Why is PVR problem not covered by warranty?

My Humax 9200T personal video recorder (PVR) is not working properly. It loads the programme guide data slowly and will only play for a few minutes before the picture freezes and the remote will not work.

I bought it two years ago and it is still under warranty. Humax says this is a software problem and an update will be available but we do not know when.

Mrs T Marsland

This PVR is unlikely to be inherently faulty and appears only to be vulnerable to the complex changes taking place to the UK broadcast infrastructure.

In August 2008 and September 2009, we reported that upgrades to the Freeview digital TV system rendered thousands of digital set-top boxes useless.

Continued changes have also affected certain Humax PVRs because a higher volume of information now has to be loaded on to them.

Mrs Marsland wants to know what legal redress she has. Warranties are legally binding on the company that offers them, but can and usually do have specific exclusion clauses.

But you don't have to rely on a warranty thanks to statutory consumer law such as the Sale of Goods (SoG) Act.

A favourite phrase people use under this law is ‘not fit for purpose'. But this protection does not cover developments in technology or standards that the manufacturer or seller has no say in or control over.

A manufacturer does not legally have to provide a hardware, software or firmware update unless a device was sold promising this.

The good news is that Humax has been working on a software upgrade.

The company told us: "We are very aware that some customers have been experiencing a slowdown in operation and usability issues with our PVR models. Resolving these issues has been a priority. But unfortunately, due to the complex nature of the issues, it has taken longer than we had hoped to develop new software to sort out the PVR issues."

To receive updates over the air, you should leave your box on standby overnight.

What does ‘fit for purpose’ mean?

In essence this term means that the product must do what the retailer or manufacturer says it will do.

For example if you buy a camera that says it is able to record video and still images, then it must do both.

Changes to technology that the manufacturer or retailer has no control over, do not make a product unfit for purpose. So if you buy a new computer and your old printer is not compatible with it, then you have no claim.