Wellies

saker75

Dear all,

I'm not sure if I have anywhere I can take this, but here goes:

I bought a pair of wellington boots through Amazon but sold by a third party. I received the goods. They felt a bit loose, I used them to walk the dog. They rubbed, despite woolly socks and I realised they weren't the right size. The supplier has declined the amazon returns request on the grounds that I hadn't taken due care and had used the items. The wellies are in saleable condition. I am still within the 7 days of Distance Selling Regs but am not sure if I'd be covered.

Any thoughts?
A

earthstorm

contact Amazon as you will be covered by their A - Z Guarantee.

But why did you not double check the size before wearing them?

saker75

"But why did you not double check the size before wearing them?"
Thanks earthstorm. I did - the listing was specific and said to buy your shoe size. I thought they were "roomy" rather than "too big" until they began to rub so much.

saker75

Just had a look, it seems that the Amazon A-Z doesn't cover this.

WestonDave

I don't think its unreasonable to refuse a refund here. The wellies are now worn in the outdoors which will have worn the soles and got them dirty etc. You'd not be happy if you ordered a new pair of wellies and got a pair in this condition, so they aren't saleable. The best thing to do if you are buying shoes on distance, is to wear them around at home on the carpets etc to check the fit - that way if you need to return them they aren't going to show signs of being outdoors.

dandelionclock30

Put them on Gumtree or Ebay with local collection only. That way you dont have to get bogged down with postage over an inexpensive item.
Someone will buy them off you with the winter coming on.:)

bris

Technically you are within the timescale, but putting it into practice is another matter.

You should have tried the wellies in the house and returned them, by walking the dog you have failed to take reasonable care of them.

The DSR are there to give you the same inspection rights you would have in a shop, you cant take the dog for a walk to test them when buying in a shop.

The way it works is that you cancel, they refund you then they would have to sue you to recover the costs for failing to take care of them.

In reality this is not going to happen for the smaller retailers because it's too much hassle so they simply refuse.

You could take them to court to enforce your DSR rights, but they could counter sue for their rights so stale mate.

saker75

Thanks all for your comments. I agree and suspect I'll have to take it. I'm rubbish with buying shoes generally. I wasn't looking for a refund, but to exchange to the smaller size. They are absolutely the most comfortable wellies I have worn. Maybe I'll just have to wear even thicker thick socks.

Hintza

Try a pair of coolmax (the really thin ones) below your wellie socks and/or buy some wellie liners (keep your feet warmer too).

Another tip which helps me is buy using European sizing as I find UK sizing can be quite variable.

WTFH

I'd tend to recommend not buying shoes/boots online - you really need to try them on first to get the size right.
Wellie socks or even putting footbeds in can make a big difference (also, with footbeds you'll get a lot more support on dog walks)