£60 shoes from Burton fell apart after a month, got them repaired, refund?

simmed

The heel of the boots has a "sole" attached to it, about 1 inch thick. After only a month, this sole peeled off and fell off somewhere, leaving a cardboard-like layer underneath. Obviously unusable and I was lopsided if I wore them (on account of one heel being non-existent).

wealdroam

You cannot claim the cost of the repair from the original seller.

As you know, you should've given the seller the opportunity to provide a remedy. You did not.

"fell off somewhere".
Does this mean that you cannot remember this event?
Are you suggesting that the boot was faulty in some way?
From what you have written, can we assume that you do not even have the original one inch thick sole, so showing the retailer the fault may also be difficult?

You are never going to get a full refund.

Clearly you like these boots, being "desperate to use them again", so accept the price of the repair is just an unfortunate cost of ownership.

simmed

wealdroam wrote: »

"fell off somewhere".
Does this mean that you cannot remember this event?

Yep, sole started peeling off a little, a week or so later I realised the heel had fell off at some point when I was out.

wealdroam wrote: »

Are you suggesting that the boot was faulty in some way?

Unless you think that £60 boots are supposed to fall apart after a month of use, yes they were faulty :rotfl:

wealdroam wrote: »

From what you have written, can we assume that you do not even have the original one inch thick sole, so showing the retailer the fault may also be difficult?

Correct.

Thanks for the advice! Not what I wanted to hear, but still grateful for truth.

angelil

Usually in sale time they will tell you at the till, or it will be written on the receipt, that there are no refunds on sale products. I had the impression this was standard procedure. Even if they are 'worth' £60, regardless of what you paid for them, you will not get a refund firstly because you bought them in sale time. Secondly, you tinkered with them before giving the manufacturer a chance to remedy the problem, so you will also not be getting a refund because of that. I once asked my housemate (who was studying engineering) to try to repair my hairdryer. Even if he had succeeded (!) do you think the manufacturer of the hairdryer would have forked out for a refund on the price of the hairdryer? Heck no. You invalidate warranties by doing such things even if they are carried out by professionals (which in my case it wasn't!).

londonTiger

dont buy shoes from high street shops buy them from a reputable cobbler. High street shops produce disposable gear, they don't make them to last.

wealdroam

angelil wrote: »

Usually in sale time they will tell you at the till, or it will be written on the receipt, that there are no refunds on sale products.

You are right.
That clause is often used.
It is also usually accompanied by "this does not affect your statutory rights".

That all means that they will not accept a return for a refund if you change your mind.

They cannot refuse you a remedy if the goods are faulty in some way.
You have a statutory right to such a remedy, and being told "no refunds" is unlawful.

londonTiger

I rememebr I bought a pair of shorts from fcuk two summers ago, it ripped on the rear, the material was very thin, almost as thin as bedsheets. the pocket edge was a weak point and I think friction from the pocket on the seat as I was sat down caused the shorts to tear.

I phoned up fcuk custoemr servicer and they told me to go to a store because they'll be able to diagnose it there an then. And give me a refund if they found that it was a genuine defenct. I went there and the store manager took one hour to deliberate on whether to refund me or not. Meanwhile I was out shopping, I came back an hour later. He told me he couldn't conclude whether it was a defect or not and he tried to phone head office but they're closed so he asked me to go back the following day.

I was stumped. It's amazing how scrooge these retailers are considering how low their cost base and mark up is.

I have similar customer service issues with topman and republic as well. They are not in the business of refunding people for defects. I think paert of it is that most idiots who buy buy buy never go back to report defects and staff dont have a clue how to deal with such issues.

I stopped buying disposable clothes now, most of my stuff run through several seasons, shops like uniglo produce excellent clothes that run through several seasons as they are simple.

londonTiger

One tyhing I love about Japanese culture is that they don't do anything by seconds, whatever they put their energy on they strive to do the best job they possibly can. You don't get a lot of cheap tat from Japan.

Tiddlywinks

londonTiger wrote: »

dont buy shoes from high street shops buy them from a reputable cobbler. High street shops produce disposable gear, they don't make them to last.

Now back to the REAL world........

OP - the shoes may well not have been fit for purpose i.e. walking around BUT you do not now have the faulty heel (it dropped off), you did not minimise the damage (you said the sole started to peel but you continued to wear them) and then you did not give the seller the chance to examine and repair the item before you had the repair done yourself. Plus you have left it another two months without reporting it,

You paid £6 for the repair and still like and have use of the boots- just accept it. Is it really worth any more hassle?

Valli

angelil wrote: »

Usually in sale time they will tell you at the till, or it will be written on the receipt, that there are no refunds on sale products. I had the impression this was standard procedure.

This is NOT true IF the goods sold were faulty or not fit for purpose. Retailers cannot impose T&Cs on sale goods which 'cancel out' a purchaser's right to a remedy under SoGA

ThumbRemote

angelil wrote: »

Usually in sale time they will tell you at the till, or it will be written on the receipt, that there are no refunds on sale products. I had the impression this was standard procedure. Even if they are 'worth' £60, regardless of what you paid for them, you will not get a refund firstly because you bought them in sale time. Secondly, you tinkered with them before giving the manufacturer a chance to remedy the problem, so you will also not be getting a refund because of that. I once asked my housemate (who was studying engineering) to try to repair my hairdryer. Even if he had succeeded (!) do you think the manufacturer of the hairdryer would have forked out for a refund on the price of the hairdryer? Heck no. You invalidate warranties by doing such things even if they are carried out by professionals (which in my case it wasn't!).

This is almost like a game of 'spot the mistake'.

As others have pointed out, whether they were sale items or not has no impact on your consumer rights. The only thing it can change is whether the store is willing to offer a refund/exchange for you changing your mind.

The law takes no account of what something is 'worth'. It is concerned with what you paid (and potentially how much use you've had from a product).

Tinkering with a product does not automatically mean you can't get a refund. It may mean the retailer cannot remedy a specific problem, however if the item isnt overall of satisfactory quality, it still isn't.

Whether you invalidate warranties or not is irrelevant. The issue in question is the law, the Sale of Goods Act, not a manufacturers warranty which is a quite seperate issue.

The story of a hairdryer is very nice. Why did you ask a friend to try and repair it rather then go back to the shop?