Damaged Fire

Jammy007

I've recently purchased a fire from House of Fire in Bradford. Ordered over the phone on 16/10/09 and took delivery of it on 27/10/09.

As the house is under going major renovations I didn't open the box until 05/11/09 and when myself, the builder & the gas safe (corgi) engineer opened it there was alot of damage to the rear of the fire. This damage has not been done in the house as its been under the stairs with the door closed.

Gazco (the manufacturers) aren't willing to do anything as they are saying that the fire left their factory in mint condition and they also say my contract is with House of Fire.

House of fire tried to claim the courier has caused the damage but the courier won't take responsibility as the complaint is over 48 hours of delivery.

So basically House of fire said the only option that is left is that they can try and arrange with Gazco to collect the fire and repair it at my cost.

Stupid I know but I paid on the debit card as they wanted to add something like a 7.5% surcharge for paying by Credit Card. Fire cost £1270 so that would have been £95! (obviously wish I'd paid it now).

Surely I have some leg to stand on here?

As the house is undergoing renovations I've got a damaged fire, a fireplace I can't prepare for the new fire as I don't know if it will be that particular fire that will be installed anymore. Plastering work cannot be done and I have no central heating at the moment as its all been disconnected, so no heat.

I've Been in touch with consumer direct who say I'm still covered under the sale of goods act as it is not fit for purpose. I now have to send a letter to the company and they have 14 days to respond.

Does anyone have any experience of this type of palava or know how long it takes for consumer direct / trading standards to sort it all out?!

Shops a country mile away from me aswell, as I'm from Cumbria.

Anyone help or offer advice?

Blacksheep1979

You have a 'reasonable' period of time in which to accept the goods. Now depending on what they are and when/how quickly you will use them this could be hours or weeks. An item that requires professional installation like this could take a couple of weeks to get fitted and so I'd say (but I'm not the one you'd have to persuade in the end) that you can reject the goods as not fit for purpose/not as advertised.

Write to House of Fire and send it recorded delivery (so you have an audit trail) asking for a replacement or a refund as you do not accept the goods as provided. Tell them that you will give them 14 days to provide you with which option they wish to choose and that failing this you will proceed with a legal course of action to reclaim your money - point out that this may incur further costs to you which if the legal action is successful may be passed onto them.

Jammy007

You have a period of 7 days to accept the goods under distance selling but obviously I'm over this 7 day period.

Anyone else care to shed some light on the situation please?

Blacksheep1979

This isn't distance selling - it's sale of goods act, you haven't accepted the goods and they don't meet spec.

Jammy007

The sale of goods act 1979 amended allows 6 months then doesn't it?

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so sharp before, I was on my way out, so wrote the reply quickly

isplumm

Jammy007 wrote: »

The sale of goods act 1979 amended allows 6 months then doesn't it?

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so sharp before, I was on my way out, so wrote the reply quickly

I would just write as Blacksheep has advised you to .... I believe that less than 2 weeks for a fire that needs professionally fitting is ok .... ask for money or repair & send recorded. Your contract is with retailer, no-one else - so don't let them fob you off.

Mark

Blacksheep1979

Jammy007 wrote: »

The sale of goods act 1979 amended allows 6 months then doesn't it?

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so sharp before, I was on my way out, so wrote the reply quickly

under 6 months the retailer has to prove the item wasn't faulty at point of purchase, this is more for if the item breaks, you have a 'reasonable' time to reject for not being as advertised etc.

Jammy007

I'm bringing this one to light again as I've been in touch with Consumer Direct and Trading Standards.

They said write a letter asking for a refund, repair or replacement at their cost.

Got a letter back basically saying they'd offered me a repair which I refused because it was at my cost.

Got in touch with Trading Standards again who said write another letter saying if it isn't repaired, refunded or replaced at their cost then I would be issuing a court summons and they had 14 days to respond. It is the 14th day today and I haven't had a letter so am I basically left with issuing a summons?

I was going to send an email giving them 48 hours to respond saying that I would be forced to start legal proceedings on monday if they do not come back to me with a suitable offer. Would this be a good idea or a bad idea?

Also, if I lose then do I have to pay their legal costs & expenses on top of losing the court costs which I have paid up front?

OlliesDad

The problem is that when you sign for goods, there is abit next to the signature which says "Goods received in good condition", and as you have signed confirming this, they could easily argue that the damage has been caused by the unit being on a building site for weeks. I would always say check the unit within 24 hours of receiving any item.

In this case I would be more inclined to write a letter and send by recorded post giving 7 days.

Jammy007

I signed for the goods unchecked when I took delivery of them. This was right beside the signature strip and I was advised to do this by the shop so they had come back on the courier

I have already wrote a letter stating that they had 14 days to respond and I haven't had a response within that 14 days.

Is there anything else I can do?

Or does anyone have any answers to my previous question about their legal costs?

It isn't exactly a building site, its my house that is having some replastering done. As I do not know if this fire is going to be the one that is getting fitted (may have to be a cheaper model if I end up being done out of the original £1270) then I cannot prep the chimney breast or do any plastering around that area. Which means I cannot lay a carpet or put any furniture in that room as the chimney needs some building work done to it.

tbw

I'm not absolutely certain but I believe that if you lose with a Small Claims case, then you may have to pay the other party's costs. But I seem to remember that this is not cut and dried - there is some flexibility or cap on it.

If you search for Small Claims info online you will be able to get all the info you need - I had to do this once and it really is pretty straightforward.

Also, as you only signed for receiving the goods and stated that they were 'unexaminied' I would think you have an excellent chance of winning.