Help! Bought a tent from Blacks that turned out to be second hand!

cwalkington1983

I bought a tent 4 months ago from Blacks and last weekend was the first weekend I used it. I opened the contents of the tent and started threading the poles through and noticed that one of the loops for the poles was damaged. This could not have been from anything I had done as this part of the tent was wrapped in the ground sheet and this is the first time I got the tent out of the bag. After erecting the outer tent I put the two inner parts up inside and then found that there was a bottle cap inside one of the inners and that the other inner has a hole in the bottom.

I have emailed Blacks with picture of the damage and they said they cannot except this as a faulty item because of the length of time (4 months) I have had the tent. I don't think it's usual for you to inspect a tent before using it and its unlucky i didn't use it before now. Also I don't have a garden...

Are there any consumer rights that I can use to support my claim for compensation?

Many thanks!

miniemma

Maybe try going into the store you bought it from? You may get a different response face to face. Stay firm but polite.

Although I have to say, the very first thing I do after buying a tent is take it into my garden and set it up! I wouldn't want to arrive at a camp site without knowing for sure that my tent has all it's bits and that I know how to set it up!

neilmcl

You are allowed a "reasonable period" to inspect the goods and return them for a refund if faulty. This period isn't defined by law and it depends on the item and the specifics of use, ie, a reasonable period for a household electrical item may well be a matter of weeks whereas if you purchased a pair of Skis in a summer sale then it would be reasonable to not to expect to fully inspect them until the following winter. You could argue that this is genuinely the first opportunity you've had to check the goods as it's a seasonal item.

Mekmj

Under the sale of goods act, if the goods are faulty in the first six months, this is deemed to be an inherent fault (i.e. it was there when they were bought) and the shop needs to prove that it wasn't. Try again mentioning this, and if you don't get any joy write to the chief executive, as hopefully he will have some idea of consumer law! Good luck.

cwalkington1983

Thanks for all your responses that's really helpful!

funkymonkey1

Mekmj wrote: »

Under the sale of goods act, if the goods are faulty in the first six months, this is deemed to be an inherent fault (i.e. it was there when they were bought) and the shop needs to prove that it wasn't. Try again mentioning this, and if you don't get any joy write to the chief executive, as hopefully he will have some idea of consumer law! Good luck.

But the type of fault mentioned here is not really inherent - it is damage caused by use. I know the op didn't cause the damage but it is a case of proving that the tent was damaged when bought not a case of proving an inherent fault.

moonrakerz

cwalkington1983 wrote: »

Are there any consumer rights that I can use to support my claim for compensation?

NO ! You are entitled to get what you paid for - no more !!!!