Refused a return

brenda50

7.(vi)the existence of a right of cancellation except in the cases referred to in regulation 13;

The information supplied does not state that cancellation is a right. Rather, they imply that it is a concession.

unholyangel

Their "return guarantee" is illegal if they are a UK company.

Under banned practices:
(10) Presenting rights given to consumers in law as a distinctive feature of the trader’s offer.

And technically also seeks to restrict your rights since DSRs give you a minimum of 7 working days starting day after delivery.

brenda50

DSRs give you a minimum of 7 working days starting day after delivery.

Don't you mean a maximum?

Yes they are a UK company, so what do I do next concerning their infringement of the law?

vuvuzela

brenda50 wrote: »

Don't you mean a maximum?

Yes they are a UK company, so what do I do next concerning their infringement of the law?

No, a minimum of 7 days, which is extended if they do not notify you of your rights in a durable form.
Trading Standards would be a good place to start.

brenda50

BTW it was not fully assembled, the slats are still unpacked, I only put the screws in the joints.

brenda50

unholyangel

Can you give me a reference for the regulation against the unlawful statement please?

brenda50

OK I have spoken to my local Trading Standards and they say that the supplier has not contravened the regulations as they only have to mention the 7 days, and they say to write to them recorded delivery to ask them to refund as a gesture of goodwill and when I asked if I should quote the regulation I believe they have broken they said ok but if they do not refund I will have to go to court.

bod1467

I've not read the whole thread, so apologies if this duplicates anything said previously.

The supplier MUST inform the buyer by a durable means (email is fine) of their cancellation rights under the DSRs. The cancellation period (7 working days) begins the day after the latter of:

1. Delivery of the item (Assuming the notification came before or with the item, such as on the back of the invoice/packing note)

2. Notification of the cancellation rights.

If no such notification is given then your cancellation rights extend up to 3 months and 7 working days. Note that such a term expressed on their website DOES NOT comply with the requirement of durable means.

But TS may be right in that you may need to take small claims court action to get a resolution.

brenda50

Ian thanks. There was nothing in the emails and the product came directly from the manufacturer so nothing there.

brenda50

OK great this is what I have found

The UK's Distance Selling Regulations

This guide is based on UK law. It was last updated in July 2010.
Topics

• E-commerce and the internet
• TMT & Sourcing

The Distance Selling Regulations were passed to protect consumers when they shop online or enter into other contracts at a distance from the supplier. The rationale for giving consumers special protection in such deals is that the consumer does not have the benefit of meeting face-to-face with the supplier and inspecting the goods or services offered for sale.

Properly called the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, the Regulations do not apply to contracts between businesses. They have been in force across the UK since 31st October 2000 and they implement a 1997 EU Directive on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts.
(Note that the above link to the Regulations does not reflect amendments passed in 2005 that addressed a practical problem faced by service providers in getting written information to customers. These changes are reflected in this guide.)
The Regulations give consumers a right to:

• receive clear information about the supplier, the goods or services and the sale before deciding to buy;
• confirmation of this information in writing;
• a cancellation period of 7 working days in which to withdraw from the contract; and
• protection from payment card fraud.

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Contents

Quick links to the sections of this page:

• When do the Regulations apply?
• Exempt distance contracts
• Part exempt distance contracts
• What are the requirements of the Regulations?
• Prior information
• Right to cancel
• Cancellation periods for goods
• Cancellation periods for services
• Exceptions to the right to cancel
• Refunds
• Return of goods by consumer after cancellation
• Goods given in part-exchange
• Performance of the contract
• Payment by card
• Inertia selling / unsolicited goods
• No contracting-out
• Enforcement
• Guidance
• Contacts

When do the Regulations apply?

The Regulations apply to distance contracts. These are contracts:

• for the sale of goods or the provision of services;
• concluded between a supplier and a consumer (note that business to business distance selling is not caught by the Regulations);
• under an organised distance sales or service provision scheme run by the supplier (which will cover, for example, sales made through a call centre or from a website; one-off contracts concluded by email are not caught by the Regulations);
• where the supplier communicates with the consumer without ever coming face-to-face with the consumer in concluding the contract (i.e. by 'distance communication').

Distance communication would include:

• web pages;
• unaddressed or addressed printed matter (this could include leaflets dropped through letter boxes);
• letters;
• press advertising with order forms;
• catalogues;
• telephone with or without human intervention;
• email;
• fax; and
• television (teleshopping).

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Exempt distance contracts

The Regulations do not apply to all distance contracts and there are a number of exemptions from some or all of the provisions of the Regulations.
The Regulations do not apply to:

• most contracts for the sale or transfer of land or for building on land, except short rental agreements;
• contracts for the supply of financial services;
• contracts concluded by means of an automated vending machine or automated commercial premises (e.g. pictures taken from an automated photo booth);
• contracts by telephone through the use of public pay-phones; or
• contracts concluded at auction (although OFT guidance on the Regulations suggests that it must be a genuine auction in order to qualify for the exemption – "buy it now" slots on internet auction sites will not be exempt as such sales are not concluded by a process of auction).

Separate regulations control the sale of financial services at a distance. See OUT-LAW's guide to The Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services.
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Part-exempt distance contracts

In addition, some parts of the Regulations do not apply to:

• contracts for the supply of food, beverages or other goods intended for everyday consumption supplied to the consumer's residence or to his workplace by regular roundsmen (e.g. a milkman, but not a supermarket); and
• contracts for the provision of accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services, where the supplier undertakes, when the contract is concluded, to provide these services on a specific date or within a specific period.

Resolving a dispute between car hire firm easyCar and the UK's Office of Fair Trading, the European Court of Justice ruled in 2005 that car hire companies can take advantage of the exemption applying to "transport services". See: the ruling in easyCar v OFT.
The exemption for all of these part-exempt contracts is in respect of the provisions relating to:

• information given to the consumer prior to the conclusion of the contract;
• written confirmation;
• cancellation rights;
• recovery of money paid by the consumer;
• return of goods by the consumer after cancellation;
• goods given in part exchange; and
• mandatory performance of the contract within 30 days.

Each of these provisions is discussed in more detail below.
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What are the requirements of the Regulations?

The Regulations require a supplier to:

1. Give consumers certain information prior to conclusion of the contract.
2. Give consumers confirmation of the prior information in writing or in another durable medium which is available and accessible to the consumer (Email is an acceptable medium for this but displaying the information on a web page is NOT);