ever returned a faulty coat after 5 months?

sportbeth

I bought a coat for £110 in house of fraser in September 2005. Two weeks ago some threads started coming undone at the seams which I had to fix as it's a woven coat and looked noticeably untidy.

Last week the lining on the pocket went and when I put my keys in the pocket I later had to fish them out of the bottom of the coat as the pocket lining had gone.

Today when I came out of the gym I noticed that the lining of the coat down the right hand side has split and frayed badly.

I have the reciept, but am I well within my rights to return the coat now? I think I am as it should be expected to last more than 5 months but last time I returned something to house of fraser I ended up in an unholy argument about the sale of goods act. (trousers, worn once, seam in the bum went, told by the lady I shouldn't try and fit into clothes that are too small for me!!!)

brokebuthappy

I was wondering about returning faulty clothing, too. I bought a beaded skirt from new look last year -never worn it becase the beads keep falling off- however i can't find the rceipt although tags still intact.I want to return it but not sure. However, my dad returned a cd player he'd bought in argos 11 months ago that had stopped working- although he did have the receipt girl behind counter told him that if goods were faulty you didn't actually need to have one. He didn't have any problem

sportbeth wrote:

last time I returned something to house of fraser I ended up in an unholy argument about the sale of goods act. (trousers, worn once, seam in the bum went, told by the lady I shouldn't try and fit into clothes that are too small for me!!!)

My god!! poor you! this is exactly why i'm hesitant about returning my skirt- nasty sales assistants!

mandi

Take it back, without question.. Any other items you buy eg electrical goods etc all have a guarantee for reasonable " wear and tear" I think 5 months is a very samll amount of time for any item of clothing letalone an expensive coat!!! Stay calm , and just assume that you can have a refund... It always works for me, and really confuses the staff.... Any problems get the manager.. still no refund.. head office.. then trading standards .. if you get that far..............



Go For It

Philippa36

I took trousers back to TKMaxx a couple of weeks ago ~ bought them before Xmas and wore them a reasonable amount and then getting out the car one day felt a draught.....they had split right across the bum! Took them back and got a refund straight away no questions asked and no complaints about eating too much or squeezing in to small clothes either! :rolleyes:

Definitely take it back ~ a coat should last a lot longer than that.

EvilMonkey

Not a coat, but I took a pair of walking boots back to a shop after 11 months. I paid quite a bit for them as I was going travelling. Within 2 months the boots started to wear on the top??? and within 6 1 had a hole in the top of the boot.

When I got home (after 11 months) I took them to the shop. They sent them back to the manafacturers to get a report on them and ther report came back "toe wear from the inside". Had a chat with the manager of the store who was absolutely knocked over (the hole was such that my toe would have had to be 2-3 inches further up my foot!), gave me a refund right there and said he'd battle it on my behalf and if he lost then he found it fair that his company took the loss.

Great customer service from snow and rock, you'd have thought house of fraser would be fairly good in that department too??

E.M.

sportbeth

You'd think that house of fraser would be good but last time it was some really defensive woman in the coast concession that just wouldn't give it up for love or money. It was a simple refund I wanted and she kept repeating "credit note, credit note" The item was only two weeks old and the seam had completely come undone.

I'd expect to make a bit more noise now this saturday if I get messed around, but if all else fails I'll get hubby to be onto them. He's great at argueing!

But yes, £110 for a coat that falls apart after 5 months. Not good. I only wear it for days out of the office when I'm in a suit as well, the rest of the time I go into work in jeans and a scruffy jumper so it's not had its full wear yet!

Premier_2

Definitely take it back - if I paid £110 for a coat I would definitely expect it to last longer than 5 months.

To avoid a potential argument about misuse (sharp keys in pocket), I'd use the point about the lining becoming split & frayed as the reason for returning.

(Not that the pocket should also be durable, just trying to prevent an argument when one may not be necessary, if you see what I mean)

If an argument appears to be starting with the assistant, diffuse it by asking to speak with the store manager over the issue.

Xad

Damn! I wish i knew it was possible to get refunds on clothes after long periods =\

I bought a Jacket from next a long time ago, ended up not wearing it much as it was too big - and when i did wear it, noticed the pocket was falling apart immediately as if it weren't stitched properly. Would have been nice to get that £60 back, probably wore it less than 20 times in total and still have it (been well over a year now, but bought a different jacket about a month later thinking i wouldn't be able to get a refund) =(

sportbeth

I had a suit jacket that split down one of the seams after about 9 months to a year. Took it back with the reciept and they were great. offered a refund or exchange on the spot for the whole suit as there's no point in having only one piece of a two piece suit left over

highguyuk

Take it to a dry cleaners, dont mention it and see if they spot it, and when it comes back file a claim.

Jeez - the amount of gits that did that to us ... grrr. lol.

RightRevBod

As it is less than 6 months old, the legal presumption is that the item was faulty when sold. It is up to the retailer to prove that the item was not faulty at time of sale.

However, as you have had 5 months use ot the item, they are entitled to make a deduction in the amount refunded to cover the use that you have already received.

For instance, (and I am using arbitary figues here):

If a reasonable length of time for such an item to last was 5 years -
You have had it for 5 months, which is 1/12 of 5 years.
The shop could deduct 1/12 of the purchase price from the amount refunded. (Just over £9 in this instance)