Broken catflap- useless supplier

unholyangel

4743hudsonj wrote: »

I didnt know you knew that, you merely stated it as the retailers choice.

Anyways OP dont use the EU directive, it hasnt got what is called horizontal direct effect, meaning you cannot rely upon it as law against another party. Instead you must use the sale of goods act.

Sorry, i tend to forget people cant mind read i know its 2pm but thats like 3am my time! Now i must get to sleep as i'm up in 5 hours to go to the gym *sigh*

Freddie_Snowbits

One quick look at my catflapdotcon, it appears to be a German Company and Internet Only

abomination

4743hudsonj wrote: »

I didnt know you knew that, you merely stated it as the retailers choice. (you did mention significant inconvenience but that isnt the whole story)

Anyways OP dont use the EU directive, it hasnt got what is called horizontal direct effect, meaning you cannot rely upon it as law against another party. Instead you must use the sale of goods act.

Thanks Hudson

I think I'm going to try again with the SoGA- it does allow for me to choose replacement, rather than repair where repair would cause 'significant inconvenience'- I think there's wiggle room on both sides of the repair/replace argument- as a consumer I can argue significant inconvenience from having a hole in my home- as a seller thy can argue replacement is disproportionate- has to be worth a try I think.

As regards the cats territoriality- the last thing I want is my two to start scent marking in the house- and we do find other cats come in with the door open- so not too far from that to coming in the catflap hole.

balmk

Hi, is this a Sureflap or a PetPorte? If it is a PetPorte, I would suggest that you contact them directly. They were really helpful when my PetPorte malfunctioned and arranged a replacement really quickly.

If it is a Sureflap one their website states that the product has a 2 year warranty subject to proof of purchase date and some other terms.


http://sureflap.co.uk/support/warranty-info

http://www.petporte.com/contact/

ajb69

balmk wrote: »

Hi, is this a Sureflap or a PetPorte? If it is a PetPorte, I would suggest that you contact them directly. They were really helpful when my PetPorte malfunctioned and arranged a replacement really quickly.

Agreed! I have a PetPorte and have also ordered (other stuff, cat posts etc) from Zooplus - PetPorte are probably the most helpful company I have ever dealt with, straight through to a real person on the phone, and have always sent me out a new cat flap within days, without even waiting for the broken one to be returned.

ZooPlus have always given me decent delivery times/products, but been much more touchy if there is a problem, although I have got a refund out of them in the end the one or two times I have complained.

I agree with other posters that you are due a refund/replacement out of ZooPlus, but if in the end you just want a working catflap ASAP call PetPorte.

Drew

abomination

Thanks ajb69 and balmk.

I wrote back to zooplus as a letter before action quoting SoGA (section 48b2) which says the repair/replacement should happen without causing me 'significant inconvenience'- ie a hole in the door for an unspecified length of time.
I also referenced section 10 of EC/1999/44 to show that the intention of the law was that the consumer could choose replacement or repair. I know this doesn't have a direct effect- but it shows the intention of the directive.
I've had nothing back yet- so i assume it's been eleveted past the front-line customer services....

Meanwhile I emailed petporte (the manufacturer) who within 4 hours had offered a replacement- and will send a freepost address to returm the faulty flap after the replacement arrives.

It would have cost me about £8 more (including postage) to buy direct- lesson learned there I think.

If anyone's interested I'll update again when zooplus finally reply. I'm almost disappointed that petporte were so good as I wanted zooplus to admit their responsibility- I wonder if I could report them to Trading Standards anyway?

abs.

zzzLazyDaisy

abomination wrote: »

Thanks ajb69 and balmk.
I'm almost disappointed that petporte were so good as I wanted zooplus to admit their responsibility- I wonder if I could report them to Trading Standards anyway?

abs.

Life's too short - it's a cat flap, your problem is sorted, time to move on...

Hintza

abomination wrote: »

I wonder if I could report them to Trading Standards anyway?

abs.

What for???

abomination

Hintza wrote: »

What for???

Not following SoGA...

As it turns out a strongly worded letter quoting Section 48 B 2 of SoGA had the desired effect- an offer to send a replacement and a courier to collect the original.

Of course they then cancelled the replacement as they were out of stock...good job Pet Porte themselves were on the ball.

In short- in future I think it's worth the extra £8 to go direct to the supplier

Thanks to those who helped.

abs