Nursery Value: Charging for repairs

The_Ubiquitous_Mrs_Smith

Apologies if this is in the wrong place. I'm not sure where to put it?

I also wonder whether anyone could advise please.

I bought a pram from Nursery Value in January. It was classed as reworked but grade A so was probably just a customer return. When it arrived there was nothing wrong with it.

Within a couple of weeks the harness broke. Nursery Value gave us a load of gumph about 'reworked, no guarentee etc etc' but we pushed it and they sent us a new harness part.

A few months later the bracket holding the hood to the pram came off. Nursery Value agreed to repair it without a fuss.

However, they arranged a courier to collect the pram three times and no courier turned up. I waited in all day, including taking time off work. The forth time I accidently gave them the wrong date and lo and behold the courier turned up and no one was in and NV gave me a mouthful and don't believe me about the courier not turning up the other times.

The fifth time they collected, the bracket was repaired and sent back within a week or so.

The first time we used the pram the bracket broke again.

I emailed them the day it happened. They asked for photos, which I sent. They agreed to repair. This was 21.06.13

I work full time. I had to wait until I could book a day off to arrange a courier. The first time this is possible is Tuesday so I emailed them yesterday to arrange and they are telling me I have to pay for the courier as my guarantee ran out last month.

Furthermore they are telling me it will take a month to repair now.

This is pram, an essential bit of kit, especially as I don't drive!

bod1467

Guarantee shmarantee ... you're claiming under the Sale of Goods Act. Unfortunately you may have to take (or at least threaten to take) small claims court action to enforce your rights. (You could prepare a claim at Money Claim Online, screenshot it and print it, and send them a copy to show them that you're serious).

How much was the purchase price, and how did you pay?

You should also claim for provable losses due to the failure of the couriers to arrive. (See the Failed Delivery article at the top of the Consumer Rights board [which is probably the best place for this thread]. Whilst yours was a collection the same principles apply).

The_Ubiquitous_Mrs_Smith

Thank you. That is really helpful.

Will take a look at the failed delivery/collection.

I've sent them some info on my rights under Sales of Goods but they maintain out of guarantee. Sending them one last email and then it looks like small claims is way to go.

The_Ubiquitous_Mrs_Smith

Decided to just stick to trying to get the pram replaced/refunded and leave the failed deliveries aspect but thank you for the link. Nursery Value are being very difficult.

They won't even clarify whether they are talking about the warentee/guarentee for the pram or the repair.

The more I think about it, the more the 'up to one month to get it repaired' bothers me. I don't have another pram and to not have one for a month is hugely inconvinient.

I think I'm going to push for a refund and go elsewhere. Given the hassle we've had with the pram I'm not sure I want a replacement.

Thanks again.

bod1467

Any remedy provided under SOGA must not cause significant inconvenience to the purchaser. I would agree that being without a pram for a month IS significant inconvenience.

The_Ubiquitous_Mrs_Smith

They say SOG does not apply. Sigh.

I have given them 5 days to confirm they replace/refund or I'll start a claim against them.

I suspect I'll have to start a claim.

The_Ubiquitous_Mrs_Smith

Sorry to keep posting. I threatened Small Claims as they said the repair would take one month. Now they have replied...

I understand the 'sales of goods act' thoroughly, after the guarantee periods end it is at the company's discression to decide on what action they want to take.

No company has to offer a guarantee period that is entirely upto the company for how long they want it to be.

As I have explained we can get this repaired in a reasonable time as we have only stated a time frame as we are missing staff due to there parental rights.

Repairs normally take 7-10 working days and we are expecting staff to return within 7 working days so repairs will resume as normal.

This item will not be replaced or refunded as it can be repaired in reasonable time.

I will look forward to hearing from you in the future.

If you do have any problems understanding the above please do let me know.

Ignoring the snotty bit at the bottom (nice attitude!) given they seem unable to clarify how long the repair will take can I still get a refund/replace do you think?

The other issue is they say my guarentee on the pram ran out on 05.07.13. They carried out the repair last month and were informed he repair had failed before this time. Based on that they want me to pay for a courier to collect and deliver the pram. Is the repair covered by a seperate guarentee to the pram and if not, given they were informed of the issue before the guarentee ended are they ok to still make me pay a courier?

Thank you everyone for your help.

ThumbRemote

I would reply with:

"Thankyou for your response.

I am sure you are aware that, under the sale of goods act, if you choose to offer a repair or replacement this must not cause 'significant inconvenience' to myself. Being without a pram for around 1 month is clearly going to cause me significant inconvenience. Therefore I have no option but to purchase a replacement pram, and pursue you for a refund.

I am quite prepared to take this to the small claims court if necessary, as I am confident that a judge will find in my favour, as the length of time it will take you to perform a repair will clearly cause me significant inconvenience. Further, the number of previous issues I have had with this product will only strengthen my case.

I very much regret that this is required, but I am only enforcing my statutory rights."

Azari

The_Ubiquitous_Mrs_Smith wrote: »

Sorry to keep posting. I threatened Small Claims as they said the repair would take one month. Now they have replied...

I understand the 'sales of goods act' thoroughly, after the guarantee periods end it is at the company's discression to decide on what action they want to take.

No company has to offer a guarantee period that is entirely upto the company for how long they want it to be.

As I have explained we can get this repaired in a reasonable time as we have only stated a time frame as we are missing staff due to there parental rights.

Repairs normally take 7-10 working days and we are expecting staff to return within 7 working days so repairs will resume as normal.

This item will not be replaced or refunded as it can be repaired in reasonable time.

I will look forward to hearing from you in the future.

If you do have any problems understanding the above please do let me know.

Ignoring the snotty bit at the bottom (nice attitude!) given they seem unable to clarify how long the repair will take can I still get a refund/replace do you think?

The other issue is they say my guarentee on the pram ran out on 05.07.13. They carried out the repair last month and were informed he repair had failed before this time. Based on that they want me to pay for a courier to collect and deliver the pram. Is the repair covered by a seperate guarentee to the pram and if not, given they were informed of the issue before the guarentee ended are they ok to still make me pay a courier?

Thank you everyone for your help.

If their ability to understand the law is on a par with their ability to write comprehensible English, they may be in for a surprise.

Unfortunately, as with so much in law, it all depends on what a court regards as 'reasonable'.

I would suggest that you send them a 'letter before action' and hope they see sense.


ETA: ThumbRemote has given excellent advice, above.

ThumbRemote

Just to pick up on a few other points:

There's nothing in their reply that says statutory rights do not apply. In fact they are claiming they are applying your statutory rights correctly (though they are being very selective - the law states "repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer" - you'll note they quote the reasonable time bit but ignore the significant inconvenience part)

To be clear, the guarantee they talk about is in addition to your rights under the sale of goods act. As the guarantee has expired it actually makes things simpler - you are now simply exercising your legal rights. Just ignore any talk of the guarantee.

Their internal business operations with staff off is not your concern.

You should not have to pay any costs. It's down to them to cover the full cost.