Business receipts and 'private sales'

dizzyrascal

Hi yes, I had to take Dixon's through the small claims court for a new washing machine that broke after 4 months.
It took a year and I had to fight them all the way. They put up lots of obstacles in the hope that I would give up. This tatic does work as most people do give up out of sheer exhaustion. I won but still had to keep fighting to get my money back.

It is more difficult when it is two individuals I believe, as the judge can only apply the law. They dont get involved in the emotional side of the cases.
I do know people who have gone all the way to the final hearing with what looked like cut and dried consumer law cases and still lost.

JoeSaponic

dizzyrascal wrote: »

Hi yes, I had to take Dixon's through the small claims court for a new washing machine that broke after 4 months. It took a year and I had to fight them all the way. They put up lots of obstacles in the hope that I would give up. This tatic does work as most people do give up out of sheer exhaustion. I won but still had to keep fighting to get my money back.

It is more difficult when it is two individuals I believe, as the judge can only apply the law. They dont get involved in the emotional side of the cases. I do know people who have gone all the way to the final hearing with what looked like cut and dried consumer law cases and still lost.

I've just spent £50 for online legal advice, none of which varies much from what I've learnt here. I'll post it because it might help others [avoid wasting their time and money on a useless legal system]. This is what a 'certified UK solictor' had to say to me:

"Whilst I completely understand that you simply wish to get a refund, that may not necessarily be easy to do, especially if you have a person on the other side who is not willing to do this and knows how to play the system.

I agree that this certainly appears to have been a business sale - the item was advertised through a business seller account and you were issued with a business receipt.

It is unlikely that the DSRs will apply here as even though the initial advertisement was made over the internet, the actual sale was completed face-to-face.

As a business sale, you, as the consumer, will have certain rights under the Sale of Goods Act. When you purchase goods, whether they are new or second hand, your statutory rights say that you can expect them to be of satisfactory quality, as described and fit for their purpose. If they are not, you will have certain legal remedies against the retailer that sold you the goods.

If the goods are not as described, of satisfactory quality or fit for purpose, you have the following rights:

1. Reject the goods and request a refund - this is only possible if the rejection occurs within a 'reasonable time'. This period depends on the circumstances, although it is generally accepted to be within 3-4 weeks after purchase.

2. Ask for a repair or replacement – if you are too late to reject the goods, or simply do not want to return them, you can still ask the retailer for a repair or replacement without causing any significant inconvenience. The retailer can decline either of these if it can show that they are disproportionate or impossible in the circumstances. If this option is unreasonably rejected, you can instead request a partial or full refund. A partial refund would normally be appropriate where you have already had some use of the goods and the retailer is deducting ‘usage costs’ to reflect the use you have already enjoyed.

The issue is that even if you are trying to assert your rights, the seller will not always be helpful and they can ignore you until you decide to take formal action. This is where the system can be abused because there is no easy way to force them to act the way the law would expect them to.

A seller can refuse to refund you even if you take them to court and win. You would then be expected to commence enforcement action until you either succeed or eventually give up due to the further time and money you would need to spend. As such, there is never a guarantee that the seller will adhere to the law and that you will be able to successfully apply your rights.

I wish I could give you a guaranteed way of getting your money back but unfortunately that is impossible. You will either have to be prepared to take this matter further, up to and including legal action, or you have to be realistic in a sense that forcing the seller to resolve this to your satisfaction can be rather difficult and not without a lot of further time and expense on your part.

I'm sorry if this is not necessarily the answer you wanted to hear but I hope you understand I have a duty to explain the law as it actually stands and sometimes this does mean delivering bad news. Please let me know if you need me to clarify anything.
Please take a second to leave a positive rating as that is a very important part of our process. Your question will not close and I can continue providing further advice if necessary. Thank you."


When I asked about a solicitor's letter he replied:


"A solicitor's letter may show your intentions are serious but will still not force him to do anything, it just sends a message rather than anything. If he knew what he was doing, then he can safely ignore the letter, all subsequent correspondence, a court claim and even a judgment in your favour.

I am myself dealing with a private claim now where the other party is refusing to do anything, even though I have a court judgment against them and am running out of options that would not incur further fees, still without any guarantee of success."

Naturally I hope someone else benefits from this summation:

"The law does give you protection, the unfortunate reality is that to apply it would take time, effort and further expense. So whilst you are not left with no protection, you would need to make a sensible decision on whether pursuing this any further makes sense in the circumstances when weighing up the amount you are seeking to recover with the time and expenses likely to be spent on doing so."

Moral: be careful out there....Practically speaking legal protection is an illusion.

GabbaGabbaHey

JoeSaponic - can you not just relist the computer on eBay?

You might not get all of your money back, but it would be far less stressful than instigating legal proceedings against the seller, and you would be likely to get a reasonable proportion of your money back (which might not happen if you go to Small Claims Court, even if you win).

JoeSaponic

GabbaGabbaHey wrote: »

JoeSaponic - can you not just relist the computer on eBay?

You might not get all of your money back, but it would be far less stressful than instigating legal proceedings against the seller, and you would be likely to get a reasonable proportion of your money back (which might not happen if you go to Small Claims Court, even if you win).

Until now it was necessary to explore the prospect of getting all the money back [through a refund]. An eBay sale guarantees I won't get anywhere near that amount for the simple reason that I will be obliged to sell it for what it is rather than what it is not. The difference, I assure you, is significant. I have no choice now. As things stand eBay is certainly something I'll have to consider.