Refusal to provide refund after 7 days

SkyBlueArmy

Robbed!

I bought a 26" wharfedale TV from Discountelectronic .co.uk for just over £200 on 22 July. The tv no longer works at all so i contacted them for details on how to replace it, or get a refund. They told me to go straight to the manufacturer for faults which I think contradicts the Sale of Goods Act. Going via the manufacturer was going to be impossible and I became suspicous, so I asked for a full refund. Eventually, their response was, and I quote:
"You were sold a working television under our terms and conditions with which you agreed that if the television develops a fault within 7 working days from the day of receipt you would be entitled to a full refund or replacement. As you did not contact us within that limit we are not willing to refund or replace the item and we have no obligation to do so."
I believe that the terms and conditions on their website do not constitute an agreement by which I waive my right to a full refund on faulty goods after seven days of purchase. Their website does not make it at all clear that they only offer a refund on faulty goods within seven days and actually states that they offer a twelve month warranty!
If anyone else has suffered a similar experience I would be very grateful to hear from you. I have been in touch with Consumer Direct to try and confirm the legal position - I can't believe they can refuse me a refund when the goods are faulty although they seem adamant that i have waived my right to one.
Look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, do not buy from these people!
cheers,
T

Jakg

Their terms and conditions < your statutory rights.

They might want to look up the word "statutory" in a dictionary.

Anihilator

Jakg wrote: »

Their terms and conditions < your statutory rights.

They might want to look up the word "statutory" in a dictionary.

The OP doesnt have a statutory right to have it refunded or replaced.

The SOGA allows for a repair. Now yes it may be the retailer who is liable under the SOGA but all that will happen is the OP will spend months chasing the retailer and eventually get them to send it back to wharfdale as an intermediary for a warranty repair.

The OP will get his TV sorted a lot quicker if he looks out the books and gives them a call direct.

fastbargins

Because the letter they sent contradicts the terms on their own website, I would suggest this is worth the £30 it would cost to take them to a small claim court.

You may want to write back to them and state that you're not happy with their response because it is contrary to their published warranty policy (making sure that it doesn't say '12 months manufacturers warranty' first) and that you believe they have breached their own terms and conditions of sale, so if they don't undertake to repair the tv or give you a full refund, you'll take them to a small claims court. Most companies will give you a refund rather than chance loosing a court case or even having the hassle of turning up to court.

Of course the other option is bad publicity, see if the local rag will run the story and if that makes the company see the error of its ways!

cleo1299

SkyBlueArmy wrote: »

Robbed!

I bought a 26" wharfedale TV from Discountelectronic .co.uk for just over £200 on 22 July. The tv no longer works at all so i contacted them for details on how to replace it, or get a refund. They told me to go straight to the manufacturer for faults which I think contradicts the Sale of Goods Act.

I think so too. Their website doesn't seem to mention your statutory rights anywhere. Seems they are trying to rely on insurance to fend off customer complaints. Is that legal? It sure isn't the same thing as a manufacturer's warranty.

What did Consumer Direct say? Since you bought the TV less than six months ago, seems to me you are entitled to a refund or replacement or repair, and the onus is on the retailer to prove otherwise. It is definitely the retailer you should deal with, not the manufacturer. Why don't you send them one of the template letters from the Consumer Direct website, giving them reasonable time to resolve it, and then if they still refuse, then you can consider whether you want to take them to court.

SkyBlueArmy

Genuine thanks all for your input.
Anihilator - I feared that what you posted would probably end up being the reality, but getting hold of the manufacturer proved impossible. I asked the retailer to provide contact details but they told me that they didn't have any,and to check the manufacturers website - If you can find a wharfedale website through which I can return a faulty tv I will be amazed!! as a result, and fast growing suspicious I asked for a refund.
Fastbargins - Unfortunately, they have since told me that the 12 month warranty was only added to their website in the last month and was not available / advertised when I purchased from them!
I think that they are probably able to get away with it by claiming that I agreed to the no-refund after 7 days rule, by "agreeing" to the terms and conditions, which you have no choice but to do so as it is an intrinsic part of the process of purchasing from them!!!
There is no doubt that these guys stink, but they know what they are doing, and I'm not the first, for sure.
Cleo1299 - Consumer Direct haven't replied to me yet but I intend will follow up with them for sure.
In addition I will be sending the details to Watchdog etc. and the local consumer rights shows to try and make sure that no one else buys from these jokers.
Caveat emptor my friends, as ever, but spread the word if you have the opportunity: these people sell sub-standard goods and are allowed to continue doing so because of the way things are.
I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again
T

Anihilator

http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/Support/DistributorsDealers/tabid/61/ContinentID/1/Default.aspx?CountryID=48#countryinfo

http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/Contact/tabid/60/Default.aspx

Doesnt mention TV's on the website - mainly because I think they just brand them for the retailers - but worth a try I'd suggest.

cleo1299

SkyBlueArmy wrote: »

I think that they are probably able to get away with it by claiming that I agreed to the no-refund after 7 days rule, by "agreeing" to the terms and conditions, which you have no choice but to do so as it is an intrinsic part of the process of purchasing from them!!!

They can't hold you to terms and conditions which violate your statutory rights.
These guys are just robbing you, like you said. I'll bet this "warranty" is totally imaginary. It certainly isn't a manufacturer's warranty, so no point trying to ask Wharfedale for help.

Consumer Direct haven't replied to me yet but I intend will follow up with them for sure.
In addition I will be sending the details to Watchdog etc. and the local consumer rights shows to try and make sure that no one else buys from these jokers.

Maybe Consumer Direct will get Trading Standards on to it, as they appear to be violating every rule in the book. Good luck.

KeithP

OP, as it seems impossible to contact the manufacturer, as suggested by the retailer, you need to fall back to holding the retailer responsible.

You will find that under the Sale of Goods Act, https://www.DiscountElectronic.co.uk are required to repair, replace or refund, at their option. In other words, they can decide not to refund you, but they must either repair or replace your tv.

In the first six months you do not have to prove anything, it is assumed that the product was faulty when delivered.

You need to write, recorded delivery, to...
DISCOUNT ELECTRONIC
UNIT 1 PINFOLD INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
FIELD CLOSE
WALSALL
WS3 3JS


State that your tv is faulty and invite them to repair or replace it.
Give them (say) 14 days to do this, and tell them that after this time you will start legal proceedings to recover the purchase price.


This letter is known as a letter before action, google it for many sample letters.

SkyBlueArmy

Consumer Direct have been in touch asking me to confirm the date I first contacted the trader, and stating that they will get back to me to confirm my civil rights:
CD's email stated:
As a general rule of thumb consumers can only really reject an item if the fault occurs within the first 4 weeks of purchase. Outside that first 4 weeks the trader usually has a right to attempt to repair the fault or replace the item. However ultimately, if they cannot repair or a replace with a like-for-like replacement, a refund may still be applicable as the final remedy.
Due to the above the trader cannot state that a refund is only possible with 7 days of purchase as this may be restricting your Statutory Rights and as such is a potentially criminal offence. I will refer this to the Relevant Trading Standards offices and they may contact you for further information.
I have written to them, recorded delivery, asking for a refund but no response to that, and no response to my last email to them either. It seems now that I would probably have more luck obtaining a replacement although I don't trust or like these people and want to be rid of them. I would settle for a replacement as a last resort but I don't want to be lumbered with another piece of junk.
I'll let you know what consumer direct come back with.

Thanks again,
T

cleo1299

SkyBlueArmy wrote: »

Consumer Direct have been in touch asking me to confirm the date I first contacted the trader, and stating that they will get back to me to confirm my civil rights:
CD's email stated:
As a general rule of thumb consumers can only really reject an item if the fault occurs within the first 4 weeks of purchase. Outside that first 4 weeks the trader usually has a right to attempt to repair the fault or replace the item. However ultimately, if they cannot repair or a replace with a like-for-like replacement, a refund may still be applicable as the final remedy.
Due to the above the trader cannot state that a refund is only possible with 7 days of purchase as this may be restricting your Statutory Rights and as such is a potentially criminal offence. I will refer this to the Relevant Trading Standards offices and they may contact you for further information.
I have written to them, recorded delivery, asking for a refund but no response to that, and no response to my last email to them either. It seems now that I would probably have more luck obtaining a replacement although I don't trust or like these people and want to be rid of them. I would settle for a replacement as a last resort but I don't want to be lumbered with another piece of junk.
I'll let you know what consumer direct come back with.

Thanks again,
T

That's good news that Consumer Direct is referring it to Trading Standards. TS are the ones who have the power to take action. Maybe write back to Consumer Direct making the point that if this guy is breaching your statutory rights, doesn't that mean he has forfeited his rights to replace/repair, and has to give you a refund? That's what I would argue, if it was me.