Sale of Goods Act and "free gifts"

brook2jack

Just so you know, the cost of whitening is the cost of the trays, materials plus the dentists time. As the dentist has doubled up doing the orthodontics and whitening the time part of the deal would not be applicable just the raw materials. £100 would be a good estimate of these. Normal cost of orthodontics alone is £1500 to £3000.

As to the legality , trading standards guidance latest published position is that they would not have a problem with dentists using products over 0.1% or suppliers who supply dentists only. There are moves to legally clarify the situation re dentists and the medical indemnity insurers have said they will defend any dentist who may get into trouble with tooth whitening .

arcon5

We're not going to hear how this ended, are we?

Op, you out there anywhere?

Flyboy152

moonrakerz wrote: »

As you didn't actually pay £250 for it - do you really think ANY Court will back you up ?
What "damages" did you suffer ? None, as far as you explain.




In that case complain to the General Dental Council who regulate all dentists.

If it actually is "illegal" go to the Police !

What was the name of the character played by Bill Owen in "Last of the Summer....................???

The total cost for the teeth straightening and whitening kit was one thousand pounds. The work on the teeth was seven hundred and fifty pounds and the kit was two hundred and fifty pounds. Therefore the refund is two hundred and fifty pounds.

Flyboy152

fluffnutter wrote: »

A replacement item of similar value (but without the excessively high levels of bleach) *might* be appropriate. But why should you receive £250? You didn't pay this, you've not incurred losses to this value. You paid £1000 for a successful treatment (one assumes) that came with a free gift (of lesser value). The free gift is not fit for purpose and hence you're entitled to be put back in the same position as you were before. But seeing as you didn't pay out the £250... how can you expect it back?

Sounds all rather opportunistic to me...

Yes the OP did. It was included in the price of the whole service.

arcon5

If op could find out how much the service cost before they started the 'free gift' promotion then they could fairly determine how much they actually paid for the 'gift'. If for example they charged £900 prior then upped it to £1000 whilst the promotion was on, a £100 refund would seem to be fair, rather than the stated RRP/market rate.

Although that depends how long the promotion has been on -- if it's anything like the DFS sale you will have to go a long way back .

fluffnutter

Flyboy152 wrote: »

The total cost for the teeth straightening and whitening kit was one thousand pounds. The work on the teeth was seven hundred and fifty pounds and the kit was two hundred and fifty pounds. Therefore the refund is two hundred and fifty pounds.

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Yes the OP did [pay for the kit].

No, the kit was free. It's usual retail value is £250 but its cost, in this particular instance, was nothing. Perhaps you're struggling to understand the difference between cost and value. If I give you something for free, it's cost is zero, regardless of its value. Therefore you have paid nothing for it. Trying to argue that because its value is X you have paid X is nonsense.

Here's an analogy for you: I buy two items of some old dear on ebay - a really decent bed and a diamond ring. The bed's value is about £1000. She's a doddery old thing, bless her, and doesn't realise the ring's real diamonds and thinks it's worth just £50. She tells me I can have both for a grand, and that the ring is a free gift if I agree to buy the bed.

I then go to the jewellers down town where I'm informed my ring's actually worth, guess what?! £900! But I don't like this ring - it doesn't fit me and I want a refund. So I contact the old dear and tell her to refund me £900 because, after all, that's what I paid for it, right? Oh, and I'm keeping the bed because that's really nice.

Flyboy152

arcon5 wrote: »

If op could find out how much the service cost before they started the 'free gift' promotion then they could fairly determine how much they actually paid for the 'gift'. If for example they charged £900 prior then upped it to £1000 whilst the promotion was on, a £100 refund would seem to be fair, rather than the stated RRP/market rate.

Although that depends how long the promotion has been on -- if it's anything like the DFS sale you will have to go a long way back .

But that wouldn't that be unlawful? Similar to offering an item in a sale, but to increase the price a few days before.

Flyboy152

fluffnutter wrote: »

No, the kit was free. It's usual retail value is £250 but its cost, in this particular instance, was nothing. Perhaps you're struggling to understand the difference between cost and value. If I give you something for free, it's cost is zero, regardless of its value. Therefore you have paid nothing for it. Trying to argue that because its value is X you have paid X is nonsense.

Here's an analogy for you: I buy two items of some old dear on ebay - a really decent bed and a diamond ring. The bed's value is about £1000. She's a doddery old thing, bless her, and doesn't realise the ring's real diamonds and thinks it's worth just £50. She tells me I can have both for a grand, and that the ring is a free gift if I agree to buy the bed.

I then go to the jewellers down town where I'm informed my ring's actually worth, guess what?! £900! But I don't like this ring - it doesn't fit me and I want a refund. So I contact the old dear and tell her to refund me £900 because, after all, that's what I paid for it, right? Oh, and I'm keeping the bed because that's really nice.

In which case I can offer a ten pound item for sale at a thousand pounds, but include a free service that would normally cost nine hundred and ninety pounds and get away with not having to refund the customer when things go wrong.*

*Extreme analogy to illustrate the point.

brook2jack

brook2jack wrote: »

Just so you know, the cost of whitening is the cost of the trays, materials plus the dentists time. As the dentist has doubled up doing the orthodontics and whitening the time part of the deal would not be applicable just the raw materials. £100 would be a good estimate of these. Normal cost of orthodontics alone is £1500 to £3000 .

There is no orthodontist I know who can charge £750 for a course of orthodontic treatment. Most courses will start at £1500 upwards. A more realistic breakdown of costs is above. However as orthodontic retainers often double as whitening trays then if you knock off the cost of trays then you are looking at an even smaller figure.