Readers have been complaining that goods they have bought have stopped working due to a software update.
Over the past 6 months I’ve received many letters and emails from readers complaining about this so I wanted to let you know what your rights are when a software update goes wrong.
Ruskin from Leicestershire purchased a smart television, for £2,499 just four months ago.
Only six weeks after purchase he received a notification that there was a software update for the television. Ruskin downloaded the update and to his horror the television stopped working and hasn’t worked again since.
The retailer has denied all liability, saying that as the update was ‘free of charge’ and voluntary, they have no responsibility.
Fiona from Hartlepool purchased a new mobile phone.
Within seven months she downloaded an update for the phone.
Immediately following the update some of the functions on the phone, including the speaker, ceased to work. The retailer says it’s a manufacturer issue so they cannot assist.
Insurers refused to fix my daughter's phone screen because she was 'underage'
Your rights
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides consumers with a great deal of protection in relation digital downloads, which includes software updates.
Where it’s a software update, downloaded after the purchase of goods, the retailer (rather than the manufacturer or software developer) has an obligation to compensate the consumer if any device (such as a television or mobile phone) is damaged as a result of the faulty update.
However, it is necessary to show that the damage would not have happened if ‘reasonable care and skill’ had been exercised in providing the software update.
So, turning to Ruskin and Fiona’s issues. The retailer in Ruskin’s case is wrong as it does not matter that the update was free, all that matters is whether reasonable care and skill was exercised in providing the update, which it clearly wasn’t.
It also makes no difference that it was ‘voluntary’. The retailer is also wrong in Fiona’s case. Fiona therefore paid her money to the retailer when she purchased the phone and therefore formed a contract with the retailer not manufacturer.
