Consumer Rights: MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

LemonJeff

I purchased a new bike for my son online, after unpacking it I found it was damaged. I called the company with 24hrs to report it however they only have a voice message stating to communicate by email only.

I sent two emails the same day to their CS address reporting the damage and requesting a replacement, that was a week ago and as yet have not received a reply.

I asked for a replacement so as not to dissappoint my son, thinking it would be progressed by now.

My question is can I now asked for a refund and ask the supplier to arrange collection?

Art_2

LemonJeff wrote:

I purchased a new bike for my son online, after unpacking it I found it was damaged. I called the company with 24hrs to report it however they only have a voice message stating to communicate by email only.

I sent two emails the same day to their CS address reporting the damage and requesting a replacement, that was a week ago and as yet have not received a reply.

I asked for a replacement so as not to dissappoint my son, thinking it would be progressed by now.

My question is can I now asked for a refund and ask the supplier to arrange collection?

Yes, you can ask for a full refund. Just tell them the goods are not 'fit for purpose'.

How did you pay? If you used a credit card the card company is equally liable. Write to them and tell them your problem and point out they are equally liable. Often this will get the card company to contact the dealer and tell him to resolve the issue.

Regards,
Art.

LemonJeff

Thanks Art,

I did pay on Credit card, I'll send the company a recorded mail tomorrow asking for a refund. How long is reasonable for them to refund before getting in contact with my Credit card company?

Regards,

Jeff

Art_2

LemonJeff wrote:

Thanks Art,

I did pay on Credit card, I'll send the company a recorded mail tomorrow asking for a refund. How long is reasonable for them to refund before getting in contact with my Credit card company?

Regards,

Jeff

As they have not responded to any of your communications I think you have waited long enough. Contact your credit card company today.

Regards,
Art.

gapdunlop

Hi All
I saw a great price on a sale item on the net for £1
I bought all they had in stock (40). Now they say that it was an error but they took payment (which they have refunded) and I have full recipts with the £1 price. When I said this to them they said see you in court then.
Where do I stand now?
Cheers

jammy123

Art wrote:

Your contract is with the retailer. Don't let them try and pass you to anyone else. By what you say I think you are entitled to a full refund. If they phone you today tell them that you are rejecting the goods under the Sale of Goods Act as they are not fit for the purpose.

Don't let this drag on too long. If you don't act quickly you may play into the retailer's hands. Stick to the 7 days and then take action with Trading Standards.

Regards,
Art.

Thank you Art for some great advice.
As im sure you were aware i had no idea what my rights were.
After reading your advice i phoned them saying exactly what you did, and told them i would be putting it all in writing which i did.
The next day they phoned me saying they would be collecting the sofas friday and would refund me in full which they did.
Now i wonder if you can help with my next problem, im sitting on a relaxer chair from the garden and its really uncomfortable what can i do
Thanks again i wouldnt have had the confidence to have done it if you had not told me what to do. :T

taxiphil

allanrocks wrote:

thanks for that, art. I thought they had to provide it... heard it somewhere or other.

i still think it's ridiculous, not serving tap water! i've noticed the all-you-can-eat chinese buffet restaurants do this, because they make the profit on extortionate drinks, while making little or no profit on food. they attract you in with the food prices, then sting you with the drink prices.

so what about cinemas?
i saw a sign at my local uci saying they would eject anyone caught eating hot food from other premises (ie the mcdonald's next door) so can they do this? after all, they sell hot food in the form of hot dogs, which you can eat in the cinema, so why (if even) can they eject you?

That's interesting - we've been in exactly the same situation at one of those all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets. The food is delicious and good value at £8 a head, but we were horrified at the drinks prices (£1.70 for a little glass of Coke or £3.00 for a pint of lager or cider) and asked for tap water. They refused, but offered us their mineral water at £1.60 a glass. We've also noticed that all the buffet food is unusually salty and I'm sure this ties in with the drinks policy. It's a shame - I'd be happy to pay for drinks if they were slightly more reasonable - but this blatant rip-off has put us off ever going back. We've been to a few Chinese buffet restaurants in the USA and they give you unlimited soft drink refills included in the buffet price. Why do businesses in this country have such a miserable attitude towards their customers?

Regarding the cinema scenario, we were refused entry into a Vue cinema because we were holding drinks we'd purchased from Subway, which is actually inside the cinema complex. I sarcastically asked the member of staff if they'd let me in if I threw my Subway drinks in the bin and bought fresh drinks (at a ludicrous price) from the cinema's kiosk. She sarcastically told me that would be perfectly fine.

taxiphil

I don't wish to undermine the good advice being given on this thread, but I feel I must take issue with the constant mantra of "go to Trading Standards", with the implication that they are some sort of guardian angel. There seems to be a misconception about the role of Trading Standards.

In the last few years I've gone to Trading Standards five times, each with a clear case of a retailer breaking the law. On every occasion I've presented TS with cast iron evidence (for example, see www.bpripoff.co.uk for my photographic evidence of BP overcharging their customers). On only one occasion did they actually bother to reply to me, and this was just a generic letter to say my complaint had been "put in their files".

Although TS are generally OK at giving advice, they're woefully ineffective at actually doing anything about rogue retailers. I'm not suggesting they're incompetent or corrupt or anything like that - I'd imagine it's to do with underfunding.

They'll only prosecute or take action when they have experienced wrongdoing by way of undercover investigation, and not when you have experienced it. And TS will only begin to investigate a retailer after 'X' amount of public complaints about them - this can vary according to the resources of each particular TS department. Even if they do prosecute the retailer, they won't be doing it on behalf of any individual. The proceeds of any fine will go straight into the public purse, not to the individual(s) who were ripped off.

My advice to most of the complaints in this thread would be to seek some basic legal advice on the validity of your claim and then make a claim through the County Court (www.moneyclaim.gov.uk). It's cheap, easy and not as daunting as you'd think.

By all means report it to Trading Standards, but don't think they'll actually take your case on board on your behalf - they won't. They only act in the interest of the general public in the collective sense, not in the interest of individuals.

Swampy_2

Hello, Not sure this is the right place for this question, but here goes..
Regarding selling an item as advertised:
My wife just bought a Blue Check Fleece Picnic Rug from John Lewis over the phone for £35 after seeing it advertised in the John Lewis Seasonal Home catalogue.

I was having a browse on the net & noticed it was actually for sale for £50. The £35 one on the net looked totally different.
The confusion lies in the Product Codes. The catalogue describes the £35 correctly & gives it's correct product code, but they advertised it with the photo of the £50 & it has a different code. There's a digit difference in the Product Codes!
See below:
http://www.johnlewis.com/Garden/Outdoor+Dining/Outdoor+Dining+/Picnic+Rugs/230232462/Product.aspx?SearchTerm=84521332 - The £35 one

http://www.johnlewis.com/Garden/Outdoor+Dining/Outdoor+Dining+/Picnic+Rugs/230232461/Product.aspx?SearchTerm=84521331 - The £50 one. (This photo was used to advertise the £35 one in the catalogue)

My wife was after the one in the photo but did not want to spend £50. Are we entitled to the £50 one for £35 as it has been incorrectly advertised?

I just imagine hundreds of people ordering an item that they saw in the catalogue, receiving a different product & complaining to John Lewis when they receive the goods.

myrtle_2

Hi all, where do we stand on this please...I'm very cross with Comet.

We bought a Phillips 26 inch flat screen tv at the New Year, a month ago this coming Sunday it stopped working. We took it into the store to be told it would most likely be fixed within the week and that we'd be called as to the progress when the engineer had been etc.
No call back, we called them.
No engineer for a few days, then told the parts needed to be ordered. Lady told us that the cut of date for a repair was 28 days, if not done a refund would be given.
Last Thursday ( nearly 3 weeks and more than 12 days waiting for the parts) - after a few calls about the whereabouts of the parts etc - we got a letter saying they still hadn't arrived.
I called the service centre to be told the parts had arrived but no idea when the job would be done.
I said that wasn't good enough, the lady went to talk to a supervisor who then told us that if the job wasn't allocated at 1pm (that's when they allocate jobs we were told) then we could have a refund that day and she'd call us back.
She didn't call, we didn't remember until later when the service centre was shut.
They have been shut until today.
Just been told it will be repaired on Friday and that anything we'd been told about refunds was a load of bull and no way would they ever do that.
So their policy is that you are due a refund if you having been waiting 12 days or longer for a part and it is also their policy to refund you if it's not fixed within 28 days.
But because of the Bank Holiday and even though their stores were open, they don't count as days and basically because the parts are now here we just have to wait until an engineer has done it.
It seems that the customer has no rights at all in this matter, is there anything I can do or do I just have to bite my tongue and wait?

Ta