Stiffed by retailer.. any chance CC company might help?

fenceposttortoise

Not been having a very good month!
Background: Family car failed - net result - new gearbox required.

Gearbox unrepairable and unavailable from Manufacturer, so a 2nd hand replacement was sourced via a breakers yard (you can see where this is going!).

A long established breakers yard was used to try to reduce some of the risk of dealing with this sector and a good, low mileage gearbox found at a premium price. At the same time, the garage working on the car found that the flywheel also needed replacing, so the deal with the breakers for the gearbox included the low mileage flywheel off the same dismantled car. All good so far - gearbox priced at £950, flywheel at £150 - deal done at £1000 plus delivery, 3 month warranty included. Paid on an MBNA card to try to give myself some insurance (and charged a premium by the breakers for paying this way).

Fast forward to the 2nd hand parts arriving at the garage where the car is being repaired. The 'replacement' flywheel is completely knackered, totally worn out... so a call is made to the breakers accordingly and the flywheel returned (at my expense of £28) for refund. Now with some trepidation the gearbox is fitted to our car, the job completed and the car returned to us. At this point we discover that the replacement 'low mileage' gearbox is also showing a good deal of wear (worse than the 128k mile 'box that was removed) and baulks into 1st, crunches into 2nd and is notchy through the other gears.....

I still hadn't received the refund for the returned flywheel, so an awkward phonecall to the breakers followed, with a request to redress the problem in some way - the net result was a total refund of £150. Better than nothing, but only really the refund of the flywheel. Needless to say the breaker argued that he had only charged me £50 for the flywheel and the gearbox had always been £950 so he was refunding the £50 for the returned flywheel and giving a £100 credit for the fact the gearbox is worn out... I see it as having been refunded just for the flywheel.

So, I am down £952 (after the charges and postage) with a well worn gearbox left in the family car and feeling somewhat stiffed. I may be being naiive and the answer is 'suck it up', but is there a chance that the credit card company (MBNA) might come to my rescue through a Section 75 claim or anything? I could exercise the 3 month warranty and just return the 'box, but the labour alone for a 'box change is the best part of £300 and that would be down to me whatever.

Any thoughts? even if they are 'bad luck' or 'you're being unreasonable' welcome

lisyloo

FWIW - I don't see any unreasonableness here and yes you do have statutory rights which NO trader can ignore.

Can we establish a few things though.

1) Who bought the items - yourself direct or the garage. Sounds like you dealt with the breakers directly, but just want to establish who you have a contract with.
2) The description appear to be "low mileage". Is this documented somewhere or is this just word of mouth. Any indepndent witnesses to this description e.g. the garage?
3) Do you have either free legal advice or free legal cover on your home insurance?

Yes you should be covered by section 75 and able to put a claim into MBNA, however they will want to see what you have done to resolve the issue with the retailer first, so be prepared to provide details of phone calls.
They will also examine on what basis the goods were sold. Obviouslya receipt with something like "excellent low mileage flywheel" is going to hold up better than your word against theirs, although I'd still sya you had a case that the goods weren't fit for purpose if they are "completely knackered".
Be aware that MBNA will be looking to establish the extent of their liability. Some might read that as doing anything they can to wiggle out of it.
I have had no experience with them but clearly caseslike this are a cost to them on the other hand they are jointly liable in law.

I am not a mechanic but I think the question will be asked as to whether the mechanics inspected the gearbox before spending £300 putting it in.
That is an entirely seperate question and road to go down.

fenceposttortoise

lisyloo wrote: »

FWIW - I don't see any unreasonableness here and yes you do have statutory rights which NO trader can ignore.

Can we establish a few things though.

1) Who bought the items - yourself direct or the garage. Sounds like you dealt with the breakers directly, but just want to establish who you have a contract with.
2) The description appear to be "low mileage". Is this documented somewhere or is this just word of mouth. Any indepndent witnesses to this description e.g. the garage?
3) Do you have either free legal advice or free legal cover on your home insurance?

Yes you should be covered by section 75 and able to put a claim into MBNA, however they will want to see what you have done to resolve the issue with the retailer first, so be prepared to provide details of phone calls.
They will also examine on what basis the goods were sold. Obviouslya receipt with something like "excellent low mileage flywheel" is going to hold up better than your word against theirs, although I'd still sya you had a case that the goods weren't fit for purpose if they are "completely knackered".
Be aware that MBNA will be looking to establish the extent of their liability. Some might read that as doing anything they can to wiggle out of it.
I have had no experience with them but clearly caseslike this are a cost to them on the other hand they are jointly liable in law.

I am not a mechanic but I think the question will be asked as to whether the mechanics inspected the gearbox before spending £300 putting it in.
That is an entirely seperate question and road to go down.

Thanks for your reply, most helpful.
1)I bought the items direct with the breakers.
2)The items were described as having come from a car that had covered 24,000 miles on numerous occasions on the phone, but I don't have any witnesses to this.
3)I don't know, but can check

Yes, the mechanics inspected the 'box before fitting it, same as they did with the 2nd hand flywheel. There is a limit to the amount a physical inspection will tell and it wasn't possible to detect the problems with the gearbox until it was in the car and driveable... by which time it was too late. The worn out flywheel was more obvious.

Its a very difficult one for me as the breaker maintains that the 'box has only done 24k miles.... technically it is doing its job - it selects all gears and propels the vehicle forward and back - so could be argued as 'fit for purpose'. It was 2nd hand and not sold as 'new' so should be expected to have some wear.... its kind of a question of how much 'wear' is acceptable. For me, a 'box with only 24k miles should feel near enough like new and definately not crunch into gear.... For the breaker, he sold a 'box that had done 24k miles and it is doing its job - it crunches into gear, so what.... it could be seen as very subjective. It doesn't alter the fact that I feel like I have been stiffed :rotfl:

lisyloo

MBNA may wish you to get a independent report from a mechanic.
This is probably at your cost.
There will definitely have to be some way of finding out the "truth" of the matter which will usually be expert opinion.

Your opions would seem to be
1) submit claim to CC company
2) Go through the small claims court yourself
3) Use solicitors with any legal cover you have to sue the breakers

I would probably start with 1) myself which usually means filling out a form or doing it over the phone, but one way or another the "truth" about the state of the gearbox will have to be established and that may well be at your expense.

Sarting option 1) does not stop you changing your mind or going down any other route, although whichever way you go you will need some kind of "evidence". That could just be the word of the garage mechanic at the small claims court but will they turn up for free on a working day?
Will the garage support you in a claim against the breaker. Are they sympathetic to your case? Will they want paying a lot? or will they be unwilling to ruin a relationship with another local business?

dalesrider

Potental chargback options there.

Talk to MBNA.