Faulty designer boots help

cocobean12

Hello forumites, wondered if someone could confirm my rights before I take some goods back today?

My son brought some very expensive hand made wellingtons from a country store and when he got them home I noticed that one f the boots had a 'bulge' in the side, he wore them around the house and we put the airbags in overnight hoping that they would reshape in the warm room and it was just because they'd been squashed in storage at the shop. Two days later they were no better and on looking inside the boot the neoprene lining was severely creased, which doesn't look like they ever recover from. On closer inspection we have also noticed that the leg of one boot is over 1cm higher than the other!

I phoned the shop this morning and explained, the assistant was a bit 'offy' and said they would have to send them back to the manufacturers in France for their comments, I said we would be looking for a full refund as he had lost faith in the brand and would be looking at alternatives, they implied it would be an exchange given. I think as the goods are faulty we are entitled to a full refund? Am I right? Taking them back is a 100 mile round trip so I really would prefer to buy locally this time.

Any thoughts, and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!

InsideInsurance

If the goods are considered to have been "accepted" then it is up to the retailer to decide if it is a repair, replace or refund.

Exactly what triggers "acceptance" is fairly woolly and not accurately defined. In most cases it is a very quick process but can be argued to be longer in others.

The key words to use is the fact you are "rejecting" the boots due to the problems with them. Thankfully customer service people tend to be a little bit more accommodating when you are talking loudly in the middle of the shop about their sub standard products in ear shot of lots of other potential customers -v- when on the phone.

Other thing to check is the stores own return policy, if it says all returns within X days are accepted then there is little need to discuss legal rights if you are within the contractual rights (they are hardly going to claim you've cut off 1.5cm off one leg)

bris

Unfortunately for you is the fact that they have the right to confirm they are faulty, this often means sending them away for the manufacturers position on the matter.
There are guidelines on how long this should take before causing significant inconvenience to you, but those guidelines are unclear in what that time scale is.

bris

Oh forgot, you would be entitled to a full refund because in the time scale (1 day)you found the problem you did not accept them, so a refund should be given, getting it though is a different matter.

cocobean12

Thank you for your advice guys. He brought the boots last Thursday and gave them a couple of nights to hopefully get the squashed look out of them, I tried to ring them on Sunday but they were closed so informed them this morning. Surely the fact one is taller than the other is fault enough for a refund without the bulging issue aswell? There is no way that can be caused by misuse etc. He has got to take them back himself so I just don't want him to get fobbed off with something along the lines of 'we will send them back to the manufacturer and get back to you'.

Fire_Fox

Write a letter quoting or referring to the Sale of Goods Act and that you are rejecting the product: include the name of the member of staff spoken to, time and date and enclose photos, you should be able to get the refund agreed before making the trip.

If your son is the customer it's not up to you to make calls or write letters, by all means support and advise but let him do this himself. Rightly or wrongly many managers won't take youngsters seriously if their mum fights their battles.

cocobean12

Thanks Fire Fox. I agree that he will be dealing with the store but I had to ring them in his absence.

I think that I wasn't expecting such a stand offish response from them, insofar as that they didn't actually believe me that the boots were faulty, well they will see for themselves once he takes them back in and hopefully they will be more sympathetic. I'm just concerned that they will try and fob him off due to his age and possible naiveity of consumer matters. We have taken photos and have arranged to take them back tomorrow so we will see what the outcome is. There is no way they can be repaired, (due to the design they cant lop off a centimetre on one boot to make them look the same!) so all we can hope for is a replacement at worst or refund at best.