Scottish Elises

A quick legal question to see if anyone has any advice until I get a reply from Trading Standards.

I bought a Konica Minolta 7D from PurelyGadgets.com last year (a good quality DSLR). KM are no longer trading as camera manufacturers, they sold their camera business to Sony and Sony no longer manufacture the 7D, in fact they only manufacture one DSLR at the moment, a rebodied 5D (lesser camera compared to the 7D).

The camera was returned in February, after having it for 10 months, with a few faults, at least one of which is a "known" fault which a lot of the cameras are suffering from. In the last few weeks we have exchnaged numerous emails and phone calls (not an easy process as very few of the staff at PurelyGadgets are very good at English. On the phone they are difficult to understand and their emails are ungrammatical. That sounds like a petty complaint but it makes dealing with them very awkward.)

They offered me a compact as a temporary replacement, (I already have a compact), and then tried to offer me a Sony A100 (which I'd already explained wasn't comparable to the camera I had bought, think Canon 30d vs 350d)as a permanent replacement and now they have offered me 75% of my money back.

They are within their rights to offer me less as I have had use of the camera but I was hoping for more, anyone know if 75% is reasonable?


Pete (Thanks for your patience if you read this far)


PS If you were buying a new camera, and jumping ship from another manufacturer, which way would you jump? Nikon (love the d200 but it is very dear) or Canon?

As ever mate, there is no clear cut answer. The fact that Sony bought over the manufacturer shouldn't make a difference; normally they also aquire the liabilities of the manufacturer, so any complaint is as valid against them as it was against the original company.

Taking a consumer's view, think what a 'comparable' camera to the one you've bought is likely to have done price-wise in the 10 months since you owned it. I'm no camera whizz, but I'll bet the price has dropped by 25% since you got it! On that basis, it doesn't smell like too bad a deal, since you're effectively back to square one (on the price-drop analogy), and you've hopefully had some use of the camera for those 10 months.

Its your call, but I always tend to think a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush in a scenario such as this - you may get more ££ back, but your blood pressure rise and grey hair count won't be worth it

best of luck

i would think u would get 100% refund.
a similar situation, i bought a vacuum cleaner from argos for £50 and that broke within 10 months. took it back, and they said they cant replace it or refund cause the manufacturer shut down. returned back home like a fool.
on my next visit, i mentioned the 'citizens advice bureau' and they immediately gave me an option of refunding the full amount in vouchers. so i added another £50 and bought a vacuum cleaner worth £100.

pete wrote:PS If you were buying a new camera, and jumping ship from another manufacturer, which way would you jump? Nikon (love the d200 but it is very dear) or Canon?

My vote would be for Nikon.

I bought the D50 last year and it has been faultless. I dont know if it more expensive that your one or less, but it does everything I could ask of it and pictures are top quality. Pricewise, the internet shops were no cheaper so I bought at John Lewis so refunds/returns should theoretically be easier.

From out idiots guide to consumer law here, para phrased...:

The company are obliged to either repair (A reasonable number of times, 3 in our case) or offer a replacement like for like or equivalent value and features, the replaceemtn can be a reconditioned unit. A refund is down to the vendor's discresion as a reasonable period has elapsed for you to have accepted the goods.

Basically they will offer you a replaceement, negotiate which one. The reasonable period (28 days in our case) means you no longer have the right to a new camera.

That what we have to go with. I'll cut and paste the lot if anyone is interested.

TTFN
Rich

pete wrote:PS If you were buying a new camera, and jumping ship from another manufacturer, which way would you jump? Nikon (love the d200 but it is very dear) or Canon?

You do realise you'll get all the Nikon owners saying "Nikon" and Canon owners saying "Canon" don't you?

simon wrote:

pete wrote:PS If you were buying a new camera, and jumping ship from another manufacturer, which way would you jump? Nikon (love the d200 but it is very dear) or Canon?

You do realise you'll get all the Nikon owners saying "Nikon" and Canon owners saying "Canon" don't you?

Get a "Konica Minolta" from an owner of three different well bashed. dropped, abused but still working Konica Minoltas.

Skyenet wrote:

simon wrote:

pete wrote:PS If you were buying a new camera, and jumping ship from another manufacturer, which way would you jump? Nikon (love the d200 but it is very dear) or Canon?

You do realise you'll get all the Nikon owners saying "Nikon" and Canon owners saying "Canon" don't you?

Get a "Konica Minolta" from an owner of three different well bashed. dropped, abused but still working Konica Minoltas.

From the owner of a knackered 7D and 2 more knackered Dynaxs I'm not sure why I bought another!! You don't want some lenses do you, and a new flash. Very reasonable prices!!

Pete
Sorry, can't offer any advice of the legal aspect but can give a view on the cameras.
As Si says, it's a bit like a VX220 vs elise debate. Canon and Nikon do very similar jobs for similar prices. I went down the Nikon route as the D70 just felt better in my hands. I have not been disappointed.
Yes I would love a D200 but is about £800. It has more bells & whistles than my D70 but the best thing is the bigger LCD screen.
I couldn't justify the upgrade as I can barely do the D70 justice. Now I don't now what level you are at, but unless you are fairly experienced, I would think that a D80 (or even D50) would be more than adequate for your needs.

For prices check out Camera Price Busters.com

Stewart
P.S.
Unless some when legal know-how can advise otherwise, I would be tempted to take the 75% and "upgrade" now.

Hi Pete,

I picked up a Nikon D80 last year with a 18-70mm, which I just upgraded to a 18-200. I absolutely love it and would recommend it in a heartbeat.

In fact, if you go for the Nikon body only and want a lens, I'll do you a deal on the 18-70.

Cheers
Robbie

where r the canon boys gone?

k12chu wrote:where r the canon boys gone?

Canon.... canon..... canon....... canon.........

/chant.