Sports Direct refused to replace faulty racquet

Dave-o

Hi All

I was given a snazzy new badminton racquet by my wife for Christmas.

I used it for the first time on Friday, played for 20 minutes and the strings snapped. I have played a lot of badminton, tennis and squash and have actually purchased five racquets (squash and tennis) from the above mob in the past year.

The manager of the Truro store was most unpleasant and refused to assist, saying that the goods were fit for intended purpose when they left the store.

I then spoke with customer services who also said they couldn't replace the racquet if the store manager thought it wasn't a fault. I cited all the EU directives and SOGA stuff I could but it was to no avail.

Has anyone else experienced this before and, if so, what did you do?

Yours stringlessly.

Dave-o

pinkshoes

Sounds like it had been strung too tightly (as opposed to being faulty). Could you get them to restring it? Or pay for it to be restrung if they don't offer the service?

Dave-o

Thanks Pinkshoes. Noted re strung too tightly (which is how I feel towards SportsDirect at the moment!). They refused to refund, replace, restring or re-anything.

My view is that the strings form an integral part of the racquet and as such, given the requirements for goods to last for a reasonable period, the racquet is faulty and they are obliged to sort it out. I don't think that any reasonable man or any experienced sportsperson would think 20 minutes was a reasonable period of usage before the racquet is rendered temporarily useless.

Their argument was that if a mountain bike rides over a nail on its first outing, then that is not a manufacturer's issue. Quite possibly correct but the intended purpose of a mountain bike is not to ride over nails. Whereas the intended purpose of a badminton racquet is to hit shuttlecocks and this one failed to do so.

I must add that the head of "Customer Services" at SportsDirect did suggest that I post the racquet to their head office (for which I would pay the postage), they would take a look at it and decide whether they were going to do anything about it. Given his attitude ("you don't need to know my first name, call me Mr Fitch") and the attitude of the store manager, I have no confidence in their integrity and firmly believe they will simply say "sorry, not our problem" meaning I will need to suck up the postage charges (both ways I would assume) and miss my next game on Wednesday.

Unfortunately the score is currently SportsDirect 1 - Me 0.

aheaton46

Do they stock the racquet still?

Depending on how you're feeling, you could try walking in with the faulty racquet, leaving it on the customer service counter with a letter containing your contact details and explaining it's faulty so you are entitled to a replacement under the sale of goods act, picking up a replacement and walking out.

CoolHotCold

aheaton46 wrote: »

Do they stock the racquet still?

Depending on how you're feeling, you could try walking in with the faulty racquet, leaving it on the customer service counter with a letter containing your contact details and explaining it's faulty so you are entitled to a replacement under the sale of goods act, picking up a replacement and walking out.

Brilliant way of getting arrested.

Also on a side note, under 6 months and its up to the retailer to prove it wasn't faulty, over that the onus is on you.

pinkshoes

As above, it's up to the retailer in the first 6 months to prove it wasn't faulty.

I would send a letter (recorded deliver) to headquarters telling them to sort it out. Do you not have a spare to play with in the mean time??? (I always take a spare to matches, just incase...)

Dave-o

Alas pinkshoes, no spare. Just got back into badminton after a ten-year hiatus. Borrowed a mate's racquet for the last few months (which was pretty old but, shockingly, I didn't break any strings during this time) until the newbie came along at Christmas.

I might [sigh] just suck it up, get some new strings stuck on and play the match on Weds with the newly strung bat. I think by the time I write to SD, send the letter recorded delivery and then wait weeks or months for resolution, I will have missed several matches and incurred more cost than a new set of strings. Which is probably exactly why shops like SportsDirect get away with such woeful customer service.

Yours lamely hobbling away from a fight and not willing to throw good money after bad.

Dave-o

deanos

Are strings classed as consumables ?

bluenoseam

Myself i would be seeking a replacement, while it wouldn't be the first time i've bust strings on a raquet it's also fair to suggest that 20 minutes is slightly too quick for it to be natural! The problem comes with it being your word - while the majority of retailers would assume you're being honest, not everyone is willing to do this but i'd imagine at the very least you're entitled to a replacement.

oh and the pro would have the strings off the thing in a heartbeat - 20 minutes would be unheard of

The_Pedant

Just to get a little more support, it may be worth giving ConsumerDirect or your local Trading Standards a call.
They would most likely side with you and a word from them may well be all that's needed for SD to back down and act properly (plus you won't have to draw out the whole process with letters etc).

Dave-o

Update on this one. I have spoken with Head UK who stated that they never guarantee racquet strings and could not help as Sports Direct was a big customer and did their own thing with regard to warranties. Their view was that the racquet had obviously been in the store for a long time and the strings had dried out, hence the quick break.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I still don't see how that absolves a company from liability. They sell a product, of which the strings are an integral part, which breaks after twenty minutes. It is their responsibility to ensure the strings are fit to be used when the racquet is sold.

My view is that, unless they expressly exclude racquet strings from their actual or implied warranty (which I am not sure they can do in any event under the EC directive), they must replace them. I don't really see any other way of looking at it and "we don't guarantee strings" being told to you after you have bought the racquet doesn't seem to be enough.

However, getting that view across to Sports Direct was looking nigh on impossible.

In the end, I re-strung the bat, played the match yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed getting back into badders again.

Thanks very much for all your thoughts and advice.

Dave-o