My nice little Sanyo CA9 camcorder, that I bought in February, has stopped recording sound properly. Am I reasonable to expect that Dicons should just replace or refund this without quibble?

I dropped them a mail:

Hello,

On the 10th of February 2010 I purchased a Sanyo CA9 camcorder from
Dixons Travel in Terminal 3 at Heathrow.
(Branch 0817 at 12:30pm on 10/2/10. Sanyo VPC-CA9 Red. Price £239.00)

The camera performed well for a while, but I used it recently (July
2010) and it no longer records sound correctly. On playback there is
just a buzzing noise with only the occasional loud noise discernible,
which suggests there is an issue with the microphone.

Obviously this is no longer fit for purpose and I would hope that a
fault like this within the five months of owning the camera would be
covered by warranty.
I still have the receipt and original packaging. Please advise me on how
to go about returning the camera for repair or replacement.

Regards
Graham

And I got this is response…

Dear Mr S*****,

Thank you for your email dated 4th August 2010.

I am concerned to learn about the problem you have experienced with your Sanyo VPC CA9 camcorder. To arrange for the item to be repaired please contact Sanyo on 01782 413611 as they are the repair agents for this item.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment that you may have been caused by this matter.

The number he gives isn't actually for Sanyo, it's for these guys http://www.hlehmann.co.uk/index.html who seem to be a Sanyo repairer.

Fair enough? Or should I get back onto Dixons (as the retailer that supplied me) and demand they sort me out rather than fobbing me onto Sanyo?

Seems they've offered to rectify your problem with an authorised repairer to me.

Your contract is with Dixons – it's their responsibility to sort it out. Seems fairly standard policy to fob you off like this, so you'll need to stand your ground.

In theory Dixons should sort it but as long as they are not expecting you to pay to get it fixed then I don't see the problem really.

Seems they've offered to rectify your problem with an authorised repairer to me.

Have they? Or have they just said "Not our problem, try contacting these guys"? I can't really tell from that mail. 😕

I don't want to be left with a bill for this – but I'm not sure that mail says "don't worry, we'll take care of it"

Lehmanns are a repair centre for loads of different brands.
I had problems with a Canon camera I bought from Warehouse express & it went there to be fixed.
Excellent service & quick turn around, sounds like a decent enough answer to me.
*edit* pretty sure you'll need a returns number before sending it to Lehmanns, but give them a ring & talk to them, they're more likely to be able to give you the information you want.

Given that they haven't mentioned anything about a charge I don't see how they could try and charge you.

*edit* pretty sure you'll need a returns number before sending it to Lehmanns, but give them a ring & talk to them, they're more likely to be able to give you the information you want.

YEah I think that's what unsettles me. If Dixons had said "That does sound like a warranty issue. Contact these guys, quoting issue number xyz.. and they will examine the item free of charge" then I'd probably feel a bit happier.

Your contract is with Dixons, it's their legal responsibility to recify the issue. A repair should be acceptable (you're not necessarily entitled to a refund / replacement), but it's down to them to do the legwork; if it needs to go to Sanyo, they should be sending it.