Hi all

am in need some advice.

about 6months ago i purchased a Kenwood CD player for my other halfs car. it played mp3 cd had a usb slot ipod etc etc.

it worked perfectly for 6 months then all of a sudden one day it stoped playing cd's (normal and mp3) and wouldnt work on ipod or usb stick. athough the radio still worked

phoned kenwood and they said i needed to have it removed from the car and sent to their approved repairer AEL for warrenty repair. (all fine and dandy!)

i got the cd player removed and they sent a courier out to collect.

today i received a letter saying that they have tested the unit and it is working fine with no fault.

BUT they want £29.38p inc vat before they return it as there is no fault charge!!!

discusted by this i called kenwood customer service and they confirmed that i would have to pay!!

my question to them is why the hell would i go to the bother of removing a working radio and send it to them!!!

Kenwood wont help and the repair company wont release the unit until someone coughs up the money

what should i do? why should i have to pay when the unit is only 6months old

they have you over the barrel.

seems a bit unfair but they did spend time looking into the fault or so they say so it is not unreasonable for them to charge although it should state that on the guarantee - it probably does but who reads them?

your option is paying up or telling them to shove it; in either case you probably should vow never to buy any of their goods again.

it wasn't working, now it is. That suggested an intermittent fault. So they need to investigate that fully to warrant the price. Just sticking a cd in does NOT constitute any sort of investigation.

Or, pay up, get them to send it back, then bugger it up so it won't play then get the money refunded back from them and then get them to send you a shiney new one.

Then ask for the name of their customer services manager as you would like a quote for the press.

or maybe they fixed it ...... at a cost of about 50p for some small part, then tell you there was no fault and you cough 30 quid

[Edited on 1/12/08 by afj]

[Edited on 1/12/08 by afj]

quote:

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Originally posted by afj
or maybe they fixed it ...... at a cost of about 50p for some small part, then tell you there was no fault and you cough 30 quid

[Edited on 1/12/08 by afj]

[Edited on 1/12/08 by afj]

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Bear in mind that the £25 (plus VAT) that they will probably get out of you is almost certainly more than they made on the unit in the first place.

Just like main car dealers really, make their actual profit in the service department

John

I reckon they fixed it on warranty and now fancy getting a bit of cash for the Christmas party.

I had something similar with a Nissan main stealer. My radio conked out (an aerial problem) so I took it back the dealer. A different dealer had already replaced the aerial a year before but it appears Nissan make the aerial contacts out of pre-salted steel!! The dealership garage ran me up to say they couldn't do it under warranty because "there wasn't a manafacturing fault with the aerial, someone has vandalised it by bending it very slightly. Not enough to see with the naked eye but enough to break the contacts". Apparantly round my neck of the woods the car vandals do it in such a way that is not obvious. They wanted £120 to do the work. What a load of BS. I just laughed at them told them to put it back together and I'd come and collect it. And guess what- when I did it had a new aerial on it was working just fine.......

I had (still do in fact, it's in Mickey Micra) a Sony CD Radio that stopped playing ball. No CD's - at all would be recognised.

Tried cleaners and nothing. Tried resetting the unit with the recessed reset button under the face and....It's worked ever since - probably 2 years now and it's never played up since.

Could have been the issue with your Kenwood? Completely disconnected from the power and then powered backup and effectively reset and it works again!

I'd pay and then claim it back if it isn't fixed. If its been fixed, it would cost you more to do that at a local repair centre anyway.

we use AEL at work, generally very reputable firm. Will give a bit on the service front if pushed as they REALLY dont want to lose a contract for getting complaints.

sounds like your bill is for courier return as that wont be covered under warranty. can you collect it , they are in birmingham somewhere. could get you the number if you really need it.

lastly, complain to kenwood and claim that the unit is not fit for the purpose for which it was purchased irrespective of whether there "approved repair centre" could find a fault or not you which to exercise your staturory right for a full refund or a replacement. remind the fault is intermittent and not realted to any specific conditions such as hot/cold as AEL can test for that.

hth

pif