Bought a bathroom suite - hairline crack

realised

Hi all,

I bought a new bathroom suite in ebay the other week and our plumber has come in today to fit the suite.

When he fitted the sink, he was cleaning it up and noticed that there was a hairline fracture on the basin. He has put the basin on the wall and switched on the water so we are not without any water in the basin for the time being.

I have since called the company who say they are unsure when the damage could have occurred. They tried to blame us (indirectly) by saying we should have noticed the fracture before it was fitted (I believe that although the fracture is large, it is thin meaning it could not have been noticed until some dirt went into it and it became visable) and then said they will replace the sink providing we pay for transport costs of receving and sending back the basin.

I don't believe it should be us that pays for the transport costs considering the item is damaged. Can anyone advice on where I should go from here? I was getting annoyed whilst on the phone to her and would like to be a little calmer when speaking to her next!

Thank you

paulsad

I sympathise - had the same experience only it was the toilet bowl - I couldn't hang about arguing the blame with the supplier; with no toilet for the family so had to rush and buy another one from a local supplier - the perils of buying such items off the internet I suppose.

geordieracer

Well for starters can you really prove it was cracked before it got to your house? This is difficult i should imagine..

Though without knowing what rights you have i think by them saying they will get a new one if you get it to them IMO is a nice compromise.

DCodd

If you bought the suite, signed for it and stored it on your property for any amount of time before the plumber fitted it, then it would be almost impossible to prove it had not been damaged after delivery to be honest. I would take their offer of a repalcement and pay for the postage.

This is, of course unless ebay has differing rules to the norm. Something I know nothing about at all.

d.ross_2

Are there and obvious impact marks that the crack could have started from? If not then it would be unlikely that you could have caused the crack, and it's modt likely a flaw in the manufacturing process.

realised

Well the fracture is not coming from the "end" of the sink. It's actually in the middle and therefore I doubt it could be damaged through the delivery process. If it helps I have pictures?

Maybe this might have been best posted on the ebay board I just thought

realised

geordieracer wrote: »

Well for starters can you really prove it was cracked before it got to your house? This is difficult i should imagine..

Though without knowing what rights you have i think by them saying they will get a new one if you get it to them IMO is a nice compromise.

Yes but it could also be aruged the other way in that they can't prove it was craked by us. Considering we only recieved it last Friday, less than a week ago and only fitted today, paying for it to be sent back to them might be costly

geordieracer

realised wrote: »

Yes but it could also be aruged the other way in that they can't prove it was craked by us. Considering we only recieved it last Friday, less than a week ago and only fitted today, paying for it to be sent back to them might be costly

It could be . But you have already fitted in now so they would take the arguement that as you have opened it and fitted it and now just noticed the crack that it couldve happened during fitting.

If you had noticed it before fitting then a straight forward DSR effort would be the advice given..

a lot harder now but is only my opinion

realised

I agree with you geordieracer... as the sink was the last thing to be fitted, we have already paid our plumbers and therefore it puts us in a difficult position.

I hope couriers won't cost too much.. I wonder how I can find out the weight of the item =/

Edit. I have just found out the company is in wakefield. I am in Sheffield Monday which may mean I can pick the item up

Thanks everyone for your advice

wealdroam

Been lots of talk about proving things.

Remember, during the first six months after purchase any fault that appears is deemed to have been there at the time of sale.
It is for the seller to prove the fault is not inherent, not for you to prove that you didn't damage it.

Having said that, if you can agree a reasonable compromise with the seller then that must be a good thing.

realised

Thank you wealdroam It was just the delivery I was concerned about but I guess although not completely ideal as I also have an exam in Sheffield Monday, Wakefield is only 40 or so minutes away so seeing as they refuse to deliver, my only option will be to collect