160 Letters That Get Results - Must Have Book

OGB03

Fellow MSE's - I'm compelled to tell you all about a book that I purchased 6 months ago which has since become invaluable to me when shopping and not dropping!

160 Letters That Get Results, AjayPatel, Which, 2005, £11.99

The book clearly and concisely outlines your various legal rights as a consumer, and then provides excellent information and letter templates for you to use and/or tailor depending on your individual situation. What makes the book so useful (in my opinion), is that by simply using the information it contains in the earliest communication with the business/retailer/organisation, the situation can usually be resolved a lot more quickly. Why? Because in reality, you can't argue with 'The Law'! Here is how the book helped me most recently:

I bought a DVD recorder from a well known high street retailer 1 year 1 month and ++ days ago, and within the last week it broke down on me completely. There was no manufacturers guarantee included in the box with the machine and the Instruction Booklet listed the only relevant contact details to be their European Head Office location in the Netherlands - no UK details - period.

As such I went back to the store on Wednesday, with item boxed in original pristine packaging and receipt, fully aware of the Sale of Goods Act and armed with my 'bible' 160 Letters that get Results and my old Business Law Uni text book. I was confidently told by a MOS that as my purchase was over 1 year ago, there was nothing they could do for me. Further, "…Our training says that after a year, customers must contact the manufacturer…!". Luckily, armed with 'The Law', and after speaking with a Manager, I managed to enlighten him with regard to the ‘6 years' quoted in the Act, and to query the 'misleading' advice that was being confidently expressed by a MOS (directly contravening 'The Law'). The Manager was not only appreciative of me actually bringing the book into the store with me to support my claim (he said no-one had ever done that in the 3 years he's worked there), but by the end of the transaction, and after he had spent at least 10 minutes flicking through the book and showing colleagues parts which were of interest/relevance to them, asked me to write the details down for him so that he could pick himself up a copy at his earliest convenience!

I got a full refund (at worst I was expecting them to depreciate the value of the goods and refund me the balance) in the form of gift vouchers which does restrict me to buying a replacement from that particular store, but under the circumstances I guess this was a satisfactory outcome.

Here are some examples of letter templates included:

• Asking a retailer for a free repair to defective goods
• Rejecting goods that are not fit for their specific purpose
• Complaining to a tour operator about misleading descriptions of accommodation
• Complaining to a restaurant about unacceptable service
• Complaining to a hotel about misdescribed facilities
• Rejecting a second-hand car bought from a dealer
• Disputing a garage’s excessive charge for vehicle servicing
• Rejecting an estate agent’s claim for commission
• Complaining to a surveyor about an inadequate report on a property
• Asking a builder to rectify his defective workmanship
• Complaining to a removal company about damage to possession caused in transit
• Complaining to a gas company about a high bill
• Asking a credit card company to waive its fee

I would highly recommend you purchase a copy of 160 Letters That Get Results. A tome of imperious value to all consumers. Finally, have a quick look at the main points of the Sale Of Goods Act and make a note of the key features of the Law as it stands from a Consumer viewpoint. Knowledge is the key. Really hope this helps at least 1 other person out there, and if it does – then my work here is done!

Thank you in advance for reading this long post. HTH.

GibsonSt19

Or, of course, £8.75 from pickabook
£8.99 including delivery from play.com
£7.99 from amazon.co.uk (if you can make your order up to £15 to get free delivery).

Hope that helps.

lynnemcf

I have this on CD-ROM, so I dont even have to type them!

GibsonSt19

lynnemcf wrote:

I have this on CD-ROM, so I dont even have to type them!

Very handy, can you tell me where you got this?

meerustar

A couple of items on eBay here

BUY IT NOW 1p - Postage £2.49

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/120-Letters-That-Get-Results-Which-Consumer-Guide_W0QQitemZ4618596076QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

BUY IT NOW £2.49 - Postage £2.25

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/150-LETTERS-THAT-GET-RESULTS-A-WHICH-book_W0QQitemZ8389403025QQcategoryZ101056QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

HOPE THAT HELPS!!!!!

GibsonSt19

meerustar wrote:

A couple of items on eBay here

BUY IT NOW 1p - Postage £2.49

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/120-Letters-That-Get-Results-Which-Consumer-Guide_W0QQitemZ4618596076QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

BUY IT NOW £2.49 - Postage £2.25

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/150-LETTERS-THAT-GET-RESULTS-A-WHICH-book_W0QQitemZ8389403025QQcategoryZ101056QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

HOPE THAT HELPS!!!!!

Thanks for that but I'm looking for the specific 2005, 160 Letter version.

Cheers though.

meerustar

Both books have been sold on Ebay now

icebergx

Can anybody recomend any other books similar to this, especialy with CDROM or disk so you can copy and paste letters directly (and make changes when necessary).

1982

lynnemcf wrote:

I have this on CD-ROM, so I dont even have to type them!

where did you get this from?
cheers

jo_b_2

Martin set up a hunt for letters like these on the forum a while ago.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=63987&highlight=letters

Somerled

Great Post :think: