Quickish question re: section 75 and Halifax.

aeuerby

To cut a long story short, we bought a glass dining table from a company which in hindsight I shouldn't have touched with a barge pole.

16 weeks after receiving (it was by then August) the glass base shattered while I was clearing the table of dinner plates.
The company refused to acknowledge the sale of goods act and I got nowhere with them so I turned to the credit card company, in this case Halifax and made a claim under section 75.

About 2 weeks ago they rang and said there is nothing they can do because we (as in us) cannot prove the table was faulty. Difficult to prove anyting when it's in pieces in my back garden. Anyway they asked if we wanted to escalate the claim which of course we said yes.

They're rung again today to say someone else is looking into it and they'll call back next Tuesday.

So my question is who is right here? My understanding of the sale of goods act is the credit card company are equally responsible as the shop and it is up to them to prove it wasn't faulty in the first place.
Just want to be ready to answer them when they ring back.

Thanks in advance.

Tixy

I don't believe that the credit card company is responsible under the sale of goods act at all.

But under section 75 you could make a claim if the goods were faulty when purchased. Your issue in this case will be proving that the goods were faulty when purchased. Which for something like this could be difficult.

When you say the company your purchased it from refused to acknowledge the sale of goods act what do you mean? they said it didn't apply? they said they wouldn't comply?

aeuerby

Thanks for your reply.
The company did both really.
They said as it wasn't broken when it was delivered it's not their problem and refused to have any further discussions.

When I contacted Consumer Direct they said and I quote "In addition, it is worth bearing in mind that Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes a credit card company jointly liable for any claim of this nature" Which I took to mean that the same rules regarding the company having to prove the table was not faulty when it left them.

It looks like then thats not the case and I'm a bit stuffed - and down £400. Might have to go to court after all (and it would appear we're not the only ones)

Thanks again though.

McKneff

Is it not possible to just replace the glass yourself.

meer53

For a Section 75 claim it is up to you to prove that a fault was present on delivery or that a manufacturing fault caused the break.

dazza.mk

Under the Sale of Goods Act for faults occuring within 6 months the burden of proof is on the retailer to prove the fault is due to 'mishandling', after that the burden of proof is on the purchaser to prove its manufacturing fault.

Section 75 is irrelevant in relation to 'faults' you simply use Section 75 to hold the credit card company jointly liable in relation to Sale of Goods Act rights (in this case)

meer53

The OP bought the goods in April if i read the post correctly. You can only use Section 75 is there is a breach of contract, the OP would need to establish what that breach was.

aeuerby

meer53 wrote: »

The OP bought the goods in April if i read the post correctly. You can only use Section 75 is there is a breach of contract, the OP would need to establish what that breach was.

I did buy in April this is correct, the shattering base happend 16 weeks later.
The company were informed the following day (a wednesday) and the credit card company were informed the following Friday. All well within the 6 months given in the sale of goods act.

I suppose what I really am asking is under a section 75 claim, does the credit card company have to abide to the sale of goods act too?
As usual it's all very confusing for Joe Public.

As an aside, does anyone know how or who to report a company to that are clearly trading against the law - I have since found out that we are not the only people that have had problems with this company.
When I contacted consumer direct they also claimed to have passed the case to trading standards and I know other have too but they are still trading.

aeuerby

McKneff wrote: »

Is it not possible to just replace the glass yourself.

Of course. And it is something we looked at.
However, the glass shattered within the 6 months given in the sale of goods act, so we should have been able to come to some kind of agreement with the company, if they even abided by the law.
But they didn't want to know.

McKneff

Another possibility of course is to claim on your house insurance if you have accidental damage if all else fails.

opinions4u

You could take both the retailer and the card company to the small claims court.