Buying electrical goods, and returning them - consumer rights?

[old.user4556]

I bought a Humax PVR freeview box yesterday (twin tuners, 160 GB drive) to replace my Freesat Sky box - seemed a great piece of kit.

That was until the picture seemed to wobble, warp and skew on screen depending on how much action was going on, some channels worse than others (through my HD projector). Now, I thought at first "probably my SCART or lack of" and i just know Comet are going to blame that.

My proj is connected to the Freeview box via a high quality 7m VGA cable with a 15 pin -> SCART block at one end. However, my Sky box, my mate's Sky+ box, the Xbox 360 and DVD players are all perfect through this cable/SCART, so i seriously doubt it's the cable. I've also checked the obvious like signal strength which is all ok (i've got line of sight to the mast and it's only 10 miles away).

The problem is, I took it to my mate's place and tried it on his TV through a cheapo SCART lead and it looked perfect. That leads me to think that the box is fine and my projector doesn't like it.

Does this give me grounds to return it for a full refund? Do I need to prove it's faulty? It doesn't work for me, everything else i plug in works fine in my setup, so does this deem it "not fit for purpose" ?

Ta

 

[Lazarus]

take it back and chance your arm Big G. Tell them is does not work on your setup - unless they can replicate your setup then they cannot argue with that.

 

[Trem]

Aye at the worst make them swap it for something else. They don't care, it isn't their shop.

You will be fine.

 

[Tom]

They'll connect it to one of their own TVs, and it will work perfectly. And they'll tell you to clear off as its not faulty, unless you buy a better one from them

Check the menus of the PVR to see if its RGB/YUV/composite switchable.

 

[Draylor]

No need to explain the details, take it back saying it wasnt right for the intended use, theyll refund it.

The legalities are basically irrelevant: if its undamaged and they are able to put it back on the shelf virtually any store would prefer to give you a refund and get your business next time rather than piss you off for life.

 

[old.user4556]

Just off the phone to the electronics guru that is my father.

I tried:

2m VGA lead - fine
5m VGA lead - very slight picture wobble at times
7m VGA lead - mega wobble

Dad reckons that the Humax box simply can't drive longer cable lengths, regardless of quality. Since he fits projectors to PCs on a regular basis, he was telling me they have the same problem with long cable lengths and have to use a VGA amplifier when they get up to 20m. He's gonna obtain one and i'll give it a shot, really don't wanna have to shell out for one though.

 

[Ch3tan]

Just take it back, if it is resaleable then I cannot see the shop having aproblem with it. If you've ripped the box to shreds and doodled on the manual, then yes they will tell you to go away, but otherwise no.

 

[Skyler]

Take it back and tell them it doesn't work in your setup since it can't push the signal along anything but a short cable and that's unworkable for you.

 

[phazey]

Have a gander at the VGA specs - if it says "works over VGA" but does not include the cable lenght specifications - the POS is flawed - at least then you have a decent argument....

 

[Tom]

Does the product manual list the output impedance of the VGA socket?

 

[old.user4556]

Sadly not Tom.

5m is not unreasonable for a SCART lead, and if the picture wobbles with a 5m cable - that's fucking shite tbh.

Just borrowed my dad's Sony freeview box, works a fucking peach - razor sharp stable picture over my 7m cable.

The Humax is going back.

 

[tris-]

The Humax is going back.

all you can try i suppose is claiming it doesnt work, even though it does.
could also argue it doesnt state before you buy that you may need a 2m cable for it to work.

if they really wont take it back you could go via the route of filing a civil action (maybe different in scotland) to get the money back. if you are good at arguing and getting people to believe you, its worth a short

 

[old.user4556]

True Trem.

Just keeps adding up, i've tried on the 7m cable:

Xbox360
Sky Digibox (Grundig)
Sky+ Box
My PC as an HTPC
Yamaha DVD player
Sony DVD player
Sony Freeview box

All work flawlessly, the Humax doesn't work. Thus, not fit for the purpose for which it was purchased.... imo.