Return of unsuitable goods act.

[modeller]

I recently bought a laptop and a dongle for the sole purpose of accessing the internet on it . I was assured by the retailer that it would work in my area . However it didn't ! It was very difficult to connect and having done so it took 5 minutes or not at all to get on any site. In other words whilst the products were not actually faulty they were not fit for the purpose I bought them. As a result I returned them to the store for a refund . It took an hour of argument to get it as they claimed as the goods were not faulty , it was just that they didn't work in my area.
Does anyone know the legal position ? I always thought you could return them if they didn't do the job for which they were purchased , irrespective of there being an actual fault.

[squarebear]

I would be wary as dongles are notoriously bad and should only be used as a last resort for accessing the internet.

They may argue that 5 minutes to connect is not unusual.

[Aquagility]

squarebear, is there any alternative to the dongle if one has no access to a phone line? In my boat, close to the land, my mobile works fine but my laptop really struggles.

[squarebear]

Not as far as I know unfortunately.

Your mobile doesn't need as much bandwidth as a laptop and so will function a lot more reliably.

[carrot99]

were you using your own broadband/dial-up internet access at home or were you trying to access someone else's whilst out and about?
(you mention a dongle but not a router - and I have both)

[modeller]

I spoke to Vodafone about the problems and they confirmed that in my area there are reception problems on laptops. T-Mobile also said there were reception problems. I will just have to accept that mobile reception for laptops in this area is not possible.
Which brings me back to the rights of a customer to return goods that are not fit for the purpose for which they are sold.
How clear is the legal aspect of the situation. I was able to get a refund but it was difficult.

[modeller]

squarebear I wouldn't mind if just getting connected took 5 minutes , although it frequently won't connect at all , but once I am on line accessing any site is so slow its a waste of time. Most of the time I just get the message ' This page can not be displayed etc '

[squarebear]

That's about right for these mobile dongles. The technology just isn't very good at the moment.

They may have expected you to check that this device was suitable for you but good luck though in getting your money back.

[carrot99]

Copy your question to law - you'll get a proper answer on the legal aspects in there.

[modeller]

squarebear I did check originally with the retailer concerning signal strength and suitability for laptops. They did so by punching up my post code and assured me that it was alright.

[squarebear]

Ah well in that case, you should have a good chance.

Like carrot says, post it in Law. They'll know more about the legalities of it than us geeks.

[modeller]

Thank you all for the information. I thought you might like to see Rollo's answer in the Civil Law section.

Rollo
Tue 09/06/09
13:48
Wherever goods are bought they must "conform to contract". This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality (i.e. not inherently faulty at the time of sale).

Aspects of quality include fitness for purpose, freedom from minor defects, appearance and finish, durability and safety.

So, if you stated to the retailer that the "purpose" of your purchase was to use the item to do X - i.e. that condition was part of the contract between you and the retailer - and the goods do not in fact do X then the item is not fot for purpose and you have the right to a refund so long as you complain within a reasonable time.
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[squarebear]

Fair comment. Good luck.

Makes sense really. If you buy a washing machine, you expect it to clean clothes. The same applies here.