Received Damage Goods - Barclaycard not accepting claim

StretchedElf

Hi,

In July I purchased a bed online using my Barclaycard credit card. The bed arrived with pieces broken so I contacted the vendor via email who asked for photos to prove the bed was broken. These photos were provided and the vendor advised me that they would send a replacement. The replacement never came and when I tried to contact the vendor again I was informed that they had closed.

I contacted Barclaycard to initiate a claim. After forwarding all the documents they requested they are now saying that they will be unable to process my claim unless I can prove that there has been a breach of contact. Surely receiving damaged goods - i.e. goods that are unfit for purpose - is a breach of contract, and surely an email from the vendor accepting responsibility and promising replacements is proof of this breach?

Barclaycard say they need an invoice including terms and conditions, but all I got on purchase was an order confirmation which I printed out (this has been forwarded to barclaycard, as has copies of all the communication between me and the vendor).

I would appreciate any help or advice that anyone can offer.

jonesMUFCforever

You still have the emails and copies of the photos?

Keep on at them escalate it to a complaint - how much did the bed cost?

StretchedElf

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

You still have the emails and copies of the photos?

Keep on at them escalate it to a complaint - how much did the bed cost?

Yes I still have the emails and photos. The bed cost £300.

Barclaycard say that for a claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to succeed it is necessary to prove a breach of contract. What I don't understand is how they can claim there is any doubt over the breach of contract.

I forgot to mention in my OP that they have also asked for a Warranty/Guarantee given at the time of the sale. Again, as with the invoice, this is something I do not have (Barclaycard state that failure to produce these will result in no claim). But why should I require a warranty/guarantee in this case? The item didn't break after some time of use, it arrived broken!

jonesMUFCforever

Keep at them - ask for a letter of deadlock which will crystalize minds as they will know after this that you would be taking them to financial ombudsman.
This will cost them £400 - paying you would cost them less!

magpiecottage

StretchedElf wrote: »

Barclaycard say that for a claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to succeed it is necessary to prove a breach of contract. What I don't understand is how they can claim there is any doubt over the breach of contract.

Ring them. Ask for the full name and/or headset number of the person you speak to.

Then say "I wish to complain that Barclaycard is unlawfully attempting to deny me the right to claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I would remind you that the matter must now be dealt with under the dispute resolution rules of the Financial Services Authority and would refer you to Financial Ombudsman Service Case Study 75/03. That case was settled by a refund of the payments made by the complainant plus £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the lender."

Make sure you keep a note of the date, time and the name/headset number of the person you spoke to.

They then have two options. They can either settle the matter and obtain your confirmation that you are satisfied with it by the end of the next working day or put it into their formal complaints procedure.

If they do not give you a response you are satisfied wiith within eight weeks of you complaining you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The cost to Barclays is actually £500 not £400 but don't try using that to blackmail them as the Ombudsman might then simply throw it out without looking at it and not bother charging Barclays at all.

gnaril

Gotta laugh at the above post.

You really have to see it from the other side.

Im with the OP on this one and hope you get it sorted out however, It is down to the cardholder to prove breach of contract not the other way around.

Who is to say the customer didnt pay for a second hand bed. A bed that was described as broken, slightly damaged. ( Now in all seriousness no one is going to buy a damaged bed, but i hope you grasp the point).

I know it is outrageous for people to contemplate but its been done before.Trust me.

As for the quoting 75/03. Althought similar in regards to Section 75 liabilty on Credit cards the 75/03 is in referance to a Loan/finance.

Anyways its late all the best mate. They should see sense soon hopefully.

StretchedElf

gnaril wrote: »

Gotta laugh at the above post.

You really have to see it from the other side.

Im with the OP on this one and hope you get it sorted out however, It is down to the cardholder to prove breach of contract not the other way around.

Who is to say the customer didnt pay for a second hand bed. A bed that was described as broken, slightly damaged. ( Now in all seriousness no one is going to buy a damaged bed, but i hope you grasp the point).

I emailed the vendor to complain about the bed arriving broken (of which I have a copy and which Barclaycard has seen). I would not have done this had I purchased a second-hand/broken bed.

I also received an email from the vendor apologising for the broken bed and promising a replacement (again, I have a copy of this and Barclaycard do too). They would not have responded as such if they had legitimately sold a broken bed to a customeer expecting to receive a broken bed!

In light of that, how can Barclaycard question whether a breach of contract has taken place? A purchased item being unfiot for purpose is, I would have thought, in breach of the contract. Both the vendor and I have acknowedged this and Barclays have the emails.

I feel like they are now asking me for things which they know from phonecalls that the vendor didn't give me, despite the breach of contract being already proven as far as I can see.

Floxxie

I think your main problem here is the length of time between ordering the bed and now complaining about it to your credit card company. Would a reasonable person have left it all this time?

td_007

If the OP can show that the time gap was because of attempts to work things out with the vendor first, then it should not be a problem. OP - make sure all you correspondences are now in writing and use the formal complaints procedure.

StretchedElf

Floxxie wrote: »

I think your main problem here is the length of time between ordering the bed and now complaining about it to your credit card company. Would a reasonable person have left it all this time?

td_007 wrote: »

If the OP can show that the time gap was because of attempts to work things out with the vendor first, then it should not be a problem. OP - make sure all you correspondences are now in writing and use the formal complaints procedure.

Yes, the delay is partly due to trying to work this out with the vendor. Also, after speaking to Barclaycard on the phone they sent me out a claim form which I fillied in and returned. When I rang about 4 weeks later to enquire why I hadn't heard anything from them they said they hadn't received it so sent me another form. I sent this in and have only just heard back (presumably due to the Christmas period?). Just to be clear, I did not wait an unreasonable length of time--I have been trying to resolve this first with the vendor, then with Barclaycard from the day my broken bed arrived!

cos_2

I'm guessing that they are asking for warranty/guarantee information just in case the vendor had an externally funded warranty company that might cover this. It used to be common in double glazing some years back, but I think less so now.

Good luck.