[quote name='4StringFortress' post='1274200' date='Jun 18 2011, 10:20 PM']Gear 4 Music thats who I bought it from.[/quote]
Im not an expert, but my opinion is that they're trying it on - your statutory rights are that it should be free from defects. It should last a reasonable length of time - usually six years is considered fair for most items. This is not wear & tear, neither is it accidental damage, this is an essential piece of the instrument flying off which appears not to have been put together properly. Any guarantee provided is extra to your rights under the Sale of Goods Act so their "one year guarantee" does not permit them to weasel out of your statutory rights.
Find your local authority leaflet pdf at [url="http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/problemswithgoods-sum19.cfm"]http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/...goods-sum19.cfm[/url]
"Under the Sale of Goods Act you are allowed a reasonable length of time to check that the goods comply with the above requirements. This is a very short period of time. If the goods do not comply, you are entitled to reject them and claim a full refund. Once this acceptance period has passed, [b]you may still be able to claim damages for any defects that appear during use up to a period of six years[/b], dependant on the type of goods. Damages will normally amount to the cost of repairs and any other losses which arise directly from the fault"
You may have to fight them, but I think you should be able to get them to pay for the repair.
When the battery on my MacBook started expanding, causing the laptop to rock on the desk, I took it into the Apple Store and even though it was well over three years old and I didn't have Applecare, they cheerfully swapped out the battery for a new one at no charge to me without me even having to suggest that this would be my preferred course of action. Unfortunately most retailers are unaware (or do they pretend to be unaware) of statutory rights