Credit Card company refusing refund for dodgy goods

ManicMum

Hello

my husband bought a second hand car part last July for £275 from a company trading on the web. Have since discovered they have a bad name and others have had similar probs.

He is doing up an accident damaged car (bought it like that not because we didn't have insurance!). He gave them all the details of the car - make, model, reg no. It's a citroen car and a peugeot part arrived. He phoned them up and they said it was compatible and would be fine. We took this to be correct as we are not experts but we had heard before that some Citroen/Peugeot parts are compatible.

this July (but still just under a year) the car was at the stage where this part could be fitted. Anyway, to cut it short, it isn't compatible and we have had to get a Citroen part. Our mechanic has all the diagnostic equipment and verified that the computer would not even recognise it on the car's system.

credit card co looked into it and phoned few weeks ago to say nothing thye could do. They rang the company who said they aren't giving a refund and that's the end of it. Credit co. advised us to sell the part on. ?????????????? Have been waiting for letter to confirm this but nothing has arrived. They said if it was within 120 days could have done a re-charge but nothing they could do now.

is that right? The goods are not waht we asked for and have invoice from them with all our car's details on so thye were well aware of make, model etc. We only found out item wrong now because car not in position before to have the part fitted (repairs took longer than expected). What can I do now? Please advise.

many thanks.

RadoJo

I'm guessing that the time frames involved are the problem - have you got a copy of your credit card's Ts and Cs on chargebacks etc?

Presumably if your husband has not used the part at all, you could resell it for around the same price that you bought it for (hopefully!), but I understand it's not ideal. I think you may be on to a losing case though, purely because you've had the part for nearly a year.

UnderPressure

I think in this case the credit card company is right in the way they are dealing with this, your husband should of at the time the part arrived got his mechanic to double check it was the right part, you really cannot blame the credit card company for this oversight which to be quite frank is your husbands fault

If the part is brand new you could try contacting the original supplier and see if they will do a swap of some sort for you otherwise the best thing you could do is put it on Ebay with a buy it now price and hope someone somewhere needs this part.

You really cant expect to be given anything like 12 months to inspect and make sure a purchase is correct, sell it and move on is about all you can do.

HTH

chattychappy

Firstly, whilst the CC not being able to recharge the merchant might affect their willingness to refund you, it is irrelevant to your s75 rights. The chargeback time limit is a matter between the merchant and the CC. The point is they are still jointly liable for performance of the contract under s75. It's contract law that governs this matter.

It appears there's been a breach of contract. You were sent the wrong part. Under contract law you have 6 years to sue for damages. I don't think you should let it rest.

True the time lapse makes it difficult to "reject goods" (ie rescind the contract) - but that doesn't mean you can't claim damages for breach. That could amount to the same thing in cash terms anyway.

Given the conduct of the other party (you did make enquiries), legally I think you should be OK if you've got all the data - copies of order, times of telephone calls, evidence you relied upon their representations. You might have to go to the ombudsman or take out a small claim.

[EDIT, substitute "your husband" for "you"]

inmypocketnottheirs

Yes I think chattychappy has it right. You are not rejecting the goods because they are defective, but because they are not suitable. You requested for a Citroen and they supplied for a Peugeot. I think try the CC company again.

ManicMum

thank you guys. I will write again and mention ombudsman. I don't see how i can have been expected to know they were not right when i was told that part was interchangeable. Companies can't be allowed to give out false information to secure a sale and get away with it. That is fraud. Can I report to Police? or as civil matter would I need to report to Trading Standards? Re. small claims court - would I need to travel to the area of the company if went to court or do they have to come to my area? I am in Scotland and this is English company.

thanks.

dazza.mk

Write again, but find out the cc companies official complaints procedure and use that address as opposed to any general customer services, as you can only approach the ombudsman after you've exhausted their official complaints procedure, or they've been stalling for 8 weeks. If you haven't 'Officially' complained yet the clock hasn't started.