Product Recall? Plum climbing frames

Ch1mps

trelawney75 wrote: »

I am worried now, I have a plum frame but have not received a letter, think mine was bought around 2006. May be being thick but can someone explain what a swing arm is for me please? How can I check if my frame is included?
Thanks

The swing arm is the piece/ pieces of wood that stick out from the main play tower which the swings are attached to.
These pieces of wood are covered in a burgundy or green coloured plastic.
On the Tacoma II the uprights are also covered in plastic.
If your play centre has no plastic covering on the wood beams then there shouldn't be a problem.

Hope this helps.

sidneysanchez

xenebean wrote: »

They do have a facebook page, at the bottom of their ad there is an option to go to their facebook page, maybe we should be publicly asking them the warranty questions

Check the T & C's on website. Being an American company, they are quite hot on the legalities should you contact them via email or on FB. They state -
"You must ensure that all Content submitted to us does not infringe the copyright, design, privacy, publicity, data protection, trade mark or any other rights of any third party, nor be obscene, abusive, threatening, libellous or defamatory of any person or be otherwise unlawful;"

So I would err on the side of caution here and use carefully crafted questions if you enter into a dialogue. Probably better to get Watchdog to finght the cause.

markymark999

I was contacted by Plum Products in December, hadn't received any further information from them until Friday of last week, at which point they said the Argos would be in touch shortly. Received a letter after from HRG the following day and got in contact. Was told that someone would phone back within 24 hours. Later the same day got a phone call stating that I would be refunded £266 and the playcentre would be collected. Having waited for 2 months for a response from the initial contact from Plum products to then have it all sorted and refunded with HRG collecting all in the space of less than a week sounds a little bit suspicious. I bought the Tacoma in 2006, but from previous strings there appears to be no rationale behind the refund levels, which again is a little suspicious. I am tempted to hold off the collection and request legal advice as to how to proceed.

Ch1mps

The more people that contact BBC Watchdog the better.
Argos / Homebase (HRG) wont want bad publicity.

Ch1mps

Heres the reply I got from consumerdirect.gov.uk

Thank you for your email to Consumer Direct dated 21/02/2010 regarding the faulty a copy of which is attached. I am sorry to hear you are disappointed with the goods you have received and can certainly appreciate your concern.

Whenever a contract is entered into for a contract of sale, it is governed by a piece of legislation known as the Sale of Goods act 1979 (SOGA 79). The Act implies terms into the contract between the consumer and the retailer which are commonly referred to as your statutory rights. Statutory rights can be pursued for up to 6 years, although only a judge could decide whether a claim is justified.

One of these rights is that the goods must be of satisfactory quality (which includes durability, fitness for purpose, safety and free from minor defects).

If the goods are deemed to have been accepted the consumer is initially entitled to pursue for a repair/like for like replacement. If this is impossible, disproportionate in cost to the trader or puts the consumer to significant inconvenience the next stage would be a full/partial refund taking into consideration the length of time the consumer has had the goods and also the amount of use they have had.

The consumer is entitled to pursue for there preferred method of remedy, but the trader may choose the most economical form of remedy if they feel the remedy requested is disproportionate to the problem.

Therefore, it may be deemed reasonable that after approx 2 years of usage that a partial refund would be the remedy available at this stage.

Also as the purchase was made on a credit card, you will have an extra level of cover if it is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the credit card company is jointly or severally liable for any purchase over £100. This basically means you can make a like for like claim against the credit card company for any breach of contract that Home Retail Group may have committed.

Practically, we would advise that you write to Home Retail Group, sending the letter by recorded delivery and setting a reasonable deadline in which they should respond. You should also keep a copy of the letter for your own records.

xenebean

The lady I spoke to at Consumer Direct told me practically the same thing, what annoys me the most is that I am sure anyone deciding to purchase such a large piece of equipment is going to look after it and expect it to last a long time. I understand that Argos are doing the correct thing legally, but that doesn't help any of us who will be significantly out of pocket, when it is not our doing. I certainly don't hold Argos that responsible and it seems unfair that they have to sort out the American Company's negligence. You would think that Argos would be getting the manufacturer to cough up and give us a like for like replacement, not a sub standard, cheaper version.

xenebean

sidneysanchez wrote: »

Check the T & C's on website. Being an American company, they are quite hot on the legalities should you contact them via email or on FB. They state -
"You must ensure that all Content submitted to us does not infringe the copyright, design, privacy, publicity, data protection, trade mark or any other rights of any third party, nor be obscene, abusive, threatening, libellous or defamatory of any person or be otherwise unlawful;"

So I would err on the side of caution here and use carefully crafted questions if you enter into a dialogue. Probably better to get Watchdog to finght the cause.

Don't worry i'm not quite that opinionated yet!! I have wrote to watchdog like everyone else, but its quite difficult explaining to five children that they can't use their play centre and I have no idea when it will be sorted!!

markymark999

I have also contacted watchdog. I think Argos appear to be on damage limitation mode by trying to process claims as quickly as possible.

Ch1mps

I've been searching the internet and found that 'Backyard Adventures' also recalled green swing seats in May 2005 and defective bolts resulting in playset recall May 2006.
Bloody good track record.......NOT!

planky1

RESULT
hi, i have a tacoma 11 wooden playcentre, paid £400 in dec 2007 argos just offered me £266. im not happy. but have been phoning around (argos & plum) and eventually phoned adventure playsets direct in america. the number is 001-800-856-4445. you have to phone them after 3pm uk time cos that is 9am there. spoke to a very nice helpfull guy called wes, he knew all about the recall. apparently the recall is due to the fact that the main stuctures that are made of wood and are plastic coated in either red or green. the plastic has been splitting and letting water in but not letting it out again so basically rotting the wood. he is going to send me brand new ones that have been redesigned and just made of wood. WHY ARE ARGOS NOT OFFERING THIS AS ANOTHER OPTION TO REFUND OR MEERCAT????????
he says it could possibly be may time when we get the spare parts.
GET RINGING AMERICA !!!!!!!