Using guarantees and warranties
Many products, such as electrical goods, are sold with a manufacturer's guarantee (or warranty), often for a year.
Guarantees are a contract between you and the manufacturer and the manufacturer must do whatever they say they will do in the guarantee.
Usually this will be to repair or replace a faulty item. Retailers will sometimes contact the manufacturer on your behalf, but they are not obliged to do so.
However, you still have rights under the Sale of Goods Act even if your guarantee has expired. A manufacturer's guarantee doesn't replace these rights and retailers can't ignore this.
It will depend on the product and the fault, but you could be legally entitled to a free repair or, in some cases, a replacement by the retailer for some time after the manufacturer's guarantee has expired.
The OP has two avenues he could pursue - one with the manufacturer and one under the Sale of Goods Act with the retailer. With the retailer this would be around 'what is a reasonable amount of time' a product such as this should give good reliable service for.
The OP may well have to get an independent report which he would have to pay for though could claim back were his case successful. In fact the OP has up to 6 years in which to bring a claim.
The problem is most of us do not pursue our rights as it's all too much trouble. If we did then products would have to be much improved.
