Advice needed with faulty goods

sarah1337

Hello,
To keep this brief as not to bore anyone.
I Bought and paid for goods from a wholesale shop In Jan 2012. (I am a retail shop)
Goods were faulty asked for refund immediately all very polite sent pics and emails of goods etc. Was offered credit note and told to post goods back using their courier at £50.00 per item would have cost me about £150.00 to send goods back. After numerous emails decided to just keep hold of faulty products and contact my bank to get a refund and dodgy firm can come and get their faulty goods - which were damaged so no good to anyone. They never came and got.
Obviously I did not want a credit note as they could have sent me faulty goods again and I'd be back in same position. And that postage was ridiculous not worth the risk!
Told bank all about it and 4 months later April 2012 I received a full refund unexpectedly straight into my bank.
Never heard a word from Wholesaler nothing at all until yesterday!
They apparently want their money back from me and sent a further email saying they had sent me previously two invoices demanding payment and the bank did not tell them they refunded me and they should not have refunded me so they want their money by 2pm Friday otherwise they will instruct a solicitor...
Um..I am very worried as why on earth would they not have known in April that I had been given a refund from their own bank.
Any advice would be appreciated as I have done nothing wrong. Oh and faulty goods went in the bin as they were rubbish.
Thankyou sarah

wealdroam

As a business to business transaction, you and the seller are able to contract out from some statutory rights.

And of course Consumer Rights do not apply.

Can I suggest you read your contract documentation about this.

You might want to seek legal advice.

rustyboy21

sarah1337 wrote: »

Hello,
To keep this brief as not to bore anyone.
I Bought and paid for goods from a wholesale shop In Jan 2012. (I am a retail shop)
Goods were faulty asked for refund immediately all very polite sent pics and emails of goods etc. Was offered credit note and told to post goods back using their courier at £50.00 per item would have cost me about £150.00 to send goods back. After numerous emails decided to just keep hold of faulty products and contact my bank to get a refund and dodgy firm can come and get their faulty goods - which were damaged so no good to anyone. They never came and got.
Obviously I did not want a credit note as they could have sent me faulty goods again and I'd be back in same position. And that postage was ridiculous not worth the risk!
Told bank all about it and 4 months later April 2012 I received a full refund unexpectedly straight into my bank.
Never heard a word from Wholesaler nothing at all until yesterday!
They apparently want their money back from me and sent a further email saying they had sent me previously two invoices demanding payment and the bank did not tell them they refunded me and they should not have refunded me so they want their money by 2pm Friday otherwise they will instruct a solicitor...
Um..I am very worried as why on earth would they not have known in April that I had been given a refund from their own bank.
Any advice would be appreciated as I have done nothing wrong. Oh and faulty goods went in the bin as they were rubbish.
Thankyou sarah

You say you contacted them to request a refund, they agreed to a credit note, which you declined, so you went to the bank and got them to do a chargeback.

You haven't stated that you notified the wholesaler, that you had recieved the refund and the goods were ready for them to collect at their own expense.

IMO, When you had got the refund, you relinquished legal title to the goods, but did not inform them of the fact and by throwing them away, you have not given them an opprtunity to collect. Whether it took 1 week, or 6 months for them to find out about the chargeback, doesn't come into it. You did not notify them of your intention to dispose of the items.

One of the suppliers I deal with, takes up to 6 months before I actually see a credit applied to my account. I speak to the credit control dept and they put a marker on my account to say that a certain invoice is in dispute and it is ok for me to carry on receiving goods.

Look at it from your own business , if you had a customer who wanted a refund and you said only if they bring it in themselves or post it to you, If they then got a refund behind your back from the bank and then threw the goods out, so you couldn't collect them, how would you feel?

B2B rights are different than consumer rights. As I have said, you had no right to throw the goods away, as the instant you recieved your refund, the legal title of the goods became the wholesalers and you have a right to enable them to collect them and tyo keep them safe whilst in your care. You should have notified them of the fact and gave them a time limit for collection.

IMO, you are now on dodgy ground, as you have in effect deprived the co of getting back their goods, even though they most likely would have thrown them out anyway. That was their decision, not yours. It may end up in court this one.

bris

As a B2B transaction normal consumer protection does not apply and you are bound by the terms of the contract that the wholesaler operates. Most if not all operate a credit facility for unwanted and faulty goods. By throwing the goods away you are also liable for them.

shocky_2

I do not think the fact you are a business is a problem. The provisions of the Sale of Goods Act stating that goods must be fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality apply to both consumer and business contracts.

The only bit which gives me slight concern is the fact you threw the goods away. That said, you were not obliged to return the goods at their own cost and were not obliged to store the goods for more than a reasonable time. I think it is reasonable to dispose of faulty goods the seller hasn't collected after 6 months so you should be OK.

I think you should write back explaining that the supplier was in breach of contract because the goods were faulty, and therefore not fit for purpose or of satisfactory quality under s14 Sale of Goods Act 1979. Attach your pictures to prove that they were faulty. Explain that you used your right to examine the goods on arrival under s34 Sale of Goods Act 1979 rejected the goods because they were faulty - attach a copy of your email to show that you rejected the goods. Explain that you allowed the sellers to collect the goods at their own cost, and attach a copy of that email. Accordingly you will not be paying for the goods, and if legal action is brought you will counterclaim for your consequential loss of having to obtain the goods from elsewhere.

If the seller does take legal action they will probably deny that the goods were faulty, if you do not have decent evidence proving they were faulty you might consider offering a settlement.

sarah1337

Hi sorry I was trying to keep my dilemma short.
I did inform wholesaler immediately about the goods, I did offer to keep the goods and asked if they could give me discount on the purchase so I could rectify all damages they said they would look into it. I did not hear from them again even though I called them again - the assistant told me that the other assistant could not get back to me as she was dealing with 1000 complaints! Every thing pics, emails and phones calls were all sent to the company and I just got fed up with it all so asked the bank to look into it. I didn't do anything un-toward just wanted the massive broken bed collected and damaged table collected.
x

Hintza

sarah1337 wrote: »

......asked if they could give me discount on the purchase so I could rectify all damages.....

Careful now. You are implying the items were repairable but in your first post you said you binned them.

sarah1337

Okay I'll clarify the bed edges were completely damaged chipped and broken on all corners - my husband offered to sand them all down for me buy extra wood try and make good - this was explained to company I got from - the dressing table had scratches all over the mirror and chunks out the edges husband offered to help me out with all this originally to save any aggravation - that's what I mean by the prev reply! I knew I shouldn't keep things short as gets confusing.
Anyway told company all this asked if they were willing to discount the items even just so I could get it all sorted somehow and they did they'd look into it but never did. Hope this makes sense.
They don't do refunds only credit notes and if you accept a credit note which I was willing at the beginning of this drama they told me I would have to buy extra goods to meet there min order requirement which would have meant risking the goods weren't broken all over again !

shocky_2

Sounds to me like you are in the right. You have to give the company a reasonable chance to collect, but I don't think it is reasonable to expect someone to look after a table and bed for six months. Personally I would tell them buzz off.

CoolHotCold

youngsolicitor wrote: »

Sounds to me like you are in the right. You have to give the company a reasonable chance to collect, but I don't think it is reasonable to expect someone to look after a table and bed for six months. Personally I would tell them buzz off.

Not if you didn't inform them.

You are supposed to send letters to the owner and keep them safe and secure.

Because a refund was processed (or in the process of being refunded) the good legally belonged to the retailer, and in which case if they don't contact you, you have to contact them before disposing of them.