CarParts4Less / EuroCarParts wont refund after their error.

JustAnotherSaver

I believe they're the same company, or that CP4L may work under the ECP umbrella or similar? Someone on here may know the ins & outs.

Anyway, my brother ordered some service parts for his newly bought car ready to do some work.

Having used ECP before he tried CP4L. They seem to use the same layout, but they're cheaper. Put your car reg in & it'll tell you the parts suitable for your car (that seems to be the idea anyway).

CP4L said he needed a cartridge filter for his oil filter. eBay said canister.
So a bit of googling & car forum asking & the answer came back - cartridge. eBay out of the equation.

So he orders the parts in for what he needs. Does the fuel filter, does the pollen & air filters & then on to the oil filter.

He's wearing gloves, drains the oil & removes the old filter. He then opens up the new filter & takes it out of the packaging.
As you can guess - after working with oil, his hands are now oily.

The filter is incorrect. It's the one that was ordered, but it wont fit. Basically they've said this filter will be suitable for his car yet it isn't.



Get in touch with CP4L & explain the situation (including telling them about the oil marks now on the new filter). They say return for refund.

He says he isn't paying to send it back only for them to say no chance as it's got oil on it, so he sends them photos, to which they say ... no chance because it's got oil on it.

He sends them a complaint saying it was THEIR fault. What do they expect when he's working with oil. They said it would fit, not him & they got it wrong.
They responded - your query has been answered.


Is there anything he can do with this or is it case of tough? All a bit wrong when it was the websites fault.

stecast

I ordered some parts from CarParts4Less and had a terrible experience trying to send the wrong parts they had sent me for my car.

They admitted the mistake but were just not interested in me returning the parts, there customer services was terrible.

In the end I called in to our local EuroCarParts shop who were happy to help me out and offered me a full refund or replacement for the parts.

Might be worth calling in to your local EuroCarParts shop if you have on and explain your situation.

wealdroam

OP, I would suggest to you that, by handling the filter with oily hands in such a way that it is permanently tarnished, your brother has probably acted as if he owns the goods.

Nothing wrong with that of course, except that the Sale of Goods Act indicates that there is a short period after the sale when the goods can be rejected as not conforming to contract.

As the goods do not conform to contract, you would be within your right to reject them for a refund.

According to SoGA section 35:

35 Acceptance.
(1)The buyer is deemed to have accepted the goods subject to subsection (2) below—
(a)when he intimates to the seller that he has accepted them, or
(b)when the goods have been delivered to him and he does any act in relation to them which is inconsistent with the ownership of the seller.

Soiling the goods such that they cannot be resold could be seen as doing something "which is inconsistent with the ownership of the seller".

However, having said all that, in theory it is possible that he could return the goods for a full refund under Distance Selling Regulations.

DSRs allow the consumer the right to cancel an order within seven working days of delivery and receive a full refund.
That right is unconditional, which means that the company must refund the full amount paid and take legal action to recover money for the damage your brother has caused to the goods.

When did your brother receive the goods?

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks for the replies guys. We do have a local (ish) Euro Car Parts, but neither of us will be able to get out there at all. My mum will be but this will be the back end of next week, some time from Weds-Fri when she does the weekly shop.

CP4L were[/u] asked on more than one occasion (which each time they chose to ignore) whether the part could be taken (in person) to the local ECP centre & exchanged OR refunded rather than posting it back as this would've been much easier.

It was only afterwards from discussing on car forums that we learned of CP4L poor customer service & other peoples experiences of having wrong items sent out.


wealdroam - he ordered the parts at night of 22/09/13. Got a payment confirmation email the following morning on 23/09/13. They would've arrived either 25/09/13 or 26/09/13. He attempted the filter change that Sunday on 29/09/13 & they were emailed about a exchange/refund that night on 29/09/13.

wealdroam

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

wealdroam - he ordered the parts at night of 22/09/13. Got a payment confirmation email the following morning on 23/09/13. They would've arrived either 25/09/13 or 26/09/13. He attempted the filter change that Sunday on 29/09/13 & they were emailed about a exchange/refund that night on 29/09/13.

If the goods arrived on 26 Sept, then is is still possible to cancel the order under DSRs, but it must be done tomorrow (Monday) at the latest.
It must be done in writing... email is ok.

But whatever the DSRs say, I cannot imagine them refunding the money before receiving the goods back, and when they see the goods I would think they would refuse a refund, which leaves you without the goods and without the money.

Can you not sell the thing on ebay?

JustAnotherSaver

Not really. Nobody is going to want a dirty looking oil filter on eBay.

Could i cancel under DSRs with them & then try ECP or would you just try the local EuroCarParts centre without specifically telling CP4L you're cancelling under DSRs?

The reason i talk about them in the same breath is just open up their websites - practically identical. Not to mention the part came with EuroCarParts logo stamped over the box.

My guess is ECP are the parent company & CP4L come under them?

wealdroam

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Not really. Nobody is going to want a dirty looking oil filter on eBay.

Well that just goes to confirm that you, or your brother, really should've taken more care of the thing before deciding it wasn't suitable.

Sorry, I cannot think of any way you can recover this situation.

Still, an oil filter is not very expensive is it?

JustAnotherSaver

It isn't, no, but that's not the point either is it?

We thought that they'd know what they're sending out. When they're basically saying - this will fit your car, they should surely know what they're talking about?

Still, looks like his only avenue then is to try ECP, but this will probably be no good.

mattyprice4004

In all honesty you really should have checked you had everything you need (and inspected) before taking it all apart.

When doing any work on a car I always inspect the parts, check references etc. When I did the clutch on my old MG ZS they'd sent me a smaller clutch for the petrol versions - however I made a point of checking and always do. Part returned, new one sent out, no bother.

Unfortunately it's very hard to rely on someone behind a desk with a catalogue infront of them being 100% correct.