Sports Direct refusing a refund

hatebadservice

Please can someone advise what next steps i can take against Sports Direct, who are refusing to refund me for some faulty footwear?
Events are as follows:
28 April - purchase footwear in store
13 May - returned footwear to store as the seam split on one shoe, after normal recreational wear. Had receipt and exchanged for same style again.
23 May - returned latest footwear to store (for refund) as the same fault developed, only worse this time. Had receipt but store manager refused refund saying he had to send off to Area Manager to be inspected. Despite much complaining from me, stating he was obliged to refund me, he refused, so I walked away with the goods.
31 May - I send a complaint email to Sports Direct HO Customer Services, giving all details and explaining why the footwear was not fit for purpose etc and demanding a refund and £50 compensation for the inconvenience etc.
4 June - reply received from their HO advising me to call into local store to hane over footwear for them to send to the Area Manager!! Did not answer my specific concerns and only said i would be contacted later once the Area Manager had made their decision.
5 June - i replied stating they were breaching my statutory rights in relation to the Sale of Goods Act, insisting that they make arrangements for me to be given an immediate refund plus compensation when i again attempt to return the defective footwear to me local store.
5 June - reply from HO stating next step had to be an inspection of the goods by the Area Manager.
5 June - I request immediate contact from their Area Manager to discuss the issue. No reply/contact
18 June - I express my dissatisfaction and again request contact from the Area Manager.

I am absolutely astounded at the appalling customer service I've encountered, and Sports Direct's lack of concern at breaching my rights. To be honest, we are only talking £18 of goods here, but it's the principle of the matter, these goods were obviously sub-standard. What can I do next??!! Thanks.

Okydoky25

I've no idea over your original question over rights to a refund im sure someone else can help but I can guarantee by demanding compensation of £50 would have got thir backs right up as there's no legal entitlement what so ever or this.

Had you handed the trainers over for inspection on the 23rd you would have had a refund by now as well?

Techhead_2

Have a read of the MSE articles on your consumer rights.

The retailer is entitled to examine the goods before deciding what to do. By claiming such compensation and not understanding your 'rights' you have weakened your position should this progress further.

bod1467

You have no direct statutory right to a refund per se ... whilst you can request one the retailer can opt for an alternative remedy that is more cost-effective for them. Your only right is to a remedy - repair, replace, refund. As such you must follow the retailer's process (provided that it does not cause significant inconvenience - I do not consider what they propose as "Significant" inconvenience given the product, unless you are a serious athlete in training for the Olympics ... and if you were you wouldn't be buying footwear from SD).

I appreciate you've already had one replacement - I suspect they'll offer to replace again. If those became faulty then I'd agree that a refund was pertinent, as it would be apparent that the product quality is poor and so not fit for the intended purpose.

Zandoni

Go into the store on a Sturday and show other cusomers the poor quality goods that are sold there. It worked for me once, they gave me a refund to get rid of me.

munchpot

Sorry OP but I have to agree with the others - Why on earth ask for almost 3x the amount of the purchase?
You spent £18 on a pair of shoes and before any discussion demanded £50 compo.
If I were a trader and you dmeanded that on first encounter I probably would want to be awkward. Why should you demand compenstation? What losses etc have you incurred that could be worth £50

arcon5

Zandoni wrote: »

Go into the store on a Sturday and show other cusomers the poor quality goods that are sold there. It worked for me once, they gave me a refund to get rid of me.

That might be an appropriate action to take had the store refused to offer any sort of remedy, but as it stands the store have asked to have them inspected and not breached ops statutory rights.

arcon5

hatebadservice wrote: »

Please can someone advise what next steps i can take against Sports Direct, who are refusing to refund me for some faulty footwear?
Events are as follows:
28 April - purchase footwear in store
13 May - returned footwear to store as the seam split on one shoe, after normal recreational wear. Had receipt and exchanged for same style again.
23 May - returned latest footwear to store (for refund) as the same fault developed, only worse this time. Had receipt but store manager refused refund saying he had to send off to Area Manager to be inspected. Despite much complaining from me, stating he was obliged to refund me, he refused, so I walked away with the goods.
31 May - I send a complaint email to Sports Direct HO Customer Services, giving all details and explaining why the footwear was not fit for purpose etc and demanding a refund and £50 compensation for the inconvenience etc.
4 June - reply received from their HO advising me to call into local store to hane over footwear for them to send to the Area Manager!! Did not answer my specific concerns and only said i would be contacted later once the Area Manager had made their decision.
5 June - i replied stating they were breaching my statutory rights in relation to the Sale of Goods Act, insisting that they make arrangements for me to be given an immediate refund plus compensation when i again attempt to return the defective footwear to me local store.
5 June - reply from HO stating next step had to be an inspection of the goods by the Area Manager.
5 June - I request immediate contact from their Area Manager to discuss the issue. No reply/contact
18 June - I express my dissatisfaction and again request contact from the Area Manager.

How did you calculate this figure?

I am absolutely astounded at the appalling customer service I've encountered, and Sports Direct's lack of concern at breaching my rights.

Have you read up on what your statutory rights are? If so you would understand the retailer is entitled to repair or replace faulty goods after 2 months.

To be honest, we are only talking £18 of goods here, but it's the principle of the matter, these goods were obviously sub-standard. What can I do next??!! Thanks.

Read the relevant MSE guides.
Return to the store and leave the trainers with the staff.
Forget about your ridiculous compensation claim.

paddyrg

Now in fairness, for £18 I would not be expecting much in the way of durability - maybe a few gym hours a week, or whatever they are suited for, probably less so for daily main footwear wear. Fitness for purpose does not mean that everything has to be rugged/robust/last forever, just that it fits the purpose that it is sold for, and price is a factor in that calculation. Also agreed that you haven't suffered £50 of proveable losses, indeed if you did get a refund eventually you would have had months of free wear. Drop the compo request, follow their procedure, see what they say.

hatebadservice

Thanks all. In fairness I did research various forums/websites for my rights/the shops rights, and I still think that they have failed in their duty under the Sales of Goods Act. Re the SAD FART technique, the goods were obviously not of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose or lasted a 'reasonable' length of time. The footwear must have been defective for them to show such deterioration within 2 weeks, each time.
As I had already accepted a replacement pair, I was not willing to try a third, and still feel that my request for a refund at that stage was valid.
My demand to their HO for compo was admittedly over the top, but I was furious at the reponse of the store manager. In the same way that banks charge for certain letters to customers I wanted to bill them for the time it took for me to pen the email and for the time it would take me to return back to the store etc. Not exactly calm and collected i know!!
I objected to the company deciding that the defective footwear had to be sent off to the AM for inspection, as one possible outcome that the store manager indicated to me was that they still wouldn't refund me!
I expect a lot from my hard earned cash, and fairness with whomever I'm dealing with. This company has in my eyes provided extremely bad service.

bris

They haven't done anything wrong, you have went in without a clue demanding rights you simply don't have and know nothing about. The retailer has the right to inspect the goods to determine how the fault happened. What would have happened was they get inspected and you get a refund. Now however they will just give you the runaround for your attitude towards them.