/ fit another and you to claim off retailer that you bought it off
If customer supplied part then its down to them.

This is certainly how it is in my business

Ian

 

[maltrout512]

As Ian has said.

 

[bugbear]

I would say that in the interests of customer relaitions if you have supplied anything (+profit) and it breaks , its down to you to get it repaired/ fit another and you to claim off retailer that you bought it off

That's certainly sound business practice.

I wondered what the law said (and should have made my question more explicit).

BugBear

 

[tomatwark]

I work in the same way as Ian.

And after a year I will still try to help the customer out by getting parts etc.

At the end of the day it is the little things like that, that make a customer come back to you and recommend you to others.

Tom

 

[marcus]

I'm not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure that legally it would be the tradesman's responsibility to sort out. The tradesman has supplied faulty goods to the customer, and the customer has had no dealings with the supplier at all, so hard to see how he could then turn up demanding replacements without a receipt.

Unless it's something major like a boiler that comes with a formal warranty.

 

[Logos]

For the purpose of determining responsibility under a guarantee, the main question will always be who are the parties to the contract. In almost all cases the parties will be the tradesman and the customer. Therefore all repairs under the guarantee will be the responsibility of the tradesman.

Regards

Logos

 

[bugbear]

For the purpose of determining responsibility under a guarantee, the main question will always be who are the parties to the contract. In almost all cases the parties will be the tradesman and the customer. Therefore all repairs under the guarantee will be the responsibility of the tradesman.

Regards

Logos

Further reading shows me that the Sale of Goods act refers very broadly to "seller" and "buyer" - "retailer" (despite what I thought) isn't mentioned.

BugBear

 

[Logos]

You are right in this respect but there is more to it than simply the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act.
The statutory mainframe for consumer protection, where there is sale of goods and supply of services, is provided by 2 statutory acts, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 has four main protections for the consumer which are:
a) The seller must have the right to sell the goods (s.12);
b) The goods must correspond to description (s. 13);
c) The goods must be of satisfactory quality (s 14);
d) If the goods are sold by sample then they must correspond to the sample in quality (s. 15)
Where the goods are supplied together with the services then the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 applies. The act has the same provisions as the Sale of Goods Act but in addition it also implies that the service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time and, if there has been no agreement as to the price, for a reasonable price. The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 effectively imposes strict liability upon the person who supplied the goods and the services. In other words it doesn’t matter whether, for example, the electrician knew or not that the device that he supplied and fitted was faulty. What matters is that the device was faulty and therefore he has to replace it and refit it at his own cost and expense. Even if the legal terms used are not entirely appropriate. For example in the case of the electrician mentioned above he effectively becomes the “seller” and the consumer becomes the “buyer” (in the case of the Sale of Goods Act). In the case of the Supply of Goods and Services Act the terms may change to “transferor” and “transferee” respectively. For all intents and purposes it is the spirit of the law that matters, which in the instant case it is meant to be for the protection of the consumer.

I hope that the above helps.

Regards

Logos

 

[Lons]

I agree with what the other guys said and it's the way I run my business. it can be a pita though. e.g. I've only today had to replace a d/g unit that failed and though got the unit supplied foc under warranty, it's probably cost me at least £100 in time and fuel. Just got to take these on the chin and it's why you should always price high enough to cover eventualities.

It's also why I very rarely agree to fit anything the customer has bought themselves as they still expect you to put it right foc. In those odd cases I do so then I make it clear that if anything goes wrong that isn't my fault, they will be charged the going rate for repairs.

Bob