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I don't think that the retail seller can pass on the problem by law,  just because it's in the small print. If it's not fit for use that's it. Not much help to you now though.

My daughter had a faulty brand new phone, was told the same thing by Argos, her mother went there and got her money back on the spot.

Hi terrybiker,

Here is the legal verse and chapter if you wish to take it up with the seller,

The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (SOGA) was amended by The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 (S&SoGtCR) by the insertion into the 1979 Act of new sections 48 A-F. So if you ever refer to the SOGA in any discussion or correspondance always add "(as amended)" . The dealer may choose to take legal advice and it helps you if their lawyer sees any letter that properly quotes the law.

It is section 48B which gives you the choice of repair or replacement when the goods do not conform to your contract for purchase. Under the terms of the SOGA (as amended) that contract requires your fridge to be of satisfactory quality, sufficiently durable and free from any defects. 

Section 48A (3) indicates that where this kind of defect is found within six months of purchase then the law deems the defect to have been in place on the date you contracted to buy it. It is then for the seller to proove otherwise to avoid its obligation to you to repair or replace.

The difficulty that you may be experiencing is that the seller is endeavouring to ascertain just what is wrong with the fridge before accepting any liability. The seller has a limited entitlement to do that. If Dometec confirm that it is the fridge that is faulty and not your electrical supply which caused the problem, then the seller will replace or repair. In fact Dometec will tell the seller that they will reimburse the seller the money they have lost on that replacement. It may not follow the law to the letter, but it is a way of implementing the SOGA and this is often how these problems are resolved.

If the previous paragraph does not apply and the seller/dometec are trying to repair the fridge, then by virtue of section 48B of the SOGA (as amended by the S&SoGtCR)  the dealer has to comply with two statutory obligations:-

1. to undertake the repairs within a reasonable period of time, and
2. without causing significant inconvenience to the you

You need the fridge for your holiday and thus you need to make that clear to the seller. If the seller is not aware of what would be an inconvenience to you then you cannot complain that it has inconvenienced you. If the seller cannot assure you that the fridge will be working and returned to you by your holiday then you need to argue that the seller has failed to satisfy its obligations to do the repairs in a reasonable time and without inconvenience to you and thus it cannot deal with this consumer matter by way of repair but must replace. The seller can then deal with Dometec to get its money back. 

There is another legal complication....Where you elect to have a repair (which may be the case here), you cannot change your mind once they have started that repair. So, if you have elected to have a repair you must make it clear to the seller that you only did that because of his assurance that there would be a two day turn round. This will keep your legal options open and you can change your mind if you are being inconvenienced. 

Under section 48C you can, as a last resort rescind your contract with the seller and the seller has to give you your money back. However, you can only rescind if it is impossible to repair or replace without significant inconvenience  

The above assumes that you did not purchase using HP.

From what you have posted (and I appreciate that not all of the facts ever get posted at the start of a thread) your best option is to argue that you will be inconvenienced and that if the seller does not pull his finger out (that's a non legal expression!) then you demand a replacement in accordance with the above legislation.

All the best

Phil 

You can, if it cost more than £100, but the time taken to go via that route could be beyond the start of the holiday

Phil

Thanks to everyone replying to my problem with the waeco fridge. The advice that was given has been most helpful.

  Many Thanks,

 Terry & Karen