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Currys.co.uk not abiding by Distance Selling Regulations

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  • neilmcl
    neilmcl Posts: 19,460 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    There is yet another to show why the information supplied in that (unverifiable) link doesn't apply to the case in question.



    In their terms and conditions, Currys do not state anything about store collected goods needing to be inspected upon collection, nor do the store staff ask that this be done.
    They simply check your e-mail confirmation and hand the goods over.
    I think the salient point is this bit.
    is expected to examine the goods at the time of collection and that they can cancel if not to their satisfaction without any penalty.
    In other words the scenario (or business model) being discussed in that link makes it clear that the conclusion of the contract would take place at time of collection and the buyer could back out if not satisfied. Clearly this isn't the same scenario as the OPs where the contract has already been concluded at dispatch.
  • zaax
    zaax Posts: 1,914 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Pay and collect isn't counted towards the stores takings which is why you get short change with the local staff.
    Money claim on line is your way to go. Don't forget to put a time limt on the letter before action and add 10% for costs and your card is.
    Do you want your money back, and a bit more, search for 'money claim online' - They don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring
  • notken
    notken Posts: 83 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 2 January 2014 at 4:39PM
    To confirm, this isn't a problem limited to in-store staff. Online, Twitter and Call Centre have all said the same thing: they won't take it back.

    I'm trying to get a refund from my credit card company, but it will take time, I suspect, so there's every chance I'll be paying the card bill before any refund is processed. I will have my own costs, but since Currys does officially have 30 days to refund (although the DSRs say you should do it as soon as possible), I can't and won't make a claim for interest unless it drags on much longer than that.

    Just a quick update following a tweet I got from @knowhowtohelp, which is Currys/Dixons/PC World customer service (following a brief discussion I had with the Dixons head of Corporate Social Media, Mark Webb, @markwebb_dixons):

    "Under DSR customers are able to open and inspect products. We are however unable to accept used products back."

    This seems an interesting piece of phrasing (my emphasis): "under DSR customers are able to open and inspect products". Well, under DSR we're allowed to try them out too. "We are however unable to accept used products back."

    What I find interesting about it is that they have quoted as much of the DSR as they seem willing to follow, but have used the third-person when talking about policy.

    My argument is that not only do the DSRs allow me to return the product - I have taken all reasonable care with the product and merely tested it as I am entitled to - but that the DSRs also don't allow Currys to make their own terms that are incompatible with the law.
  • zaax
    zaax Posts: 1,914 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Sounds like you will get your money back AND to dispose of the product as you see fit (which happen to me with IKEA).
    Do you want your money back, and a bit more, search for 'money claim online' - They don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring
  • notken
    notken Posts: 83 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    I'm not looking to make anything from it. If the credit card company refunds then Currys is welcome to send a courier for it, and I'll happily hand it over. Currys will have lost its chance for me to make the effort, though.

    Once I've got my money back I'm more interested in making sure Dixons Store Group either updates its own terms to bring it into line with the DSRs, or if they don't think the law is fair, stop trading online. I'm more worried about people being in my situation and just putting up with Currys fobbing them off.
  • frugal_mike
    frugal_mike Posts: 1,687 Forumite
    notken wrote: »
    I'm not looking to make anything from it. If the credit card company refunds then Currys is welcome to send a courier for it, and I'll happily hand it over. Currys will have lost its chance for me to make the effort, though.

    Once I've got my money back I'm more interested in making sure Dixons Store Group either updates its own terms to bring it into line with the DSRs, or if they don't think the law is fair, stop trading online. I'm more worried about people being in my situation and just putting up with Currys fobbing them off.

    I believe Curry's have 20 days (starting the day you cancelled) to arrange for it to be collected. After those 20 days your duty of care over the product ceases and you can do as you like with it.

    I would probably advise you hold on to it though. It will cause less hassle that way.

    You aren't obligated to send it back yourself (even if Curry's were willing to take it back).
  • bru88
    bru88 Posts: 28 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    All the talk so far has missed the crucial point about the legislation.
    OP: "Currys has said and done nothing to suggest it doesn't think this is anything other than a distance sale. "
    Even if the product had been delivered to your home you would face the same refusal from Curries. I know because it happened to me last week when I bought a laptop online, delivered to my home, and tried to return it.

    The issue (for Curries) is simply that you switched on the tablet and used it. Whilst you believe that the DSR gives an unambiguous green light to doing that, this is not the interpretation of distance selling regulations shared by Curries and some other online retailers of laptops. There is a grey area. There are various exceptions built in to the DSR legislation regarding right to cancellation of the purchase; the relevent exception being used is this:

    13(d)for the supply of audio or video recordings or computer software if they are unsealed by the consumer;

    Curries interpret 'unsealed' as also including 'activated', any software that is part of the product (which for laptops happens when you switch on the computer and immediately have to go through the registration process required in order to boot up the OS). Now this interpretation is of course debatable (but personally I think dubious and does qualify as a 'wangle'). Some retailers even stretch the interpration to mean that if you even open the box containining the laptop then you have breached the DSR becasue they interpret that as having broken the seal upon the packaging which contains software inside (even though the software is 'inside' the laptop not on CDs).

    I have searched the internet (how I ended up here too) and found no RULING FROM A UK COURT OF LAW about this. We can all have our opinions of what the clause means and doesnt mean, but in fact what counts is what a judge rules. I've seen no such reporting on the internet.

    So I remain unsure as to my rights when I buy a laptop in the future. Can I inspect it as I would in a store (which is the SPIRIT of the DSR, which would mean I need to boot it up and see it working), or is that nullified by the exception clause about software? I don't know.

    I have bought 3 laptops online in the past year. The first two allowed me to return without any problem under DSR cancellation. The 3rd, Curries, did not. At first. I took it to a store, went through the same process and frustrations as OP (manager, speaking to customer services on phone in store) and they all continued to state that because I used the laptop then they could not accept it back because the software had been activated (and thus licenced). However much you insist to them that DS regs (my consumer rights) takes precedent over any internal policy they might have, they just repeat the same line: "sorry we do not accept a laptop back if it has been switched on".

    PS. The reason I wished to return the laptop was that I discovered I didnt like the screen. It was inadequate in my opinion for the price tag, but it was not faulty as such. That is not something I could find out unless I turned it on and used it (in windows) how I would intend to be using it if I kept it. Which is what I would have done in a store before purchasing, had I been able to look at it in a store before purchasing it.
  • neilmcl
    neilmcl Posts: 19,460 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    bru88 wrote: »
    All the talk so far has missed the crucial point about the legislation.
    OP: "Currys has said and done nothing to suggest it doesn't think this is anything other than a distance sale. "
    Even if the product had been delivered to your home you would face the same refusal from Curries. I know because it happened to me last week when I bought a laptop online, delivered to my home, and tried to return it.

    The issue (for Curries) is simply that you switched on the tablet and used it. Whilst you believe that the DSR gives an unambiguous green light to doing that, this is not the interpretation of distance selling regulations shared by Curries and some other online retailers of laptops. There is a grey area. There are various exceptions built in to the DSR legislation regarding right to cancellation of the purchase; the relevent exception being used is this:

    13(d)for the supply of audio or video recordings or computer software if they are unsealed by the consumer;
    Sorry mate but you've got this totally wrong. The exception in the DSRs regarding software is specifically aimed at software sold as an item in itself, not the software you have already installed on a PC or tablet in this case.
  • bru88
    bru88 Posts: 28 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Oh, and where does it say that?
  • neilmcl
    neilmcl Posts: 19,460 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    bru88 wrote: »
    Oh, and where does it say that?
    It's all there in the legislation you quoted. When you buy a buy a PC or tablet you're contract is for exactly that, the software in general is already installed so is not supplied as a separate item nor is it unsealed by the customer. The OP's contract is for the supply of a tablet, it is not for the supply of software.

    Your interpretation is wrong.
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