Even the shops seem to be resigned to piracy being a fact of life

[nutcase_1uk]

I bought 3 albums from Andy's records on Sunday as aprt of an offer, 3 for £18 (can't remember last time I paid full price for an album). One of them, Guns n Roses Appetite for Destruction, skipped badly, so I went in this afternoon to exchange it.

The guy behind the counter was somewhat suprised that I wanted THE same title in exchange. Apparently almost every time an exchange is made for faulty goods, a different title is requested. Hmmm. A sad state of affairs

Originally posted by nutcase_1uk
Apparently almost every time an exchange is made for faulty goods, a different title is requested.

That's the fault of the shop for being so naive surely.

[nutcase_1uk]

Oh I agree. Theyre pretty much encouraging piracy with that attidude. Like, IMO Electronics Boutique's no questions asked exchange policy of games etc. Basically a free hire shop...

That's the law though. If something is genuinely faulty, they have to provide a refund or exchange (same or different title - customer's choice). If they didn't, they'd be in a lot of trouble!

[billduff]

I wouldn't exhange Appetite for Destruction, when I lost my copy I spent ages turning the house upside down looking for it.

Only to discover someone had put it in the glovebox of the car instead of the armrest where the rest are kept.

[Lex]

I don't really understand your reasoning guys! As Squirrel rightly says these shops are legally obliged to offer you your money back or an exchange... There are no special rules for retailers of copyrighted material.

I think that what is being said is that the discs aren't faulty at all but have been taken home and copied and are now being exchanged for something different to copy.

I

[nutcase_1uk]

If what squirrel says is true, why are there signs in several music shops I visit saying along the lines of: "please choose carefully as refunds and exchanges can only be made for faulty items, and only for teh same title"? Is that unenforcable by law?

Originally posted by nutcase_1uk
If what squirrel says is true, why are there signs in several music shops I visit saying along the lines of: "please choose carefully as refunds and exchanges can only be made for faulty items, and only for teh same title"? Is that unenforcable by law?

I've seen those signs. They're POINTLESS!!

If such shops refuse to exchange for a different title, then ask them for a refund on the faulty title, then buy a different title from them!

End result: You swapped one title for another!!

[nutcase_1uk]

But the signs say REFUNDS and exchanges. You (used to) have to prove that the item was faulty. The last couple of weeks this has changed I gather, It is up to the retailer to prove an item was not faulty before sale.

Originally posted by nutcase_1uk
But the signs say REFUNDS and exchanges.

Yes, they say you can have a refund or an exchange of the SAME title. My point is, what's the point of telling customers they can only exchange the item for the SAME title, when they can just get a refund and buy a different title

Originally posted by nutcase_1uk
You (used to) have to prove that the item was faulty. The last couple of weeks this has changed I gather, It is up to the retailer to prove an item was not faulty before sale.

Yes, it is. Not sure that law has come into effect yet though (think it's from 31 March), but this is a different issue. This is good news because how can a retailer prove the item was not faulty before sale? Only by breaking all seals and testing each one individually and recording this in some way that is transparent and re-verifiable. It's incredibly difficult to do this. Even if they could, imagine retailers taking each DVD and CD in turn and checking them all - it would take them an incredible amount of time and would definitely cost them far more than it would to just accept the customer's word that an item is faulty

[nutcase_1uk]

Originally posted by Squirrel God
Yes, they say you can have a refund or an exchange of the SAME title. My point is, what's the point of telling customers they can only exchange the item for the SAME title, when they can just get a refund and buy a different title

Because the sign is stating they won't offer a refund or exchange on anything unless it is faulty. If it isn't faulty, you can't exchange it or refund it.

edit: Aaargh! I've finally found time to test the replacement disk and that one's skipping too! Same flippin place!

Originally posted by nutcase_1uk
Because the sign is stating they won't offer a refund or exchange on anything unless it is faulty. If it isn't faulty, you can't exchange it or refund it.

Well, that's fair enough isn't it and also within the law

Originally posted by nutcase_1uk
edit: Aaargh! I've finally found time to test the replacement disk and that one's skipping too! Same flippin place!

I've had that before. Mastering problem that affects the whole batch. Might be better off getting that refund now and trying another store so you get a CD from a different batch

[Lex]

Actually I think you will find that a retailer is legally obliged to offer a 14 day no-questions asked refund policy on any item bought regardless of whether or not it is faulty.
Any sign which says that they will not offer a refund is meaningless and is in contravention of the consumer's statutory rights - basically the store is just trying it on in the hope that most people will not challenge it

Originally posted by Lex
Actually I think you will find that a retailer is legally obliged to offer a 14 day no-questions asked refund policy on any item bought regardless of whether or not it is faulty.

That's just for distance selling though isn't it?