parts supplier - are they responsible

[timorr]

Hi from Ireland, I would appreciate a little bit of guidance on the following situation.

I got a new head gasket supplied by a supplier.
The head gasket failed within 1000km
The supplier are not standing by there warranty and are claiming to be unable to do anything and that they are just the middle people between me and the parts manufacture.

Is this correct or should the supplier be doing something to get this situation resolved?

Thanks for any guidance.
Tim

[gasace]

If the gasket failed so soon, it may be that you have a problem with the head. Has it been skimmed/checked? If it is a faulty gasket then the retailer, not the manufacturer is responsible, but you will have to prove it is the gasket and not the head or fitting that is at fault. You can try contacting trading standards, it can be done on line. Sometimes a complaint to them my get some movement from a reluctant retailer.

[helen&tony]

Hi
Could you clarify whether the firm mentioned supplied ONLY a head gasket?....if so, they can hardly be responsible.
Cheers
Helen

[helen&tony]

Hi Gasace
You beat me as I was typing! ...let's wait and see whether it was just a supply of a single part
Cheers
Helen

[westonwarrior]

Hi

As a retailer myself I know that

your contract of perchase is with whoever sold you the part not the manufactuer they then deal with the manufactuer themslves and that should have no bearing on your complaint.

but he situation you are in is complicated in as such

In previous posts you mention the head being damaged, in this one you say the gasket.

I take it you bought the parts and got a 3rd party to fit them?

Now are you claiming that a supplied gasket blew and damaged your head (either new or old)?

the supplier could claim that you did not fix the cause of the original gasket failing and so the supplied one was perfect and its not their fault as the fault caused the gasket to fail not substandard goods

It was not fitted properly and so also not their fault

This is always a problem when you supply your own parts in as such the fitter blames the parts and the supplier blames the fitter.
and if you can prove the parts were faulty you still have to pay the fitter again to fix the problem.

Far better in the long run to give it to a garage and say fix it please and let them get the parts, this way you just go back to the fitter and they deal with it .

if you ask them to change the gasket and the head is faulty its not their fault as they acted under your instructions.
if you gave them a few parts and ask them to fit them and a fault in the system like a blocked rad is the cause, then thats not their fault either.

The upshot is you need an engineers report to prove the goods were sub standard and nothing else contributed to the failing of the item.
Armed with that you can go to a small claims court and get damages from them.

[rita]

Hi timorr,

Is this the same topic?

Quote...Latest update to this ongoing...un-developing story of my poor neglected sick Bongo.

The supply company have final contacted me to say that the head gasket has arrived from Ireland back with them.
However they say that it is not the one that they sent me...!

So it sounds like they are accusing my garage here in Ireland of finding another head and sending it instead of the one they supplied. Despite me having extensive pictures of the head, despite me having an independent mechanic that also viewed the parts, despite my local garage that did the work happening to live across the road from me as a neighbor.

If they really think that I am going to let this one pass...!

Tomorrow I start the process through a third party and it is out of my hands.Also getting very, very close to wanting to name and shame the well known company here...!

If so I think you will just have to wait for the results.

[Doone]

You have posted ON THIS LINK about this problem before.
You previously said:

...The parts supplier has picked up the damaged head and taken it back to the UK to look at...

You also said:

...The supply company have final contacted me to say that the head gasket has arrived from Ireland back with them.
However they say that it is not the one that they sent me...!

So it sounds like they are accusing my garage here in Ireland of finding another head and sending it instead of the one they supplied...

Now you're saying that the head gasket that has failed, but the supplier won't take responsibility for it.
I'm a bit confused.

I understand that this has all been pretty stressful for you.
But its important to get things clear.

Did the supplier just supply a head gasket?
Or did they supply a head as well?
Did they supply anything else?
If they did, what did they supply?

And exactly what has failed?

And finally, you previously said that your supplier told you that the head gasket they collected from you, is not the one they supplied to you.
Is this still the case?

[timorr]

Hi all, thanks for all the quick replies and further questions.
I now see this is a bit of a duplicate tread to the original one I put up.
I am just so frustrated about the whole situation, feel hard done by and do not know who should take responsibility.

I will leave this tread and just use the original one that I started some time back. The anxiety and frustration got the better of me here and i wanted to "name and shame".

If the moderators want to delete this tread i have no problem with that.
I will post any updates on the original tread.
Thanks
Tim

[Doone]

We can understand your frustration.

Any part has to be good enough for the job its supposed to do.
The parts supplier is responsible for that part, not the manufacturer.

Your problem seems to be working out which part failed, and why it failed.

I'll lock this thread at your request.
All further discussion can continue on your original thread, ON THIS. LINK