Sub-standard product

I purchased an expensive (R12 000) HP multi-function copier/printer from OneDayOnly. Unbeknownst to me, it only came with a 7-month warrantee. This was not stated in the product deal sheet. I would have expected it to come with at least the standard 1-year term warrantee which one would expect. The product failed (specifically, the stapling function) for the first time at 8 months, just outside of its initial warrantee period. OneDayOnly referred us to Hewlett-Packard International for after-sales support. Their call-out technicians are very much more expensive than South-African service providers. This was a concern. The product has failed a few times since and has not at all been a reliable product. We’ve had to repair it at our own cost a number of times in the first 12 months. By comparison - our other printer (also an HP Multi-Function Copier/Printer) is 7 years old, purchased from a reliable retailer, and way more reliable. When it has broken down, the repairs were carried out efficiently and without great disruption. Now, at just under 18 months, the product has completely failed (the hard drive and motherboard needs to be replaced). The product is clearly a dud. Upon contacting OneDayOnly about the dud product, they simply referred me to their supplier. The supplier denies liability. The end result is that we will need to purchase a brand-new printer, rather than spending more money on this printer. Taking into account the product downtime, we only got 13 months’ productive time out of this printer, and must now replace it. I cannot help but feel that if the product had been bought from a more reliable retailer, we would have had a different experience altogether. Specifically: The product would have come with a warranty of at least 1 year; The retailer would have had proper after-sales support. Instead, we’ve had to deal with 3rd party service providers, long periods of downtime, call-out fees and endless frustration; and The retailer would have supp**** a replacement product if it broke down within its 1-year warranty period.

I’ve learned a valuable and expensive lesson. I won’t again purchase an expensive electronic product which may require after-sales support from OneDayOnly. Rather, I would use a more reputable retailer and have peace-of-mind for incase things go wrong.