Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has come to the rescue once again, this time aiding a fan in securing a refund for faulty earphones despite the warranty having expired. The grateful listener reached out on The Martin Lewis Podcast on BBC Sounds to express his thanks and demonstrate the effectiveness of Martin’s guidance.
The self-described “big fan of the podcast” recounted his experience of purchasing an “expensive pair of wireless earphones” at the start of 2022, which came with a two-year warranty. Unfortunately, shortly after the warranty lapsed, one of the earbuds began to lose battery life at an alarming rate.
Upon investigating, the savvy consumer discovered that this was a recurring problem with the model he owned, typically manifesting just after the warranty period. Recalling Martin’s advice, the fan recalled: “I remembered what you said; ‘Warranty shmarrenty! ‘.”
Armed with Martin’s mnemonic for consumer rights, the determined buyer approached Amazon with a clear argument: “They were top-of-the-line headphones, they were expensive, they were bought with the expectation that they would last for more than two years and the sudden nature of the change suggested fault rather than the expected wear over time.”
He acknowledged that it required “some persistence and escalation” but his efforts paid off when Amazon issued him a gift card valued at half the price of the earphones. Concluding his message on a high note, he stated: “Given where I started, this was more than I expected. Thanks for the advice! “.
Explaining his acronym, SAD FALROT, Martin shared: “When you buy something it must be of Satisfactory quality, As Described, Fit for purpose And Last a Reasonable length of Time.” The finance guru admitted that in this case a full refund was unlikely due to the length of time since the purchase but added highlighted in these situations “you can expect some form of repair, replacement or partial refund”.
When it comes to what’s considered a reasonable length of time, Martin advised thinking about it like this: “If a reasonable person would say; ‘That’s not right that that’s broken so quickly when you haven’t done anything to it’ then it hasn’t lasted a reasonable length of time.”
He also made sure to emphasise that if listeners are using this method and confronting businesses about faulty products to “always do this politely and nicely”. Treading the fine line between kind and firm to staff, Martin highlighted: “It’s never the people in the shop’s issue.”
