Sports Direct....doesn't the Sale of Goods Act apply to them??

walesdave

Sorry for the long post, but my mind works in Bullet Points
Bought eldest daughter a new 'No Fear' backpack from SD about 8 weeks ago - ready for the new term at school.
Last week the stitching around one of the pockets came loose and the pocket is now unusable. From the position and size of the pocket it is obviously faulty as opposed to breaking due to the bag being overstuffed.
Couldn't find the receipt but found the Debit Card transaction on my statement; clearly Sports Direct, for the exact cost of the bag.

Went to Sports Direct in St. David's Cardiff today....

• asked for an exchange for a new bag
• was asked if I had the receipt for the original faulty bag
• said no, but I have Proof of Purchase via my bank statement, which I showed the till operator
• told no problem - find a bag you want to exchange for and come back to the till...

Here we go....

• no similar bag in stock
• ok - can I have a refund please
• Sales person - no, no refunds. I'll give you a credit note
• Me - afraid not, Sales of Goods Act, I'm entitled to a refund if no exchange / repair possible
• Sales person - I'll get a manager
• Manager comes - mild bit of back and forth, me quoting SoG Act etc.
• Manager - OK, I'll give you a refund
• Manager tries, but the till doesn't allow refunds without a receipt!!
• Manager - sorry but you'll have to have a credit note
• Me - afraid not, Sales of Goods Act, I'm entitled to a refund if no exchange / repair possible
• Manager - I'll get the store manager
• Store Manager - arrives and says that a Bank Statement is Not a Proof of Purchase
• Manager from earlier now back tracks and says the line on my bank statement doesn't prove anything and only a receipt is a valid proof of purchase
• Store Manager says if I come back in about 2 hours they can look through their records to see if they can find the transaction from my statement in their records
• I tell them that's not acceptable as I have 2 primary school age and 1 Year 7 age kids in tow and I'm not prepared to wait 2 hours when (as long as I was talking about an exchange) my back statement was fine as a proof of purchase, but as soon as we start talking refunds it becomes a different matter
• Store Manager then advises me that she's not interested in serving me any more and I have to leave....at no point was I loud or abusive but the Store Manager and her deputy were obnoxious and constantly contradicting themselves and kept repeating their offering to look through their records was 'a Goodwill gesture'

What next?
Think I'll send a letter to Trading Standards asking if a computerised till system that only allows refunds on production of a recipt is legal..??
Letter to SD Head Office asking for a refund to be posted to me as the round trip to Cardiff takes about 2 hours and cost £12 to £15??
Any advice?

Cheers

David

mo786uk

Take them to court

Is it debateable whether a bank statement is proof of postage

they prob need the actual receipt for internal reasons to process the transaction - if that is the case it probably is not unreaosnable to insist on a receipt - even if they did say somehting else originally. This will rmeain the case unless a bank statement is ever shown in court to be acceptable proof of purchase in its own right.

mo786uk

what i should have added is that TS will say its a contractual dispute between you and the shop and if you think a bank statement is proof of purchase then take them to court and get your money back.

unholyangel

The problem is that retailers have no obligation to train their staff on any consumer law. Therefore many employees think "company policy" either IS law or overrules UK law.

Proof of purchase is not defined or required for the purpose of SoGA. They can ask for proof of purchase - to prove that a contract does exist but they cannot dictate what that proof is for the purpose of your statutory rights. They should consider what an impartial person would think was "proof".

Saying you must have a receipt may amount to a criminal offence, since it seeks to deprive/mislead consumers of their statutory rights.

ILW

How can a bank statement be proof of purchase of any particular item?

unholyangel

ILW wrote: »

How can a bank statement be proof of purchase of any particular item?

It doesnt need to prove "beyond all reasonable doubt". It only needs to prove on the balance of probability that it was likely to have happened.

To flip your comment....how does a receipt prove you bought that exact item and not an identical one or that the receipt doesnt belong to someone else who bought the same item?

walesdave

Hi again.
The purchase was made in store, not online. The bank statement shows the Store Name, the Date and Time and the amount paid via debit card; I understand that this doesn't 100% prove that transaction was for the bag I bought, but it is indicative and most commentaries on the Sale of Goods Act accept a bank statement as proof.
The main point of my complaint (just looking for SD Complaints Department Address at the moment!) is that my bank statement was ok for Proof of Purchase while I was asking for an exchange, but it suddenly became 'not a proof of purchase' when I was asking for a refund...

Takeaway_Addict

I presume they had none of this bag in any other store in the country then?

wealdroam

ILW wrote: »

How can a bank statement be proof of purchase of any particular item?

MSE's Consumer Rights article seems to think it is OK:

DON'T THINK 'NO RECEIPT' MEANS 'NO RETURN'
With faulty goods, you simply need to prove purchase. This could be the receipt, but any other legitimate record - such as a bank statement - should be fine.

CoolHotCold

Well lets look at it another way


They could of said "Sure, but we need to book it in for assessment" and taken your details and then gave you a call once they found the matching record.




You're being unreasonable. The SoGA doesn't give you a automatic right to refund after 8 weeks, so they can repair or replace and must be done without significant inconvenience and within a reasonable timeframe.


As being without a bag for a day or two is not a significant inconvenience and a day or two sounds absolutely fine.




Argue for your right yes, but I think you took it too far and decided to reject their reasonable offer of matching the bank statement to their logs.

dannny_2

I had similar problems taking back "walking" boots that lasted for a month before falling apart.

I complained to head office and head office spoke to the store manager, and I got my money back - eventually.

I no longer shop at sports direct as they sell, IMO, tat.