Refund / replacement troubles

jon.mithe

Hello,

I bought a squash racquet in late October, ~£140 (yeah I'm in the UK). Just after a week the frame broke with nothing but normal / expected use.

I contacted the supplier, Just Rackets, and a sales person got back to me said to send it in and they can send it off to dunlop to get it looked over.

A month passed and nothing. I emailed Just racquets, no response. I phone Just Racquets, the owner was not in and left a message to phone me back. Again, he didnt / no response.

I emailed more. Eventually a sales lady replied to me accidentally when she was trying to email the ower, pretty much saying wheres your customer service.

Mid decemeber, emailed, nothing. Now its coming to mid jan, ~2.5 months after I returned the racquet for replacement, I emailed them again saying this is an unacceptable amount of time / sort it out. No response!

So I have no idea what to do, I could try and ring but I do not particularly want to talk to the owner because I'll probably end up just loosing my temper, and especially as I do not really know my rights I will probably get screwed over, so I want things in writing with time to think.

I dont quite know my rights here. Why does the retailer have to get the manufacturer to replace it before they do? Surely all my interaction is with the retailer and they are responsible? Is there anything on time periods? 2.5 months is a long time.

The knock on effects are that given I do not know have a decent racquet I can no longer play in my squash league. I've had to drop out of two rotations and when I rejoin will have to start in a lower league and waste a rotation or two getting back to the competitive leagues.

I'm refusing to pay for another racquet and refusing to pay to restring my old racquet as this process should have been much quicker and I do not want to waste another £140 / £30.

Given they are just not responding, I'm also starting to explore other avenues, someone mentioned small claims court.

Anyone can help?
Thanks

So yeah if you want a racquet of any sort, do not trust Just Racquets, there customer service for me has been beyond non existent.

jon.mithe

Ok, so I discovered the Sales of good act. Complaints with not of satisfactory quality nor fit for purpose based on minor defects, not in good working order nor durable. I'm guessing thats the main part of my complaint.

Apparently they must cause me minimum inconvenience when dealing with the complaint, which they have caused me great inconvenience, primarily by not dealing with the issue and ignoring me / letting it drag on.

Apparently they must not lie about consumer rights under the Consumer Protection from Unfair trading, saying they have to send it off to the manufacturer and there is nothing they can do is lying.

And I should raise both of these issues with a local Authority of trading standards for them to investigate.

Anything more that anyone know of / am I on the right lines?

I think I can only send them information on this and if they fail to come through as a retailer, then proceed to the next level.

ThumbRemote

In the event of a fault within 6 months, it is assumed to be inherent and the onus is on the retailer to prove otherwise. Sending it to the manufacturer is quite acceptable in this case, to show it was a fault with the racket and not caused by misuse. However, that length of delay is ridiculous.

The SoGA gives three possible remedies for such an issue - refund, repair or replacement - and you get to choose. You cannot choose one which is 'disproportionate' but I can see no reason why a refund would be. Therefore, I'd buy a new racket and send the company a letter before action stating you require a full refund of the money originally paid.

wealdroam

Time to write a letter OP. A real letter.

Call it a letter before action. Search for samples.

State the problem.

State what you expect to happen... refund.

State when you expect this to happen... within 14 days.

State what will happen if they don't do the above... you will start small claims court action.

Send it recorded delivery.

Alternatively, did you pay by credit card?
If so, have a read of MSE's Section 75 Refunds article.

Alternative number two... did you pay by debit card?
If so, have a read of MSE's debit card chargeback article.
This may not be so straight forward.