2nd hand car parts problem

ThyJones

Hi there. I have a current problem.

My clutch went in my car, and rather than buying brand new at approx £300 i thought I would try and save some money by buying 2nd hand.

I used the website 1st choice car parts which is a place where you can request quotes and suppliers will basically update the request if they have the part you need.

The clutch was listed by them and listed 3 months warranty.
They took my number plate as well to confirm a match.

A few companies had the part, but this one appeared to be the cheapest, so i purchased it last Thursday, for delivery on Monday. It was delivered on Friday.

Today (first day the garage could get me in) I drove down to the garage for fitting of the clutch. About 2 hours later I received a call informing me that the clutch was the incorrect part and the diameter of it was different. My clutch originally was standard so it is definately the incorrect part.

I rang the supplier and told them, straight away they confronted me saying its not, and then asked for the number of the garage.

In the mean time, the garage ramps were being taken up by my car and therefore no other work could be done. I had to make a decision there and then to get them to buy a brand new one, because of the issue of taking up their ramps.

The supplier spoke to the garage, and the garage have told them this. The supplier then rang me, and basically said I didn't follow their terms and conditions, and check my invoice. I've not received an invoice. The supplier said its on the packaging, which its not. They then got a little irate, and pretty much hung up on me.

I've since rang barclaycard up(i put this on my credit card for hopefully more cover), and they are going to send out a form for me to fill in for investigation, but i'm worried im going to be out of pocket the £191 i paid for the clutch, when they have sent a part that is not fit for purpose/incorrect, as if barclaycard don't agree with me, the payment will stand?

Where do i stand?

I've also just re rang the supplier hoping to sort something out, when i was again told to read my invoice which i didnt have, and the terms on the quote website arent anything to do with them.

They also said they would speak to the director tomorrow and see what he says, but to be honest i'm already past the 7 days deadline for return, so can't see it working in my favour at all.

I've included some info below, first from the place where i got the quotes(not the supplier) and then the terms and conditions from the suppliers website which i've just looked at:

The website I got the quote from states:

What happens if a part supplied is faulty?

Hide Answer A: Simply contact the supplying member direct to inform them your part is faulty. The member will usually ask you to return the faulty part and either despatch a replacement or if they do not have one available, they will arrange for an immediate refund. If the matter cannot be resolved then you can report the problem to our Customer Care team via the link on the contact us pag.e.




Supplier page:


Returns
You may return products within 7 business days of shipment for a refund or replacement. All returns information is located below.

On orders shipped overnight or today, all shipping carriers reserve the right to extend delivery time by 24 hours to residential deliveries. This is beyond our control and air-shipping charges will NOT be refunded for this reason.
Upon receiving your order, please inspect all packages thoroughly for any missing, damaged or incorrect parts. Our warehouses put forth every effort to prevent damage to parts during shipping; however, damage may occur on a rare occasion. If you receive a damaged part, do NOT accept the package. Instead, you should have the shipper immediately return the package to us. If the shipper has left a damaged package in your absence, immediately contact the courier company (the shipper) and have the package returned to us. We are not responsible for missing, damaged, or incorrect parts after 48 hours of receiving the package, regardless of which party is at fault. We must be contacted immediately if any of the above occurs. Additionally, all claims for damaged items is processed by calling us. On your behalf, we will deal with the shipping company.
Returns Procedure
When returning items to us, please note that we will need your order number, name, email address and the part number you wish to return along with a detailed explanation of why you need to return it.
If you do not have your order number, please indicate when your order was purchased and the full name in which the order was placed. All returns must be postage paid. Return shipping charges are not refundable. All returns must be packaged properly; we are not responsible for damaged returns that occur as a result of improper packing.

Returns Policy
Within 7 working days of placing your order from ECO CAR PARTS LTD you may return any core or wrong part(s). No returns will be accepted after 7 working days. All parts must be in their original condition and must not be disassembled or damaged by incorrect installation. We are not responsible for installation errors, labour, towing or car rental expenses that have incurred as a result of the installation of any wrong or defective parts.

Any help would be appreciated

molerat

You would be better off posting in the consumer rights forum.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange#web

You have seven working days starting the day following delivery of the goods to inform the seller in writing that you wish to return them under the distance selling regulations. You do not have to return them in that time. Their t&c's cannot override your consumer rights. You have not given dates so I assume you received it on Fri 10th, if so you have until Tu 21st to inform them. You can be held liable for the return postage if they have informed in their written terms, not to be confused with their website terms.

ThyJones

molerat wrote: »

You would be better off posting in the consumer rights forum.

You have seven working days starting the day following delivery of the goods to inform the seller in writing that you wish to return them under the distance selling regulations. You do not have to return them in that time. Their t&c's cannot override your consumer rights. You have not given dates so I assume you received it on Fri 10th, if so you have until Tu 21st to inform them. You can be held liable for the return postage if they have informed in their written terms, not to be confused with their website terms.

Sorry, I was a little unsure where to put this, how can i move this post?

And yeah I received the part on Friday the 10th. What should this letter state? I have an email for them, is that suitable?

I've also not written any written terms or anything from them, apart from the package itself.

Could I just say something like:

To Whom this may concern,

On Thursday 9th February I did a quote on the 1stchoice.co.uk website for a clutch kit for a Nissan 350z. Your quote was returned as a listing, listing the clutch for £185.

On Thursday, at approx 13:00 I phoned up to place the order, where I confirmed my reg number as to match the part, and then confirmed the payment had been taken, and that I would receive the part on Monday.

I received the part, and took my car to the garage on Thursday 16th Feb. I was informed shortly after that the car part was incorrect, and was a different diameter than what it should be, and therefore not the part I needed.

I quickly rang your sales team informing of this matter and asking if I could have a refund, as the garage was then waiting to get my car off the ramps; therefore the only choice I had was to buy a new clutch from them there and then.

With this in mind, under the distance selling regulations I would like to inform you that I wish to return the item for a full refund as it is not fit for purpose and being the incorrect part.

something like that?

s_b

if you dont mind me saying you must be mad to fit a s/h clutch especially off a performance car,how would you expect it to bed in to the flywheel on your car for starters

ThyJones

s_b wrote: »

if you dont mind me saying you must be mad to fit a s/h clutch especially off a performance car,how would you expect it to bed in to the flywheel on your car for starters

Well, either way, its irrelevant to the situation really, but i've got the new one now anyway.

s_b

ThyJones wrote: »

Well, either way, its irrelevant to the situation really, but i've got the new one now anyway.

you dont say what the labour charge at the garage was but you might actually be in front here if the s/h part was fitted and it juddered like heck on take up and you had to pay labour charges again, as you would, to fit a new clutch,

waynedance

2nd hand clutch are you mad? if you can not afford to run this car then sell it and get something more affordable that you and buy parts for.

At my garage we will not fit peoples own parts for this reason, parts wrong car stuck on ramp.

Tremour-88

You could have fitted a s/h clutch only for it to let go the next day, always buy clutch kits brand new.

Also £191 just for a clutch? I brought a clutch for one of my old cars 2 years ago for £60.

jase1

Tremour-88 wrote: »

You could have fitted a s/h clutch only for it to let go the next day, always buy clutch kits brand new.

Also £191 just for a clutch? I brought a clutch for one of my old cars 2 years ago for £60.

I'd wager your car didn't have a 3.5L V6 engine...

That said, £191 for a SECOND HAND clutch? When the new one is £300? That's the bit I don't understand.

Notmyrealname

Never ever fit a second hand clutch. All you're doing is guaranteeing more cost. Whilst the friction material may look OK, the springs could be shot and the first time you find out is when you're driving down the road with it shuddering like an alcoholic before his first drink of the day. You've then got the expense of paying someone to take it back out again.

And £191? I'd not want to pay more than £20 for a second hand clutch, not that I'd ever buy one in the first place.

There are some things you simply don't buy second hand:

Clutches, brake pipes, brake pads, brake discs and tyres.

ThyJones

again, irrelevant to the problem, the 2nd hand clutch had done less than 5k miles, and was assessed before hand by the people putting in, enough for them to be happy fitting the part. If a part was "crap" they would not fit it.. so discussing this point is infact a waste of time, and makes no difference to the questions I had originally asked.. It was only afterwards the problem occured when the parts did not match.

It really does make no difference on the car this is being fitted to or what so ever, that wasn't related to the question and concerns asked, it was related to the legalities behind selling a 2nd hand part that was infact incorrect, and not giving a refund on said part.