Faulty Goods

chocogirl

Hi, hope you all had a good christmas.

Does anyone know if i have the right to ask for my money back - not a credit note for a toy that was brought for christmas which does not work. I brought the toy on the 15th Nov, and have the receipt for it. It was a difficult toy to get open so the packaging is all ripped up and has been thrown away.

If anyone can advise me on this it would be great as plan to take it back on thursday.

Thank you

Zara33

Getting a full refund


If things go wrong with goods you have bought, you have the right to return them and get all your money back (a full refund). However, this right only lasts for a very short time after you buy the goods. You are allowed a short time to examine the goods and try them out, but you must tell the trader about the fault as soon as you discover it. It will be up to you to prove that there is something wrong with the goods if the trader doesn't accept this.



You will not be able to get a full refund if you have:


continued to use the goods after you realized something was wrong
tried to repair the goods in any way
kept the goods for too long without telling the trader there is something wrong with them, or noticing the fault.

If you aren't entitled to a full refund for one of these reasons, you may be entitled to get some of your money back, or to a repair or replacement instead.



If you think you are entitled to a full refund but the trader offers you one of these alternatives instead, you may want to think about accepting it, but you don't have to. To find out what you can do if a trader refuses to offer you what you're entitled to, see under heading How to deal with problems with goods.




Credit notes


When you complain about goods, the trader may offer you a credit note. A credit note allows you to return the goods and buy something else for the same value.



If you have the right to a refund, repair, replacement or compensation (see under heading Your rights when things go wrong) you don't have to accept a credit note instead, although you may choose to do so. You may also choose to accept a credit note where you don't have any of these rights.



If you accept a credit note, you cannot change your mind later and get a refund or compensation, even if you had been entitled to it.



A credit note does not have to take any particular form. It may be offered as a gift voucher and it can also have conditions attached to it. You may have to use it within a given time limit.



If you are thinking of accepting a credit note, check the conditions on it and make sure that the trader has goods that you want to buy.



You cannot insist on having a credit note, if the trader doesn't want to give you one.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_goods_your_rights.htm#your_rights_when_things_go_wrong

magyar

chocogirl wrote:

Hi, hope you all had a good christmas.

Does anyone know if i have the right to ask for my money back - not a credit note for a toy that was brought for christmas which does not work. I brought the toy on the 15th Nov, and have the receipt for it. It was a difficult toy to get open so the packaging is all ripped up and has been thrown away.

If anyone can advise me on this it would be great as plan to take it back on thursday.

Thank you

If it does not work then under the Sale of Goods Act you can claim your money back.

Normally you get a certain period, e.g. a month (although this is not fixed) after which time you are deemed to have accepted the goods. However as it's a toy which has clearly been bought for Christmas then this is not the case.

Also, you have to open the packaging to find it doesn't work, so that can hardly be a problem!

And no, you don't have to accept a credit note, you can insist on a refund.

chocogirl

Thanks for your quick replies - I am going to ask for my money back then - as there is nothing else my daughter actually wants from the shop so fingers crossed.

MajorR

magyar wrote:

If it does not work then under the Sale of Goods Act you can claim your money back.

Normally you get a certain period, e.g. a month (although this is not fixed) after which time you are deemed to have accepted the goods. However as it's a toy which has clearly been bought for Christmas then this is not the case.

Also, you have to open the packaging to find it doesn't work, so that can hardly be a problem!

And no, you don't have to accept a credit note, you can insist on a refund.

spot on!

under the 'sale of goods act' the item you mention is not fit for suppose(it doesnt work) there is no set time limits as to when you are entitled to take broken things back, but a rough guide is 6-12months for small elec goods such as your toy. Dont get fobbed off with 'you've had it a month' or 'you need to send it back to the manufactor'
items are expected to last a decent amount of time and a month is to short even for the smallest/cheapest items. you never have to send things back to manufactors if you've had the goods less than 12months, you buy stuff from a retailer so your contract of sell is with them only!

TomsMom

MajorR wrote:

spot on!

under the 'sale of goods act' the item you mention is not fit for suppose(it doesnt work) there is no set time limits as to when you are entitled to take broken things back, but a rough guide is 6-12months for small elec goods such as your toy. Dont get fobbed off with 'you've had it a month' or 'you need to send it back to the manufactor'
items are expected to last a decent amount of time and a month is to short even for the smallest/cheapest items. you never have to send things back to manufactors if you've had the goods less than 12months, you buy stuff from a retailer so your contract of sell is with them only!

Our local Woolworths will not refund on items that no longer work if you've had them for longer than 28 days. My son has bought items, e.g. Garmin Sat Nav, cordless drill, and when there's been a problem the manager has told him there's nothing the store can do and to ring an 0870 number. He rang the number and they told him to take the item back to the store.... the store told him they could not help and to ring the 0870 number...etc....

FloFlo

TomsMom wrote:

Our local Woolworths will not refund on items that no longer work if you've had them for longer than 28 days. My son has bought items, e.g. Garmin Sat Nav, cordless drill, and when there's been a problem the manager has told him there's nothing the store can do and to ring an 0870 number. He rang the number and they told him to take the item back to the store.... the store told him they could not help and to ring the 0870 number...etc....

Ask for the store managers name, write to him outlining the issue ask for a refund give them a date to refund by. Take a copy of the letter to your local trading standards and ask them to make a record of your complaint. If you don't get your refund go back to trading standard and ask them to pursue your complaint.

PeteM

TomsMom wrote:

Our local Woolworths will not refund on items that no longer work if you've had them for longer than 28 days. My son has bought items, e.g. Garmin Sat Nav, cordless drill, and when there's been a problem the manager has told him there's nothing the store can do and to ring an 0870 number. He rang the number and they told him to take the item back to the store.... the store told him they could not help and to ring the 0870 number...etc....

Re. Woolworth’s - I returned a vacuum cleaner after 2-3 weeks, when the belt snapped. I was given a brand new cleaner as a replacement.
This machine would then work for no more than 5/6 minutes before cutting out (thermo cut off). After about half an hour this would reset and you could complete the job.

I took this back to another Woolworth’s branch, and although I had had the machine for six months or so, I was given a full refund. In fact, they gave me cash back, although I had paid by gift vouchers - left the store in a hurry

However, my BIL tried to return an Ipod to Comet's this week, and was given a "trouble-shooting guide" and told to contact Apple for an exchange if needed.

It's at times like these, you learn the true value of customer service, and although Tesco have their knockers (!!), you cant beat their returns policy on electrical goods.

SallyD

Remember, you may well be entitled to a refund ie. if an item is faulty. However, you cannot force the shop to put their hand in the till to give you a refund - only the Registrar at the local Small Claims Court can.

If the shop will not refund and you feel you are within your rights to claim one then you need to take out a claim in the Small Claims Court.

TomsMom

FloFlo wrote:

Ask for the store managers name, write to him outlining the issue ask for a refund give them a date to refund by. Take a copy of the letter to your local trading standards and ask them to make a record of your complaint. If you don't get your refund go back to trading standard and ask them to pursue your complaint.

It's all the more awkward as we live in a very small town where Woolworths is just two minutes walk away and everyone knows the manager by christian name. I'm half expecting hubby's Christmas present to pack up fairly quickly (I know, I shouldn't have bought it from there but nearest other shops for this item about 90 minutes drive away :rolleyes: ) so it will be interesting to see what happens if it's necessary to take it back.

magyar

TomsMom wrote:

Our local Woolworths will not refund on items that no longer work if you've had them for longer than 28 days. My son has bought items, e.g. Garmin Sat Nav, cordless drill, and when there's been a problem the manager has told him there's nothing the store can do and to ring an 0870 number. He rang the number and they told him to take the item back to the store.... the store told him they could not help and to ring the 0870 number...etc....

As SallyD says, only a court can force them to do something, however just so we're clear, this is my understanding of the law:

If something does not work from day one, you have to return them within a reasonable amount of time. This is not stated explicitly, but many stores use 28 days as their definition and, whilst this is just their definition, it's probably reasonable. After this period you are deemed to have accepted the goods. (Note that if we're talking about a toy bought in, e.g. early November, then it is clearly 'reasonable' that the fault wasn't discovered until Xmas)

After this point, the immediate right of cancellation of contract (i.e. return of the goods for a refund) would not necessarily apply and instead the shop can lawfully offer to repair the goods instead, provided this is done within a reasonable timescale. (Many stores will of course still honour a refund as a repair is not economic). Goods have to last as long as would be reasonably expected for its type, e.g. a SatNav with no working parts would reasonably be expected to last years but an oil filter on a car less than a year.