Actually they did. One of my previous jobs was selling consumer goods.
Unlike most of you I have read the Sale of goods act, had it explained to me IN FULL by the local trading standards office (our company actually paid for this which is unusual but was refreshing to know that they wanted to stick to the letter of the law) and understand it.
1. EU Law covers inherent faults only (ie manufacturing/design faults). This can include faulty components supplied by third parties to the manufacturer (like hard drives)
2. The supplier is 100% liable. This is the shop that sold it to the consumer. The contract of sale is between the consumer and the seller and no one else.
3. The UK extra protection over EU law in terms of fitness for purpose. This include durability, but only related to a design or manufacturing problem. This does however extend beyond the two years.
To clarify. All goods sold in the UK must be:
a). As described.
b). Of satisfactory quality
c). Fit for purpose
In the case of A, the manufacturers description PLUS anything said between the consumer and the seller must be adhered to.
b) The satisfactory quality means that you shouldn't have anything broken when you open the box. Unless stated at the time of purchase, this INCLUDES any cosmetic defects (even a mark on the box)
It also includes that it must work for a "reasonable time" but limits this to being under normal use. So excess wear and tear through normal use is covered as that is likely to be a problem in manufacturing or a design flaw.
Note some products are expected to only have a short life and this is why it is classed as a "reasonable time" rather than a given. Batteries are one of the products claimed to have a shorter life. This would include Li-Ion batteries. Apple claim 1000 cycles and this is what would be covered although unless severely degraded battery performance isn't covered. It basically just has to work. Hard drives would only be covered for the MTBF claimed by their manufacturers. Flash memory is covered for the number of writes per cell that would be expected from the particular model of chip used.
A reasonable time can extend for up to six years, but for most computers would not extend beyond two. A transfer of ownership is not covered. So if you buy something, then decide after a month to sell it privately the new owner is SOL.
NB second hand goods sold by a retailer are covered, but the age of the item is taken into account and the reasonable time is reduced accordingly.
Fair wear and tear is not covered. Neither is abuse. So any cosmetic problems that would be expected through normal use are not covered (scratches or ingrained dirt from handling it).
Abuse would count as damage caused by non normal use (dropping it or water damage are the biggest examples).
Fitness for purpose covers what the manufacturer would expect it to do, PLUS anything you've been told it can do by the seller. So if the seller tells you that you can expect the next six major releases of the OS to run on it and after 3 your computer isn't compatible, then you have legal redress.
After the first 28 days a consumer is not entitled to an automatic refund. A repair can be made, but a betterment charge can be applied to take into account fair wear and tear that would effectively removed by the replacement of a component. If a refund is offered, a reduction of the refunded amount can be made to cover fair wear and tear. An exchange is also suitable with the customer having to pay the difference between the costs, or (after fair wear and tear is taken into account) a refund or credit note issued to the customer to cover the difference if the exchanged item is cheaper than the price the customer originally paid.
4. It is for the supplier (seller) to prove any fault wasn't as a result of a manufacturing or design problem for the first six months after purchase.
5. It is for the consumer to prove any fault WAS as a result of a manufacturing or design problem AFTER the first two years of purchase. This makes it difficult to make a claim beyond that period, and it will get harder as time goes on.
6. Any manufacturers warranty is IN ADDITION to the rights given above. This includes Apple's limited 1 year warranty and AppleCare. It's effectively an insurance policy. Note Applecare covers things not covered by the above. For example if a hard drive fails (even after the MTBF) or the power lead frays (which is generally classed as FWT) then Apple will replace it FOC.
