What are my rights for a refund?

r_hopkinson

Hi, I ordered a tile sample from a company on the internet. I placed the order over the phone - I asked for a 60cm by 60cm tile to be sent. When I took the sample from the courier I could hear that the tile was smashed before I even opened the packaging. When I did open it up the tile was broken into at least 15 pieces. I phoned the company straight away and was told that a manager would phone me back - they never did. I phoned again and was told that they were waiting to speak to the owner and that someone would phone me back - they never did. I phoned again and spoke to the manager who said that he needed to speak to the owner but that he didn't think I should get my money back. He said that I would only need a tile sample to check the colour so it being smashed didn't matter, he also said that a 60 x 60 shouldn't have been posted because he knew it would be damaged in transit unless it was really well packaged. My argument is as follows: I should have been told that I couldn't have a 60 x 60 tile as a sample, if I wasn't told that and they were happy to send it then it's not my fault that it was damaged and lastly I'm unable to see if it's the tile we wanted (colour or otherwise) because it was broken into so many pieces. I think I'm entitled to a refund because what they sent was essentially faulty (ie it couldn't do the job I wanted it for) and that it was their mistake for a) sending it in the first place and b) not packaging it properly. Phew, vent over!

Anybody got any thoughts on my actual rights as a consumer? Thanking you!

bigmuffins

Hmm - in my opinion, should send you another one at their cost or refund as is not your fault it was broken in transit.
Although if it was obvious it was broken when the courier gave it to you, I would have not accepted it! Just rejected there and then.
Company is liable - down to them to sort it! If you post something with Royal Mail, the sender is the one that has to claim not t!he recipient.
Good luck

baddiebasher

Simply a case of cancelling under Distance Selling Regs. And as the item was not as described, they MUST refund postage as well. You will be best to email them or write in.

The refund MUST be provided asap and not more than 30 days since the cancellation notice was given. They also cannot insist on the item being returned before refunding.

Co-operate with them but if they get a**y tell them they can colect the item (you still expect a refund) as you will make it available for collection, but if not collected after a reasonable time (will check on the actual time), you will dispose of it as you see fit (and still get the refund).

Brooker_Dave

r_hopkinson wrote: »

Hi, I ordered a tile sample from a company on the internet.Anybody got any thoughts on my actual rights as a consumer? Thanking you!

How much was it?

bap98189

Samples are usually free. Did you actually pay for it? If not then you haven't got a leg to stand on as they owe you nothing.

And I think they have a point, you don't need a full tile to check if it is the right colour.

WebJunkie007

Tile samples - I've had to pay for a few of these recently. I don't think I received any free tile samples.

I believe that with exception to food / perishable products and possibly hygiene products everything that's purchased over the Internet you have the right to return under distance selling regulations.

What I think it incredibly short sighted by the retailer is that if you like the tile you'll probably go on to order more...and (trust me) tile orders don't tend to be cheap. Personally I wouldn't place an order of any value with an online retailer that gets fiddly over something as incremental as this. Cutting off nose to spite face, in my opinion.