Could anyone offer some advice please?

rothers

Hi,

I recently purchased two watches from watch shop.com for my wife for our anniversary. I couldn't make my mind up which she would like the most so I bought both with the intention of sending one back for a refund.

The watches came and my wife opened them whilst still laid in bed. Having got one of the watches out she immediately decided that the face was too big and put it back in the box. The protective plastic was not taken off and it was out of the box for a maximum of one minute. It never touched a hard surface.

I sent the watch back requesting a refund and received an email refusing that request as they said that it had been worn and had some scratches on the face and bracelet. There is absolutely no way that we had caused them and it definitely wasn't worn.

I have asked them to reconsider but they won't. Could somebody please advise what my options are?

Many thanks.

Noctu

Trading Standards and a letter sent Special Delivery, headed "Letter Before Action" advising them that you are returning the watch under the Distance Selling Regulations, again advising them that you had most definitely not caused the damage to the watch, and if you are not refunded within 14 days you will be taking them to Small Claims Court.

Good luck.

wealdroam

Noctu wrote: »

...and if you are not refunded within 14 days you will be taking them to Small Claims Court.

Perhaps worth remembering that under Distance Selling Regulation 14 they have up to 30 days to refund:

(3) The supplier shall make the reimbursement referred to in paragraph (1) as soon as possible and in any case within a period not exceeding 30 days beginning with the day on which the notice of cancellation was given.

rothers

Thanks for the advice, does anything else need to go in the letter?

Thanks again.

wealdroam

rothers wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, does anything else need to go in the letter?

I think the above posts cover it, but if you want other ideas then google letter before action for many samples.

In my opinion, the letter should not express any emotion.
Stick to facts and keep it short.

bris

They can of course counter sue for failing to take reasonable care of the goods. Whether you did or not would be for the court to decide, this is the retailers right to do.

agrinnall

You can only claim to be using the DSRs if you advised within 7 days of receiving the item that's what you intended to do. If you are past that time now then you can't use that method for the return, and you'll have to rely on the seller's T&Cs.

shaun_from_Africa

agrinnall wrote: »

You can only claim to be using the DSRs if you advised within 7 days of receiving the item that's what you intended to do. If you are past that time now then you can't use that method for the return, and you'll have to rely on the seller's T&Cs.

There is nothing written ito the DSR's that state that the consumer should specifically state that they are cancelling in accordance with the DSR's, so provided that the OP contacted the retailer within the 7 day allowable period then they are still entitled to a refund.

For a notice of cancellation, the DSR's state that

(3) For the purposes of these Regulations, a notice of cancellation is a notice in writing or in another durable medium available and accessible to the supplier (or to the other person to whom it is given) which, however expressed, indicates the intention of the consumer to cancel the contract.

rothers

It was outside seven days but within the retailers refund period.

Thanks for all the replies.

wealdroam

Rothers, just for clarity...

My earlier post, where I said...

wealdroam wrote: »

Perhaps worth remembering that under Distance Selling Regulation 14 they have up to 30 days to refund:

was only intended to give you an idea of what sort of timescale could be involved in a refund, beit via DSRs or not.

agrinnall

rothers wrote: »

It was outside seven days but within the retailers refund period.

Thanks for all the replies.

Thanks for the clarification from Shaun on DSR rules (or lack of them in this instance). Sadly the the fact that the contact came after 7 days means that a DSR return is not possible.