Help - need to return faulty item to chain in administration

longhotbath

Hi - I bought a nice warm expensive coat in the sales. The shop was in administration, but expected to continue to trade according to the papers/ tv and store staff.

I went away for the weekend - -7 degrees at night and -4 during the day.
The dye on the coat wasnt colourfast and dyed my hands black, which I rubbed on my face and my eyes (my eyes got red and swollen as the dye irritated them).
I had to buy a new coat, and nailpolish as that stained black too which I couldnt wash off.

I went back to the shop today - it has closed perrmanently. There was a sign outside saying that I should contact the administrators and that I would get an exchange. I dont want an exchange - I HAD to buy another coat.

Am I legally entitled to a refund? Is there a piece of law that I can quote in my correspondence with the admistrators?

Thankyou, Longhotbath

zenseeker

If they are offering an exchange, then it is likely that an exchange is all you will get, either that or a store credit note.

longhotbath

Hi - the store (and all the others in the chain) have closed, so a credit note is of no use. How can they give me an exchange when I cannot choose one.

It was an expensive coat - but bought with my debit card.
cheers, LHB

saintwarwick

longhotbath wrote: »

Hi - the store (and all the others in the chain) have closed, so a credit note is of no use. How can they give me an exchange when I cannot choose one.

It was an expensive coat - but bought with my debit card.
cheers, LHB

Write to the administrators and explain your story. They may put you on the list of creditors filing for money owed but you will almost go to the bottom of the list so not much chance of getting anything back.

zenseeker

Ah, if they have closed then you have had it You could try applying for a refund, but you will end up on the bottom of a long list of creditors that are owed money, so it could be a long time before you see a refund, if ever.

If you had paid with a credit card you could have claimed through them, but a debit card does not come with that protection

jackomdj

Legally you are entitled to a refund. However so will a whole list of other people (why they would have gone into administration - ie can't pay their bills) & you as a small creditor would be way down on their list.

Often what you find is if they have any money at all (eg stores are sold etc) they pay a % but usually they prioritise & may pay x% to a certain type of creditors, y% to the next type & z% to the final type - I would say (unfortunately) you will fall into the final small % category.

Personally if I were offered an exchange I would take it & sell the new item on e-bay! (this is probably morally wrong as you know if will cause someone else problems unless you just got one from a faulty batch!)

Nicky