B and Q refusing refund for faulty goods

hamiltonsarah

Hubby bought two wooden storage units about three months ago. They were left unopened as not immediately required.
He came to put them up and both were bowed and unusable.
unfortunately no longer had receipt
B & Q refused refund or exchange
He paid on credit card and offered to show cc bill, not interested. He has contacted HO and they are stating the same.
Any ideas??

iNath

If it was less than 3 months ago the store could find the receipt from your cc number (if they can be bothered)
If it was more than 3 months ago they would need to send an email to HO to trace receipt, either way you need a helpful member of staff that knows the system to help you!

Valli

I was in a B&Q collecting something when another customer was attempting to get an extractor hood changed that they had had for 18 months and didn't work BUT according to the customer they had 'only just opened' the box.

The onus is on you OP to retain receipts as proof of purchase. The stores that offer a 28 day changed of mind policy do so out of goodwill.

Nevertheless you COULD write to their head office detailing the problem and when purchased (from CC bill) and asking them to refund/replace out of goodwill. Maybe include photocopy of cc bill and a picture showing the fault?

Did you WRITE to HO or phone them?

But in future, when you buy flatpack UNPACK AND CHECK - even if you don't immediately want to use the item the onus is on the customer (ie you), to verify the contents are as they should be.

BoGoF

hamiltonsarah wrote: »

Hubby bought two wooden storage units about three months ago. They were left unopened as not immediately required.
He came to put them up and both were bowed and unusable.
unfortunately no longer had receipt
B & Q refused refund or exchange
He paid on credit card and offered to show cc bill, not interested. He has contacted HO and they are stating the same.
Any ideas??

Maybe it was your storage conditions that made them bowed?

shaun_from_Africa

That's what I was thinking.
Most large flatpack units have to be stored lying down because of this.

wealdroam

If the goods are faulty and it is within six months of purchase, then the fault can be assumed to have been present at the time of sale... an inherent fault.
It is for the retailer to prove otherwise.
You do not have to prove you did not damage the thing.

Clearly a receipt is the easiest proof of purchase.
However, a bank statement or credit card statement should be an acceptable alternative.

Question 7 on this Sale of Goods Act Fact Sheet tells us...

Do I have to produce a receipt to claim my rights?
No. In fact the trader doesn't have to give you a receipt in the first place so it would be unfair to say that you had to produce one. However, it might not be unreasonable for the shop to want some proof of purchase, so look to see if you have a cheque stub, bank statement, credit card slip etc., and this should be sufficient.

gordikin

In my opinion 3 months is way in excess of a reasonable time to examine the goods and reject them.