Faulty Exchange. Urgent Advice Needed

bigrvg

Hi Guys, this is a long one, but really need advice.

I've just spent my 2 week holiday trying to install my new bathroom. To be prepared we ordered all the stuff in advance so it was to hand when installing. First problem was, after 4 weeks in my conservatory I came to unwrap my new bath and fit the legs. I then realised it had a massive chip out of the acrylic. I contacted the company and they said it was out of the 30 day returns period, so suck it up basically. After alot of searching I found a company in Southwest London that had the same bath instock, I rang them and told them the situation, the guy was very sympathetic about my ordeal and said he'd hold a new one for me. I shot up there from Dover on Thursday to collect it in my van.
When we arrived the guy was very nice to deal with, he had it ready for us. We had a look over it and told him again about what had happened with the other company we got the first bath from. We noticed a few big scatches in the protective film and were abit unsure about them. He said it wouldn't have gone through the film, but he then peeled it back on one of the biggest scratches. There wasn't a mark underneath at all, so we were happy to take it. He said it has a protective film and didn't want to take it off due to transportation and stuff. I paid for it and he said we can take it and check it over and have 24 hours to bring it back. He loaded it in to my van and it was covered in blankets to keep it safe. We got home thursday and didn't get it out of the van because it was dark.
On friday we got it out of the van, put the legs on it and took it up to the bathroom, but I had to go out so left it for saturday to install it.
I installed it yesterday, took me ages to get it all level and secured. I filled it up to check the overflow wasn't leaking. It filled to halfway and then I noticed a drip on a piece of cardboard I had put under the overflow area. I then realised the water hadn't reached the overflow, so the water was leaking through a crack in the fibreglass backing. I then tore the protective film off and found a small dent that went through to the otherside and also some scratches on the sloping bit. These were not apparent until the film was taken off.
I couldn't believe my bad luck, so I quickly rang the shop, but they were shut, so I sent an email, but no reply. I know they are probably shut until tomorrow. My last day off is tomorrow, so i need it sorted.

What do I do? Where do I stand?

I'm prepared to drive back up there to get an exchange, but he did say we have 24 hours to check it. I don't want to buy a 3rd bath as that will be £450 altogether on 3 baths and still nothing to show for it! I recon the scratches are from the leg kit they supply that is attached to the underside of the bath and they have them stacked inside each other when in transit.

Please Please help with some advice.

Cheers.

4743hudsonj

bigrvg wrote: »

Hi Guys, this is a long one, but really need advice.

I've just spent my 2 week holiday trying to install my new bathroom. To be prepared we ordered all the stuff in advance so it was to hand when installing. First problem was, after 4 weeks in my conservatory I came to unwrap my new bath and fit the legs. I then realised it had a massive chip out of the acrylic. I contacted the company and they said it was out of the 30 day returns period, so suck it up basically. After alot of searching I found a company in Southwest London that had the same bath instock, I rang them and told them the situation, the guy was very sympathetic about my ordeal and said he'd hold a new one for me. I shot up there from Dover on Thursday to collect it in my van.
When we arrived the guy was very nice to deal with, he had it ready for us. We had a look over it and told him again about what had happened with the other company we got the first bath from. We noticed a few big scatches in the protective film and were abit unsure about them. He said it wouldn't have gone through the film, but he then peeled it back on one of the biggest scratches. There wasn't a mark underneath at all, so we were happy to take it. He said it has a protective film and didn't want to take it off due to transportation and stuff. I paid for it and he said we can take it and check it over and have 24 hours to bring it back. He loaded it in to my van and it was covered in blankets to keep it safe. We got home thursday and didn't get it out of the van because it was dark.
On friday we got it out of the van, put the legs on it and took it up to the bathroom, but I had to go out so left it for saturday to install it.
I installed it yesterday, took me ages to get it all level and secured. I filled it up to check the overflow wasn't leaking. It filled to halfway and then I noticed a drip on a piece of cardboard I had put under the overflow area. I then realised the water hadn't reached the overflow, so the water was leaking through a crack in the fibreglass backing. I then tore the protective film off and found a small dent that went through to the otherside and also some scratches on the sloping bit. These were not apparent until the film was taken off.
I couldn't believe my bad luck, so I quickly rang the shop, but they were shut, so I sent an email, but no reply. I know they are probably shut until tomorrow. My last day off is tomorrow, so i need it sorted.

What do I do? Where do I stand?

I'm prepared to drive back up there to get an exchange, but he did say we have 24 hours to check it. I don't want to buy a 3rd bath as that will be £450 altogether on 3 baths and still nothing to show for it! I recon the scratches are from the leg kit they supply that is attached to the underside of the bath and they have them stacked inside each other when in transit.

Please Please help with some advice.

Cheers.

sod their "exchange rules"

you have a statutory right under the sale of goods act to a repair/replacement/refund (retailers choice) in both instances .

you have made a big mistake by buying 2 baths, you should have sorted out the first bath before considering buying a second

you may be stuck with two baths!

anyways

go to consumers direct

they will give you help and draft letters in order to obtain repair/replacement/refunds on your baths

ideally you will end up with one working bath and one refund, not so ideal you will end up with two refunds and even worse you will end up with two replaced baths.

yummymummy79

Sale of Goods Act doesn't specify a timescale for how long you have to check something, so their 24hour policy can easily be overruled. On the same point though, it could be argued that the first bath took too long to be checked, so somewhere in the middle is prob best! In practice on most items, a period of 2-3 weeks can be seen as reasonable, but it does depend on the item and scenario.

Agree that you should have done something about the first one before buying a second, and it highlights the importance of at least having a quick check over things that you buy that you are not going to be fitting for a while.

As mentioned, get in touch with CD (who should hopefully say something along the same lines as me!) and get stuff moving with both companies.