They were serious questions and are getting at "Is the 2004 proof set faulty or not?"
I will give you my own answers.
1. I think paint on a car should not "just peel and fall off" ever. If it ever did that, without there being some type of abuse, it would be faulty. However, proving it was faulty, and not due to something the owner did could be impossible. Likewise, if it faded badly after only 2 years I think it would be faulty Again proving it might be difficult.
I have a car which is close to 10 years old. It has been reasonably looked after, and the paint is still in ok condition (appart from scrapes/dings etc). I think that is a fair expectation to have. If it had to be resprayed at 5 years old (and there was no reason such as abuse) I would not be happy.
There are some spots on the bumper where someone got some type of auto paint on our car when it was still quite new. That has eaten into the paint. If the original paint peeled as a result of that, I would not blame the manufacturer as it was not due to a manufacturers fault.
2. Paint on a million dollar car which is carefully stored also should never just "peel and fall off". In that case it should be much easier to prove that it is a manufacturing fault, and I would expect the manufacturer to repair it.
3. There are plenty of 1980 proof sets that are still perfect (32 years on)
so
4. I would expect a 2004 proof set to still be perfect (at 8 years old)
Proof sets are designed and expected to be perfect for a long time.
My understanding of consumer protection laws is that it is not so much about "has it lasted the 12 month warranty" and more about "has the customer got what they paid for".
eg from Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) website at
---
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/item...+refunds.pdf---
How long do consumers' statutory
rights apply?
Statutory rights are not limited to a set time
period. Instead, they apply for the amount of time
that is reasonable to expect, given the cost and
quality of the item.
This means a consumer may be entitled to a
remedy under their statutory rights after any
manufacturer's voluntary or extended warranty has
expired.
For example, it is reasonable to expect that an
expensive television should not develop a serious
fault after 13 months of normal use. In this case,
the consumer could argue the item was not of
merchantable quality and ask for it to be repaired,
even if the manufacturer's voluntary warranty had
expired.
---
The same publication covers "remedies" to fix problems as well.
I agree that stamping more 2004 proof sets is not likely to happen (and I actually would not like to see it happen).
However there are other possiblities.
eg. refund of money, credit towards other products, replacing with a different agreeable product.
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Posted 08/17/2012 09:15 am
