Consumer Rights: MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

Art_2

therossmonster wrote:

We have a high interest savings account - we withdrew the money and paid with our debit card when the funds had cleared (rather than the credit card we probably should have used).

In response to earlier comments - decent and reputable company as are supplier. Total underestimate of demand. Having contacted the manufacturer direct they suggest we will need to deal with the retailer with any complaints. As an aside, the company's website suggests they will agree in writing a delivery date or refund within 30 days. Neither has occurred. Therefore could argue they are not following their policy/customer charter.

I feel a letter coming on!:undecided

Was it a Visa debit card by any chance? If so there may still be something you can do.

You seem happy with the company so you really have to decide if you want to stick with it until the goods are available or not. I think I would be tempted to call a halt and ask for my money back.

Just in case you need to resort to the Small Claims Court keep a copy of the screenshots of their website in case they change the details at a later stage.

Regards,
Art.

Art_2

Bigmonty69 wrote:

Hi, hopefully this will be an easy to answer question

I purchased a plasma TV from Currys Online over Xmas, it was paid for by credit card. I decided within a couple of days that I wanted to return the TV.

I phoned Currys Online and they said that I could return it to my local store for a refund as it was within 7 working days of purchase. I went into my local store with the TV only to be told that they couldn't refund me and I should have arranged a pickup with the online store as they were separate companies.

After much arguing by myself a member of the local stores management team phoned the online people and came to a compromise where I would leave my TV with the local store and the online people would pickup from there and then refund my money. I was told this would happen yesterday but apparently it didn't and the local store have no sign of my TV i.e they probably sold it!

I have a print out of my invoice which the member of the management team at my local store signed and wrote that the TV was left with them and noted the date. he also wrote down the name and position of the guy he spoke to at the online store.

They are due to phone me back about this today and I am wondering what my rights/procedure I should follow if they try and delay me or tell me that they have no record of my TV.

Thanks in advance!

You will have read the advice from deanos.

In addition I would say phone the person at the online department and ask his to make a refund whilst you are on the phone. There is no reason why this can't be done instantly. They have tha facility as this is how you paid them originally.

If the person refuses contact your credit card company immediately and ask them to intervene. Also write to Currys telling them that if the matter isn't resolved within 7 days you will go to the Small Claims Court.

Currys are part of DSG plc who also own Dixons and PC World. How many times does this group mess customers around like this? There are more complaints on this site about them than any other company.

Finally, I would also send a recorded delivery letter to the chief exexutive of Currys so that he is aware of the problems being caused by his organisation. He is:

John Clare,
DSG plc
Hemel Hempstead,
HP3 9QN

Regards,
Art.

*debbie*

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me. My friend bought a phone from Phones-4-U 4 months ago. It stoppped working after 3 months and so her husband took it back to the shop where they said they would have to send it off to be repaired. She was not a happy bunny when he came home with no phone!! It came back, but still doesn't work. She contacted the store again and they said that it was their policy to not refund until 3 attempts at repair had been made.
I think the store have no right to do this, what should she say to the manager when she speaks to her tomorrow?
Many thanks
Debbie

Art_2

*debbie* wrote:

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me. My friend bought a phone from Phones-4-U 4 months ago. It stoppped working after 3 months and so her husband took it back to the shop where they said they would have to send it off to be repaired. She was not a happy bunny when he came home with no phone!! It came back, but still doesn't work. She contacted the store again and they said that it was their policy to not refund until 3 attempts at repair had been made.
I think the store have no right to do this, what should she say to the manager when she speaks to her tomorrow?
Many thanks
Debbie

The responsibility for the phone is the retailers, Phones-4-U, and not the manufacturer. Tell them under the Sale of Goods Act they are responsible. As the phone is under 6 months old you are entitled to a new phone or your money back.

You do not have to agree to a repair. If you do so tell the retailer it is on the condition that if the phone fails again they will replace it for you.

Mobile phone companies always try to shift the responibility to the manufacturer. Go to the shop and tell them you want a replacement/refund as entitled under the Sale of Goods Act. If they refuse tell them you will take legal action.

Initially phone your local Trading Standards Office and see if they are prepared to help. Failing that write to the shop and also the head office recorded delivery. Tell them what you want and give them 5 days to comply. Tell them if they fail to do this you will take them to the Small Claims Court. (I am assuming the phone cost more than £100. If not you will have to rely on Trading Standards)

If you paid with a credit card copy your card company in on your letter and tell them you want them to assist in getting the matter resolved.

Head office for Phones-4-u is:

Phones4u House,
Ore Close,
Lymedale Business Park.
Newcastle under Lyme,
ST5 9QD

Regards,
Art.

shaggy

Art wrote:

You will have read the advice from deanos.

In addition I would say phone the person at the online department and ask his to make a refund whilst you are on the phone. There is no reason why this can't be done instantly. They have tha facility as this is how you paid them originally.

If the person refuses contact your credit card company immediately and ask them to intervene. Also write to Currys telling them that if the matter isn't resolved within 7 days you will go to the Small Claims Court.

Currys are part of DSG plc who also own Dixons and PC World. How many times does this group mess customers around like this? There are more complaints on this site about them than any other company.

Finally, I would also send a recorded delivery letter to the chief exexutive of Currys so that he is aware of the problems being caused by his organisation. He is:

John Clare,
DSG plc
Hemel Hempstead,
HP3 9QN

Regards,
Art.

some good advice there. I've had to return stuff bought from Currys online back to a store in the past and have always done it without any problems. As deanos says the store you went to havent got a clue about their own policies. Follow the advice in Art's post and you should get your money back.

aoifedaly

In July 2006 I booked return flights from London Heathrow to Cork with Aer Lingus, departing on Fri December 22nd.

On 18 December 2006 (a couple of days before departure) I paid an additional £344.00 to change our outbound flight to leave 2 days earlier on the evening of Wed December 20th.

However on the morning of December 20th, Aer Lingus notified us that they had cancelled our flight, and that we could either get a full refund or that they would put us on the next available flight. We still wanted to travel so they offered to rebook us back on our original flight on Friday December 22nd (there were no seats availble on Thu December 21st). We accepted.

However I think that the change of date charge should be refunded, as they were unable to honour the change we paid for. Surely under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 I should be refunded as I have not received the goods I paid for? I asked for a refund and they said I would have to request it in writing from their customer care department. I sent a letter to them on December 21st but still have had no response.

Am I entitled to this refund? What are my options? Unfortunately I paid the change of date charge with Visa debit (rather than a credit card).

Matty007

I bought a Cannon Range Cooker for £1150.00.

We have had a couple of new knobs as they just fell off ( all within the manufacturers 12 month guarantee) and now the timer buttons that activate the cooker etc, are totally kaputt...however 13 months into the purchase.

I assumed that either the retailer or Cannon would rectify the fault without a quibble even though we are outside of the guarantee period...how wrong was I.

I have now written to the retailer outlining my complaint and telling them that I would like the repair free of charge at the earliest opportunity, before going to the small claims court, however I have 2 queries.

1) Firstly how much should I be claiming ? the faulty component no doubt is pennies and Cannon have quoted £89.00 for the call our charge. I am assuming that it would be unreasoable for me to expect a whole New Cooker !!

2) Although I am confident that I will win this case if it goes to small claims court, is there any truth in a new European Directive that says that electrical appliances should all have a minimum of a 2 year guarantee ?

As I understand it any way any guarantee cannot supersede the Sale of Goods Act 1979 ( as amended ).

Any tips , help would be greatly appreciated.

Matty

Art_2

aoifedaly wrote:

In July 2006 I booked return flights from London Heathrow to Cork with Aer Lingus, departing on Fri December 22nd.

On 18 December 2006 (a couple of days before departure) I paid an additional £344.00 to change our outbound flight to leave 2 days earlier on the evening of Wed December 20th.

However on the morning of December 20th, Aer Lingus notified us that they had cancelled our flight, and that we could either get a full refund or that they would put us on the next available flight. We still wanted to travel so they offered to rebook us back on our original flight on Friday December 22nd (there were no seats availble on Thu December 21st). We accepted.

However I think that the change of date charge should be refunded, as they were unable to honour the change we paid for. Surely under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 I should be refunded as I have not received the goods I paid for? I asked for a refund and they said I would have to request it in writing from their customer care department. I sent a letter to them on December 21st but still have had no response.

Am I entitled to this refund? What are my options? Unfortunately I paid the change of date charge with Visa debit (rather than a credit card).

In the first instance call the Air Transport Users Council and ask them for their advice. I guess Aer Lingus is registered in the Irish Republic so this might affect your course of action. You can reach them on 0207 240 6061.
They may ask you to put your complaint in writing. On the surface I would say you have a justifiable case for a refund of the extra fare paid.

Also notify your Visa card company and ask them for help. Tell them they are jointly responsible.

Also write, recorded delivery, to the airline and tell them how disappointed you are in their lack of customer service and the action you plan to take.

Regards,
Art.

Art_2

Matty007 wrote:

I bought a Cannon Range Cooker for £1150.00.

We have had a couple of new knobs as they just fell off ( all within the manufacturers 12 month guarantee) and now the timer buttons that activate the cooker etc, are totally kaputt...however 13 months into the purchase.

I assumed that either the retailer or Cannon would rectify the fault without a quibble even though we are outside of the guarantee period...how wrong was I.

I have now written to the retailer outlining my complaint and telling them that I would like the repair free of charge at the earliest opportunity, before going to the small claims court, however I have 2 queries.

1) Firstly how much should I be claiming ? the faulty component no doubt is pennies and Cannon have quoted £89.00 for the call our charge. I am assuming that it would be unreasoable for me to expect a whole New Cooker !!

2) Although I am confident that I will win this case if it goes to small claims court, is there any truth in a new European Directive that says that electrical appliances should all have a minimum of a 2 year guarantee ?

As I understand it any way any guarantee cannot supersede the Sale of Goods Act 1979 ( as amended ).

Any tips , help would be greatly appreciated.

Matty

You are on very firm ground here.

Under the Sale of Goods Act an item is expected to last a 'reasonable' length of time and this can be up to six years. 'Reasonable' isn't specifically defined and will vary depending on the item and the use it has been put to.

In the case of a cooker a year would not be seen as reasonable by the court.

Write a recorded delivery letter to the retailer giving him 7 days to resolve the problem to your complete satisfaction or you will go to the Small Claims Court. If the retailer is part of a larger organisation send a copy of your letter to the head office. Do not be fobbed off if you are told to contact the manufacturer. your contract is with the retailer.

If you have to resort to the Small Claims Court sue for the full amount of £1150 as the cooker is useless if you can't operate it. You can also add costs to your claim. This can include cost of phone calls and letters. Also if you have had to make alternative arrangements to do your cooking you can add in a cost if you have had to purchase temporary facilities.

The EU directive is a move in the right direction but our Sale of Goods Act gives you protection in this case.

How did you pay for the cooker?

regards,
Art.

Matty007

I paid by credit card.

I can still use the cooker , but can't use the timing mechanism, also the icons on the switches have worn off.....although I am not sure why...as we dont really touch these painted or transferred icons.

I am extremely grateful for your help.

If it has to go all the way to the small claims court, then I really am determined to make sure the retailer has to pay every little penny that I can legally claim for....so any further advice would be helpful.

Thank you in advance.

Matty007