Returning faulty goods purchased online.

JeffG

Can some-one advise me please?
I purchased a pair of leather slippers online last March.
Last week the sole of one slipper became detatched from the slipper.
I emailed the company concerned to noyify them and request a refund or new slippers. Their reponse was that as the slippers were more than 30 days old, I need to return them and they will forward them to the manufacturer to assess whether the fault is through fair wear and tear or a manufacturing fault. If it turn out out that sole has come off during fair wear and tear then there will be a £5 admin charge to return them to me.
Is this legal and reasonable? or should I just demand replacement slippers? Your comments please. Jeff G

wealdroam

In my opinion, what they have said is both reasonable and legal.

Prepare yourself...
After six months it is for you to prove that the goods are inherently faulty.
I wonder whether it is worth going to that trouble?

If the damage to the product is deemed to be due to fair wear and tear, why should they have to pay to return the thing to you?

Have you tried gluing the sole back on with a good contact adhesive?

Remember, even if the goods are found inherenty faulty, and thus eligible for a repair, replacement or refund from the retailer, any refund can be reduced by an amount to take account of the use you have had from them.
In my experience, slippers don't last much over a year anyway, so any refund might be very small indeed.

arcon5

Seems reasonable to me.

After 6 months the burden is on the consumer to prove the fault is inherent, so in theory they could ask you to prove this first. If the item is faulty then they seem to be willing to assis, but if they have been damaged by you then it seems reasonable to me that you pay a small fee to cover their time and expense.

JeffG

I think the idea of an adhesive to try and stick the sole back is a good idea. i shall give it a try. Thanks

texranger

I used to go through several pairs of slippers a year ( purchased from several retailers) and have never thought of returning any, just either try to repair myself or just replace. now i get my slippers from Asda and i am down to 2 pairs a year

arcon5

as a side note, I saw a sign in a ShoeZone window recently advertising a 90 day returns policy :eek:

I think you'd be lucky for a pair of their shoes to last this long in the first place :rotfl: