Faulty Fuji camera causes questions over the warranty

I bought a Fuji camera from Argos at the end of January.

On the 17 May 2010 I returned it as it had developed some faults.

The on/off switch was sticking, it would freeze on taking a photo and took pure black photos.

After having the camera for two weeks Argos phoned and asked me for the receipt so that Fuji could repair the camera.

But I had already given them copies of this. I then got another phone call from the company telling me that as I would not provide the receipt the camera was no longer in warranty.

Now Argos claims it doesn't even know where the camera is.

Kenneth Scott

The camera came with a 12-month manufacturer's warranty so telling Mr Scott he no longer had this protection was ludicrous.

But we told him that even if that had been the case, he could still pursue his claim under the Sale of Goods Act (SoG).

After about 30 days, although it does depend on the goods, a retailer is by law allowed to offer a repair. But one of the stipulations is that a repair should be carried out in a reasonable time and not inconvenience the customer.

Mr Scott had been without his camera for six weeks by the time he contacted us asking for help.

We explained that since the store had not sent the camera back for repair within the last six weeks and indeed appeared to have misplaced it, it seemed to us to have breached the conditions set out above.

He would probably have to wait at least a further week until he got it back so this delay also inconvenienced him. We believe he was within his rights to demand a replacement or pro-rata refund.

We contacted Argos about this and received this statement. "The delay in repair has been caused by the manufacturer who requested to view the receipt which was not supplied by the customer," Argos told us - a fact Mr Scott disputes. However, he has now been given a replacement camera.