Acton threatens CHS suit over faulty modems

CHS Electronics could be facing legal action after a London-based reseller claimed the distributor had supplied faulty 3Com/US Robotics fax modems and failed to replace the products or refund.

According to a letter from Acton Computer Supplies sent to CHS Electronics and seen by PC Dealer, the reseller purchased three USR fax modems from the distributor on 16 April.

In the letter, Alfredo Porcaccini, Acton managing director, said the products were installed at an embassy in London in August, but two of the three failed to work.

Max Martin, Acton sales director, said: 'We sent in two engineers who were unable to fix the modems, so we contacted CHS, which said we should get in touch with 3Com.'

Martin claimed that Acton contacted 3Com on 19 September and the vendor promised to repair the products in seven working days. However, 3Com then told Acton it was unable to repair the products and would replace them.

It later told Acton the products were not in stock, so it would refund the money.

Martin said the saga forced Acton to contact its solicitors. '3Com said that because we purchased the products from CHS, we should be talking to it and not 3Com,' he said. He added that Acton would sue CHS if it did not refund or replace the products within seven days.

But Tracy Totton, product specialist at CHS, insisted that because the products were out of warranty, they were no longer its responsibility.

Fiona Faulkner, general manager of 3Com's client access division, said the firm had spoken with Acton and believed the issue was closed.

Martin said the reseller was going to buy Motorola modems from Northamber.