Buying Machines Online
July 26th 2023Buying Machines Online
Buying machines online can be very convenient, the majority of the time it’s effortless, a few clicks and you have a shiny new machine on the way to you. A few days later or sometimes even the next day a huge package arrives at your doorstep and the delivery driver disappears to continue his delivery round. So far the online experience is great, you’ve saved yourself £10 and your new lawnmower is in a box on your doorstep. However it’s just you and this huge package, your machine inside waiting to be assembled.
Packaging
You open the box to a huge clutter of cardboard, polystyrene and plastic sheets. You lift your lawnmower out the box only to realise the handles are not attached and the grass bag is in pieces. You finally fit the handle bars, only to find the cables to engage the drive and cutters are not attached either. Furiously you’re flicking through the manual trying to the find the page with English instructions. You put out the packaging just in time for the council to take, at least that’s one job out of the way.
Trouble!
You’ve forgotten to buy oil, so you drive to the local DIY shop to get some, get home and put engine oil and petrol in the machine then decide to test it out. The machine fires, the engine is revving normally, you celebrate, fist pumping the air “Haha Easy!” you exclaim! You stride with confidence pushing your new shiny mower to the lawn to test it out. Blades are whirling you’re ready to engage the drive. You push the handles up… Nothing. No drive at all on the machine. You double check the cables frantically adamant that you have done everything correct. This is where things start to get tricky for you.
The online retailer is referring you to a local dealer. The local dealer cannot look at the machine for 3/4 weeks and wants payment for the work done. In this situation the online retailer is responsible for warranty work on your machine. So where do you stand? The answer to this is quite simple – you bought the item from the online shop and your contract is with that company. You do not have a contract with the manufacturer. The online retailer has the legal liability to fix the item. If the item is faulty then you will have your legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 against the retailer. You would have to send the Lawnmower back to them in the original packaging at your cost – but you’ve already thrown this away. If it’s something you’ve done in the assembly of the machine, it will be your cost.
Be Protected
We strongly recommend that people use local dealers to not only benefit the local community but to also make the experience easier for you. With Jenkins Garden Machinery all machines that leave us go through a Pre delivery Inspection. This Pre Delivery Inspection can give you and the manufactures confidence that the machine has been assembled by a qualified mechanic. We dispose of the packaging for you, as well as filling the machine with oil and supplying out a bottle of fuel. This then helps prove that the warranty claim is a warranty issue. If you also a buy a machine through a local dealer and something does go wrong they will rectify this problem as soon as possible. As you are our customer you are our priority.