Shops Get Your Rights Wrong, Says Which.co.uk

Which.co.uk visited 20 high street stores* and found that only seven followed all the rules** regarding the sale of extended warranties (http://www.which.co.uk/advice/extended-warranties-know-your-rights ) correctly.   Seven out of 20 shops gave wrong advice about the right to cancel a warranty.  Customers have 45 days to cancel, but which.co.uk was given a range of responses, from no right to cancel because ‘there’s a lot of paperwork’ to an incorrect number of days (http://www.which.co.uk/advice/extended-warranties-know-y ... ). The list price and length of an extended warranty should be advertised next to the product it relates to, which four shops failed to do. Five stores also failed to give a written quote*** with one telling which.co.uk, ‘all I can do is tell you, it’s £139.’ (http://www.which.co.uk/advice/extended-warranties-know-y ... ) Shoppers often take out extended warranties when they buy new products thinking they will be protected if the product breaks down, but Which?’s latest product reliability survey**** shows that modern domestic appliances are reasonably reliable, so people are usually better off saving their money. Jess Ross, Editor, which.co.uk, says: “People should think twice before buying an extended warranty when they buy products this Christmas. In many cases extended warranties are a waste of money, and those consumers who really want one will find much better deals by shopping around rather than simply taking what they’re offered in store. “Retailers clearly need to spend more time training their staff to make sure they’re getting their facts right.” Ends which.co.uk also asked 2,708 Which? online panel members a series of true and false statements to test their knowledge of their rights for buying an extended warranty and found some uncertainty (http://www.which.co.uk/about-which/press/product-press-r ... ) Notes to editors Which? is the leading independent consumer champion in the UK, providing impartial, expert information on thousands of products and services to help make individuals as powerful as the organisations they have to deal with in their daily lives.   For more information and sample letters for consumers worried about extended warranties go to http://www.which.co.uk/advice/extended-warranties-know-your-rights The full article “Shops get your rights wrong” appears in the January 2009 issue of Which? magazine. Research notes *In September 2008, Which? researchers visited five branches each of Argos, Comet, Currys and John Lewis around the country to buy a fridge-freezer and test if they were given correct and sufficient information about their rights for buying an extended warranty **which.co.uk looked at the extended warranty rules relating to cancellation, listing the price, information leaflets, a written quote, the length of a valid quote and doing a deal ***Shops must give a written quote for the price of a warranty if a customer asks, unless it costs less than £20 ****In August and September 2008, 13,029 Which? members responded to questionnaires asking about the reliability of white goods up to six years olds (January 2009 edition).

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