Faulty school shoes

dickyseville

Hi,
My son decided he wanted designer school shoes this year so decided to spend £80 of his own money on some Luke shoes from Scott's (much to my annoyance). I knew they wouldn't last a year so refused to put any money to them. Sure enough 2 weeks into the term the sides have started to come apart (they're glued, not stitched). We've phoned Scott's to let them know and ask for a refund. They've said bring the shoes down and they'll send them off to be assessed. First of all I'm not happy with them sending them off because what will he do for school shoes. What I want to happen is for them to refund us and to go to Next or Clarks and buy some proper leather shoes. Where do I stand with this?
Have I got a right for immediate refund?
If they offer a credit note (which I suspect they will), can I refuse this and do I have the right for a refund?
Are they allowed to send the shoes off and leave me with nothing while they're being assessed?
Many thanks for any advice offered.
Richard.

j0nathon2

dickyseville wrote: »

If they offer a credit note (which I suspect they will), can I refuse this and do I have the right for a refund?
Are they allowed to send the shoes off and leave me with nothing while they're being assessed?

They're allowed to assess them, they'll need to prove they are not inherently faulty in order to deny you some recourse. You are not automatically entitled to a refund (unless you could argue rejection of the goods, but two weeks of wearing them would suggest acceptance?).

You don't have to accept a credit note, if they decide to refund it should be as per the original payment method.

DevCoder

dickyseville wrote: »

Hi,
My son decided he wanted designer school shoes this year so decided to spend £80 of his own money on some Luke shoes from Scott's (much to my annoyance). I knew they wouldn't last a year so refused to put any money to them. Sure enough 2 weeks into the term the sides have started to come apart (they're glued, not stitched). We've phoned Scott's to let them know and ask for a refund. They've said bring the shoes down and they'll send them off to be assessed.

Acceptance has happened, you've paid and he has worn the shoes

First of all I'm not happy with them sending them off because what will he do for school shoes.

You'll have to get another pair (get some decent shoes instead of designer ones this time, or make your son pay for them as a lesson learnt)

What I want to happen is for them to refund us and to go to Next or Clarks and buy some proper leather shoes. Where do I stand with this?

They have the right to remedy, whether that be refund, replace or repair

Have I got a right for immediate refund?

Not unless the shoes are proved to be faulty, even then a replacement pair would be offered and I would think several iterations of this process happening before you could ask for a refund

If they offer a credit note (which I suspect they will), can I refuse this and do I have the right for a refund?

As acceptance has happened then the retailer has the right to repair, refund or replace (normally whichever is cheapest for them).

Are they allowed to send the shoes off and leave me with nothing while they're being assessed?

Yes.

pinkshoes

Hopefully your son will have learnt the important lesson that there is no correlation between an expensive brand and quality!

In the mean time, I think you will have to buy your son a new pair, send him into school with a note, or make him wear an old pair.

bellaboo86

I used to work for Arcadia and can say that this happens every year. The shoes your son will have chosen will have no doubt been extremely fashionable, however 'fashion shoes' are not designed for teenage boys to run around and play football in. Maybe you should suggest he takes trainers for lunch times etc.

dickyseville

Update.
We went into Scotts and they refused to give us a refund before they are sent off to head office for inspection. Despite a lot of arguing and threatening to stand there until we got a refund the manager wouldn't back down. He said he believed they'd been misused which is why they'd come apart. What a load of rubbish, nothing for £80 should come apart after 9 days of use. They've now been sent off for inspection but I don't think we'll get a refund from what he was saying.
I've sent a letter to the manufacturers Luke and a letter to Scotts head office complaining about the quality of the shoe and the poor service I've received. Is it possible to send a letter to the trading standards or do they not deal with individual retail complaints. Any other suggestions please.
Regards,
Richard.

earthstorm

dickyseville wrote: »

What a load of rubbish, nothing for £80 should come apart after 9 days of use.

so you have been with your son every minute he has been wearing these shoes.

they are fashion shoes and not everyday shoes, so kicking footballs, running round school yards, kicking drinks cans etc. scrapping on the ground etc, will all cause damage to the shoes, so yes they can fall apart in 9 days if they have been used in the ways mentioned, no matter what they cost to purchase.

neilmcl

dickyseville wrote: »

Update.
We went into Scotts and they refused to give us a refund before they are sent off to head office for inspection. Despite a lot of arguing and threatening to stand there until we got a refund the manager wouldn't back down. He said he believed they'd been misused which is why they'd come apart. What a load of rubbish, nothing for £80 should come apart after 9 days of use. They've now been sent off for inspection but I don't think we'll get a refund from what he was saying.
I've sent a letter to the manufacturers Luke and a letter to Scotts head office complaining about the quality of the shoe and the poor service I've received. Is it possible to send a letter to the trading standards or do they not deal with individual retail complaints. Any other suggestions please.
Regards,
Richard.

Did you not bother to read any of the advice you were given. As already stated in post #2, it was entirely reasonable that the shoes are assessed to determine fault and you were never legally entitled to an automatic refund.

dickyseville

And as the sale of goods act states the goods should be ‘fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time’.
They were not and did not!

ThumbRemote

neilmcl wrote: »

Did you not bother to read any of the advice you were given. As already stated in post #2, it was entirely reasonable that the shoes are assessed to determine fault and you were never legally entitled to an automatic refund.

Although the SoGA states the retailer mustn't cause "significant inconvenience" to the customer.

Given that these are being used as school shoes, being without them for any period of time is clearly going to cause significant inconvenience (note the SoGA doesn't care whether they are designed as fashion shoes or school shoes - this part of the law is only concerned with the impact on the customer). If the retailer are unable to assess them quickly - within a day or so - they really ought to just be giving the consumer a full refund.

This also means the retailer can't offer a remedy that may take some time, such as a repair.

OP could just purchase shoes elsewhere and pursue the retailer for a refund, through the courts if necessary.

peachyprice

dickyseville wrote: »

And as the sale of goods act states the goods should be ‘fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time’.
They were not and did not!

If worn as the fashion shoe they are designed to be they probably would have, worn as a school shoe, what did you expect?

And having looked at them, I'm surprised your son is even allowed this style shoe for school, it's not a school shoe, it's a casual shoe i.e hanging around bars in, doing a bit of shopping, not the kind of day in day out legwork school children do.