Faulty Fire From B & Q

rodneypig

Hi everyone - advice needed please!

My step daughter purchased a new house last year and spent thousands doing it up. Most of the decorating materials, cooker and electric fire were purchased from B & Q.
Now, after approx 12 months the fire does not work. You can clearly see throught the vent in the back that there is a wire that has burnt through. The surround of the fire at the front also gets very hot even with just the light function on not the heat as the heat bit wont work!
We have gone back to B & Q and were confronted by a very unhelpful member of staff who basically said bad luck.
I have since spoken with the manager and complained about the service. He has said ( I believe incorrectly) that after 12 months it is the manufacturers responsibility not theirs and they cant do anything without proof of purchase.
I believe that the contract is with the retailer not the manufacturer.
The problem is we can find not receipt or any form of proof of purchase. We have other paperwork showing other items purchased in B & Q totaling nearly £1000 for different items.
My question is what can we do without proof of purchase? I understand the retailer is not legally obliged to provide a receipt so can we do anything?
We can identify other items bought at the same time as the fire, can they check on their system items sold that far back?
Any help would be great!
Thanks
Debbie

Hintza

Tricky without receipt. Credit Card (or bank) statement?

You will probably have to put this down to a lesson learnt and one of the plus points on buying online at least you can store receipts electronically.

Out of interest how much are we talking here?

rodneypig

Thanks, it was atleast £300 thats why we are anoyed that it has only lasted 12 months. The manufacturer also said there was nothing they could do if it was over 12 months old - just doesnt seem fair that something costing that much does appear to have to work for very long!

bitemebankers

I believe that the contract is with the retailer not the manufacturer.

The contract of sale is with the retailer. However, it's not clear what you're claiming. Given than the product is more than 12 months old, the manufacturer's warranty is irrelevant anyway. The only come-back you have against the retailer is if the product wasn't fit for purpose when it was originally supplied. Given that it has worked for a year and you've not complained to B&Q about it during this period, B&Q can quite reasonably argue that it was fit for purpose when it was originally supplied and proving otherwise will be difficult and expensive, if indeed possible at all.

Hintza

bitemebankers wrote: »

if indeed possible at all.

Anything is possible but would require an indepenent report (possibly expensive) but lack of receipt still stuffs the OP.

But doesn't look good OP.

bitemebankers

Anything is possible

Not necessarily - that would be for the judge to decide.

Hintza

bitemebankers wrote: »

Not necessarily - that would be for the judge to decide.

Assuming OP had receipt and cleared an independent electrician with B&Q before having it checked then I doubt it would get to court.

rodneypig

Biteme, I thought that something was expected to be durable as well? After all the fire was bought at this time last year so will only have been used for around five months.

rodneypig

Hintza, do you think I could ask B & Q to agree to an independant check on the fire and if it is proved to be faulty they would fix/ replace it even without a receipt?

bitemebankers

rodneypig wrote: »

Biteme, I thought that something was expected to be durable as well? After all the fire was bought at this time last year so will only have been used for around five months.

I totally understand you being cross about this - I would be very disappointed too if I were in your situation. But I think paying for a professional inspection of the fire would probably be a case of throwing good money after bad. An inspection will certainly be able to ascertain the cause of the fault, but it will probably be much harder to prove that the fault was inherent, rather than the result of wear and tear. Unless you can prove that the product was inherently faulty at the time of sale, you really haven't got a leg to stand on and the retailer will be well aware of this.

Sorry I can't be more positive about this

Hintza

Without some proof of purchase ...NO

With proof of purchase you want someone that you trust to have a casual look and give you an idea of what is wrong and if it is worth chasing up.

From everything you have said I agree with bitemebankers probably good money after bad.