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Don’t assume the worst if you’ve got faulty items just out of warranty, says Miles Brignall

Thousands of Britons are being denied their consumer rights every day as store staff hide behind “ridiculously overcomplicated” laws, a lawyer has warned. The Money postbag has been bulging with letters from people complaining they have been fobbed off in stores when trying to return items that are just out of warranty. It has also emerged staff are breaking the law when they wrongly tell consumers they have no rights once the item is more than a year old.

Two weeks ago we featured the case of retired teacher Peter Ward, who persuaded Tesco to replace a flat-screen TV that had broken down a few months outside its one-year warranty. He cited EU directive 1999/44/EC: this appears to give consumers a minimum of two years to take items back to the retailer for a repair or replacement. After a long stand-off, during which he was threatened with being ejected from the store, Tesco agreed to replace his TV.

The article struck a chord with readers, many of whom contacted Money to say staff would not listen when they had tried to return goods more than a year old. We were also contacted by one of the UK’s leading consumer law specialists, Christian Twigg-Flesner from the University of Hull. He somewhat contradicted what European Commission staff told us two weeks ago (that EU law gave consumers a two-year guarantee), but confirmed consumer rights did not end after a year.

“This whole area is complicated and in desperate need of reform,” Twigg-Flesner says. “The two-year directive on consumer sales and guarantees seeks to ensure a minimum standard of protection across the EU.”

Because the UK’s Sale of Goods Act (SOGA) meets or exceeds most of the directive’s requirements, except for a right to repair or replacement from 2003, he says consumers should rely on this when returning items.

“All EU countries have to ensure a retailer could be held liable for all ‘non-conformities’ which manifest within two years from delivery. However, this is not a two-year guarantee (although eurospeak does not help by describing this as the ‘legal guarantee’), because goods are not required, in law, to last for those two years.” He says the SOGA requires three things: the goods must be as described; they must be of satisfactory quality, which is determined by description, price, durability, freedom from minor defects and fitness for common purpose; and they must be fit for that purpose.

Anyone trying to return electronic goods 13 months after purchase and who is told the item is out of warranty, should stand firm, adds Twigg-Flesner.

“I generally find that if you stick to your guns and quote the SOGA, store staff will eventually ring head office and you should receive your rights. It is a criminal offence for them to tell you that, because the goods are out of warranty, you have no rights,” he says.

“If goods break down sooner than expected, there is a strong argument they were not of satisfactory quality when delivered. A consumer who seeks repair or replacement, but not a full refund, during the first six months has the benefit of a presumption the goods were not satisfactory when delivered.”

He says that, after six months, the consumer has to provide evidence the goods were not satisfactory, which will require expert opinion, and advises anyone who feels the item should have been reasonably expected to last longer to go to court if necessary.

Action stations: What to do if you are rebuffed

• If the retailer says you have no rights because the item is more than a year old, this is not only nonsense – it is a criminal offence.

• Assuming the item has failed through no fault of yours and it was “reasonable” to expect it to last longer – given its cost/quality – you should demand, under the Sale of Goods Act, that it be replaced or repaired by the retailer, not the manufacturer.

• After the item is six months old, retailers can demand evidence that it failed as a result of a manufacturing fault. Try the Yellow Pages for an independent repairer. Most stores will reimburse the cost of an independent examination if the breakdown is the result of an inherent fault.

• Presented with the evidence, most stores will back down and replace or repair the item. If that would prove ‘disproportionately costly’ the store can offer a cash sum that would reflect the benefit that you got from the item until it broke.

• If you don’t achieve a satisfactory outcome, the small claims court will happily hear cases of up to £5,000 in value, and it is possible to recover your costs.

Your stories: ‘They said Britain isn’t in the EU’

Xboxes, iPods, fridges and computers are the main items failing just outside the one-year manufacturer’s warranty. Several readers told us their Xbox games consoles had gone wrong just after 12 months. Mary Aspden, from London, complained to Microsoft after her son’s Xbox stopped working 14 days outside warranty. The company demanded £68 to clear the error codes.

Jonathan Sadler is in dispute with Amazon after it refused to replace a shaver it sold him 14 months ago. “It seems they are attempting to get around the legislation and fob people off by saying that it only applies to products that have become faulty in the first six months – so even less time than the one-year guarantee they originally stated,” he wrote.

Michael Ireland told us PC World refused his claim when his laptop failed after 14 months. “The symptoms indicate it is a motherboard failure but unless I have an assessment by an independent expert at my expense (typically £40), they are not interested.”

Several readers said they had been denied replacements or free repairs by Apple UK when they tried to take back iPods that had failed at between one and two years old. In each case they were told they would have to pay for repairs even though the problem appeared to be the internal hard drive, which the consumer cannot control.

Ann Lawson says she was almost thrown out of a Hull branch of Currys when complaining about a washing machine that failed after 18 months. “I was told that the Sale of Goods Act did not apply as the goods were more than six months old and that EU law did not apply as Britain was not in the EU!” She has complained to Currys’ HQ.

Meanwhile, Shirly Mew proves you can take on big companies and win. Her £320 gas cooker from Sainsbury’s went rusty after 14 months. “When I complained, Sainsbury’s response was that the cooker was out of guarantee, and that as I had chosen not to take out insurance there was nothing they could do about it. They referred me to the manufacturer and I got nowhere.

“I was helped to draft a letter to head office. Within days, an engineer called and replaced the components free. My advice to anyone is, don’t give up. If necessary, go to the top.”

m.brignall@guardian.co.uk