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TV Shopping Channel - Faulty Goods
bl21
Posts: 3 Newbie
Hi
Can anybody help with what would be my next best move? It’s a rather long and protracted saga, so please bear with me.
In October 2008 I bought myself two pairs of stud earrings from a TV shopping channel. I bought them so that I could wear both pairs together, and in the couple of years that I’ve owned them I’ve only worn them a handful of times (between 5 and 10 times), choosing to keep them for special occasion wear only.
The last time I wore them, it was pointed out to me that one of the gemstones was missing, but despite a thorough search of the area, the stone was not found. Fortunately, a week later, the stone was found in my dining room and was almost thrown in the bin as the finder thought it was a rhinestone decoration off a birthday card!
I decided to take the earrings to a local jeweller to ask about having the gemstone reset. On inspection, I was told that it would be safer and more cost-effective in the long-run to have new mounts made for the stones, as the earring was broken in 3 of the 4 sections, which he said was due to poor manufacture with air bubbles in the gold casting which had then split, allowing the gemstone to fall out. The cost of having the gemstones reset in new castings was more than I’d paid for the earrings originally, so I contacted the seller on 20 April 2011 to see if they would like to conduct their own inspection of the earrings, and for me to have a replacement pair.
The seller responded a few days later saying that as the items had exceeded their guarantee period they were not able to take the earrings back.
My next email to the seller pointed out that as the goods were obviously faulty from new, their guarantee period had no relevance.
I also pointed out that the earrings were advertised by them as being “a great investment”, and were not being sold as an occasional-wear item.
Having researched the Sale of Goods Act, it seems quite specific in that ‘goods must be safe, fit the description that's given of them and be both of "satisfactory" quality and fit for the purpose for which they're intended’.
The Act also states that goods must be ‘fit for purpose, last a reasonable length of time AND must be of a satisfactory quality’.
My own interpretation of this is that items must be suitable for use, and failure after 2 years of ownership (when only worn 5-10 times) cannot be classed as lasting ‘a reasonable length of time’.
If a pair of 14ct white gold earrings cannot be worn for the purpose they were intended, I don’t think it can be classed as “a great investment” as advertised.
Because of this, I asked the seller for an exchange.
A few days later, the seller emailed to say that as the items had exceeded their guarantee period they were not able to take the earrings back for repair or replacement.
I emailed straight back to reiterate that as the goods were faulty, they were exempt from their normal guarantee period. I also mentioned that under the Limitations Act, a buyer has up to 6 years in which to bring a complaint regards faulty goods. At this point I also requested that the matter be passed to a customer services manager as I felt I was receiving automated responses. (I did not want to call the seller as they only have a premium rate phone number).
Their next email asked me to return the earrings via Special Delivery and offered me a refund or replacement. I elected for a refund and returned the earrings to them that day, via Royal Mail Special Delivery as requested. I also took a close-up photograph of the faulty earring, highlighting the broken areas, and included this with my letter.
I tracked the parcel myself and saw that it was signed for the next day (1 June) at 8am.
As I had heard nothing from the seller, I emailed them for an update on the 20 June as they’d had the earrings for 19 days at this point. I did not receive a reply to this email, so forwarded the same email on 25 June. They replied on the 27th stating they did not have a record of the earrings being returned, so were unable to arrange a refund or replacement. They requested that I send them a copy of my proof of postage, which I did by return of email. This proof of postage allowed them to access Royal Mail’s track & trace service themselves.
Again I heard nothing, and was now getting a little worried so I emailed on 1 July requesting a further update.
The seller replied on 3 July stating they did not have a record of the earrings being returned, so were unable to arrange a refund or replacement. They also requested that I send them a copy of my proof of delivery, which I did by return of email. The electronic proof of delivery that I sent them showed the date, time and surname of the person that took delivery of the earrings. At this time, the earrings had been at their office for over a month, but they had still been unable to locate them!
Having heard nothing further, I emailed the seller on 12 July requesting an update. I did not receive a reply, so forwarded the same email again on the 15th.
On Saturday 16 July, I received a telephone call from the seller telling me that it was no longer possible for me to have a replacement as they no longer had the earrings in stock, and so they were only able to offer me a refund, including a refund of the original P&P. I wasn’t very happy with this, but I did agree to accept a refund. The seller then called me straight back to inform me that my debit card had expired since purchasing the earrings and I needed to provide up-to-date bank details so the refund could be processed immediately. My new card details were given.
Having checked my bank account regularly, the refund did not appear, so on the 25 July I emailed the seller to ask for an update on my refund. I received an email that same day apologising that I hadn’t received the refund, and that my details had been passed to their head office for investigation; they requested that I wait a little longer for a response.
As I’d heard nothing by 1 August, I emailed for an update regards my refund. They responded the same day, and again apologised that they were still waiting for a response from their head office regarding the refund, and could I allow them a week to reply.
On the 8 August I emailed for an update and reminded them that they requested the earrings be returned for a refund, and that they’d been in receipt of the earrings for two months, but I was still waiting for my refund.
On the 10 August the seller emailed me to say that their Head Office had conducted an investigation and found no fault and the earrings would be returned along with details of their investigation.
As you can imagine, I’m rather frustrated to say the least!!
The earrings arrived this morning along with their reasons for return.
Basically they have stated:
1. The item is not inherently faulty.
2. The item does conform to contract.
3. Durability requirement suggests that the goods should last for a reasonable amount of time but does not mean that they remain of satisfactory quality for this time.
They also mention that if the product was faulty at the time of sale then a full refund or a reasonable amount of compensation can be sought for up to 6 years from the date of sale. This does not mean all goods have to last years, it is the limit for making a claim in respect of a fault present at the time of sale.
I still believe the earrings are faulty, and my local jeweller has said he will provide me with a written report stating the problems with manufacture, but does anybody on the forum have any thoughts/comments/suggestions on how best to proceed?
(Again, sorry for the length of this post).
Thanks
Can anybody help with what would be my next best move? It’s a rather long and protracted saga, so please bear with me.
In October 2008 I bought myself two pairs of stud earrings from a TV shopping channel. I bought them so that I could wear both pairs together, and in the couple of years that I’ve owned them I’ve only worn them a handful of times (between 5 and 10 times), choosing to keep them for special occasion wear only.
The last time I wore them, it was pointed out to me that one of the gemstones was missing, but despite a thorough search of the area, the stone was not found. Fortunately, a week later, the stone was found in my dining room and was almost thrown in the bin as the finder thought it was a rhinestone decoration off a birthday card!
I decided to take the earrings to a local jeweller to ask about having the gemstone reset. On inspection, I was told that it would be safer and more cost-effective in the long-run to have new mounts made for the stones, as the earring was broken in 3 of the 4 sections, which he said was due to poor manufacture with air bubbles in the gold casting which had then split, allowing the gemstone to fall out. The cost of having the gemstones reset in new castings was more than I’d paid for the earrings originally, so I contacted the seller on 20 April 2011 to see if they would like to conduct their own inspection of the earrings, and for me to have a replacement pair.
The seller responded a few days later saying that as the items had exceeded their guarantee period they were not able to take the earrings back.
My next email to the seller pointed out that as the goods were obviously faulty from new, their guarantee period had no relevance.
I also pointed out that the earrings were advertised by them as being “a great investment”, and were not being sold as an occasional-wear item.
Having researched the Sale of Goods Act, it seems quite specific in that ‘goods must be safe, fit the description that's given of them and be both of "satisfactory" quality and fit for the purpose for which they're intended’.
The Act also states that goods must be ‘fit for purpose, last a reasonable length of time AND must be of a satisfactory quality’.
My own interpretation of this is that items must be suitable for use, and failure after 2 years of ownership (when only worn 5-10 times) cannot be classed as lasting ‘a reasonable length of time’.
If a pair of 14ct white gold earrings cannot be worn for the purpose they were intended, I don’t think it can be classed as “a great investment” as advertised.
Because of this, I asked the seller for an exchange.
A few days later, the seller emailed to say that as the items had exceeded their guarantee period they were not able to take the earrings back for repair or replacement.
I emailed straight back to reiterate that as the goods were faulty, they were exempt from their normal guarantee period. I also mentioned that under the Limitations Act, a buyer has up to 6 years in which to bring a complaint regards faulty goods. At this point I also requested that the matter be passed to a customer services manager as I felt I was receiving automated responses. (I did not want to call the seller as they only have a premium rate phone number).
Their next email asked me to return the earrings via Special Delivery and offered me a refund or replacement. I elected for a refund and returned the earrings to them that day, via Royal Mail Special Delivery as requested. I also took a close-up photograph of the faulty earring, highlighting the broken areas, and included this with my letter.
I tracked the parcel myself and saw that it was signed for the next day (1 June) at 8am.
As I had heard nothing from the seller, I emailed them for an update on the 20 June as they’d had the earrings for 19 days at this point. I did not receive a reply to this email, so forwarded the same email on 25 June. They replied on the 27th stating they did not have a record of the earrings being returned, so were unable to arrange a refund or replacement. They requested that I send them a copy of my proof of postage, which I did by return of email. This proof of postage allowed them to access Royal Mail’s track & trace service themselves.
Again I heard nothing, and was now getting a little worried so I emailed on 1 July requesting a further update.
The seller replied on 3 July stating they did not have a record of the earrings being returned, so were unable to arrange a refund or replacement. They also requested that I send them a copy of my proof of delivery, which I did by return of email. The electronic proof of delivery that I sent them showed the date, time and surname of the person that took delivery of the earrings. At this time, the earrings had been at their office for over a month, but they had still been unable to locate them!
Having heard nothing further, I emailed the seller on 12 July requesting an update. I did not receive a reply, so forwarded the same email again on the 15th.
On Saturday 16 July, I received a telephone call from the seller telling me that it was no longer possible for me to have a replacement as they no longer had the earrings in stock, and so they were only able to offer me a refund, including a refund of the original P&P. I wasn’t very happy with this, but I did agree to accept a refund. The seller then called me straight back to inform me that my debit card had expired since purchasing the earrings and I needed to provide up-to-date bank details so the refund could be processed immediately. My new card details were given.
Having checked my bank account regularly, the refund did not appear, so on the 25 July I emailed the seller to ask for an update on my refund. I received an email that same day apologising that I hadn’t received the refund, and that my details had been passed to their head office for investigation; they requested that I wait a little longer for a response.
As I’d heard nothing by 1 August, I emailed for an update regards my refund. They responded the same day, and again apologised that they were still waiting for a response from their head office regarding the refund, and could I allow them a week to reply.
On the 8 August I emailed for an update and reminded them that they requested the earrings be returned for a refund, and that they’d been in receipt of the earrings for two months, but I was still waiting for my refund.
On the 10 August the seller emailed me to say that their Head Office had conducted an investigation and found no fault and the earrings would be returned along with details of their investigation.
As you can imagine, I’m rather frustrated to say the least!!
The earrings arrived this morning along with their reasons for return.
Basically they have stated:
1. The item is not inherently faulty.
2. The item does conform to contract.
3. Durability requirement suggests that the goods should last for a reasonable amount of time but does not mean that they remain of satisfactory quality for this time.
They also mention that if the product was faulty at the time of sale then a full refund or a reasonable amount of compensation can be sought for up to 6 years from the date of sale. This does not mean all goods have to last years, it is the limit for making a claim in respect of a fault present at the time of sale.
I still believe the earrings are faulty, and my local jeweller has said he will provide me with a written report stating the problems with manufacture, but does anybody on the forum have any thoughts/comments/suggestions on how best to proceed?
(Again, sorry for the length of this post).
Thanks
0
Comments
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Get an independent report - you will probably have to pay for this - which states that they were not manufactured correctly and there was a fault in the manufacturing process which has led to them splitting.
Then write to them when you have this report stating that you will take them to the small claims court for a refund/repair or something or other under the SOGA. then see what they say.
theres probably bits im missing but your post is far too epic for people to read fully. try and condense it a bit.one of the famous 5
0 -
She has the report which backs up the claims.geordieracer wrote: »Get an independent report - .
Send them the report with a LBA and be prepaired to go to court. With the report you would have an excellent chance of winning. Please bare in mind the may be able to reduce the refund for the use you have had out of them. The court would decide how much that would be. Remember to add the cost of the report to the claim.0 -
Don't forget an important element of the equation will be price - if they were cheap, they are not expected to be as durable as higher value ones. 14ct gold is not the greatest, so this may be reflected in the expected lifespan of the items.0
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Thanks for the replies. I'm definitely going to go back to my jeweller and ask him to prepare his report. I'm also going to ask his opinion on how long a pair of 14ct gold earrings should last. They were on offer at £130, reduced from £200, so I really think they should last longer than they have.
Thanks0 -
She has the report which backs up the claims.
Send them the report with a LBA and be prepaired to go to court. With the report you would have an excellent chance of winning. Please bare in mind the may be able to reduce the refund for the use you have had out of them. The court would decide how much that would be. Remember to add the cost of the report to the claim.
Yeah i wasnt sure if it was a report or just the jeweller saying what was wrong with them - there is a world of difference.one of the famous 50
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