Broken glasses - advice please

Flamingo_2

Hello,
I'm after some advice please with regard to my husbands glasses which have recently broken.

They were purchased from Boots in April 2011 & last week the bridge of the glasses just detached from the frame on one side whilst he was cleaning them.

He took them into the store from where they were purchased and was informed that because he did not purchase insurance at the time of buying the glasses there is nothing that can be done.

These glasses cost nearly £200 & they have certainly not lasted a reasonable length of time and therefore do not appear to be fit for purpose. We have both worn glasses for well over a decade & have never had such expensive glasses last for such a short period of time.

Given that the Boots Opticians recommend that eye tests are carried out every 2 years is it not reasonable to expect that glasses purchased from them will last for the duration between eye test?

Any advice on this matter would be very gratefully received.

Thanks in advance

wealdroam

Zandoni will be along shortly to advise that you speak to a manager.

But if that doesn't work, and as Boots have refused to do anything, you may need to enforce your rights under The Sale of Goods Act.

First you need to be sure that the fault isn't due to mishandling, etc.

Then, as the item is over six months old, you may well have to prove that the glasses have an inherent fault, i.e. a fault that was present at the time of sale but not necessarily apparent at that time.

Once it has been agreed that the fault is inherent, you are entitled to a remedy.
That remedy could be a repair, replacement of refund.
You can choose the remedy, but you cannot demand a remedy that is disproportionately costly, so effectively the retailer chooses the remedy.
They must also refund any costs of an independent report that proves the fault is inherent.

If a refund is decided upon, that can be reduced to take account of the use you have had.

All that, and more, is in MSE's Consumer Rights article.

noodles86

Just wanted to say two things as a previous Boots opticians employee firstly what they said about insurance is actually wrong as if you had of purchased insurance it would have only been valid from one year from collection so April 11-April 12 so that doesnt really make any difference. Secondly I noticed that if anything was over 12 months old my manager would ignore complaints unless someone phoned the call centre/head office to complain...maybe worth thinking about?

Flamingo_2

Many thanks to you both for your helpful replies I'll pass the info on to my husband.