Exploding glass knobs

tumbledowngirl

We bought mercury glass knobs from Marks and Spencer, to replace the standard issue knobs on furniture in our daughter's bedroom.

While fitting them, one exploded in my husband's hand. Another exploded in situ overnight - my daughter woke up to broken glass over the carpet.

We phoned customer services, who said to return them to store for a refund. However, once we had removed them from the furniture, it was clear they had caused damage to the paintwork (the backplate of the knobs is extremely sharp metal and had cut in). We called customer services back to report this and after being sent back and forth between them and the furniture department, we were assured that someone would contact us to arrange a repair.
After several days and no call, we tried to contact the person who had promised this, only to be informed that he no longer worked for the company and no repair was being offered - the most they were prepared to do was offer a touch-up kit for us to do the repair ourselves. When we tried to argue this, we were told we had voided the furniture warranty by changing it's spec (it happened to be M&S furniture, bought the previous year) and if we weren't happy, we could take our case to the furniture ombudsman.

After several further calls to customer services, we were eventually contacted by the company's safety team who firstly told us they had sold thousands of the knobs without issue, and then told us we had to send the knobs to them (at our cost) for testing,and could no longer return them to store for a refund.

After much to-ing and fro-ing, we were eventually told that we COULD return them to store, but could not have a refund until our complaint had been found to be true, because we had raised the issue of damage to the furniture. After questioning this, it has been agreed that we can have a refund after all.

My question is, does M&S have to prove the knobs were perfect when purchased - or is it enough for them to say they found no fault? (obviously, either may prove tricky, since I am actually returning 2 bags of broken glass).
Where does the damage to the furniture come into this? Does their warranty argument have any bearing, since it's the fact that the knobs are faulty and are having to be returned that has left us in this position? (had the knobs been fine and suitable to leave on the furniture, the damage would have been hidden and no real issue).

Due to the way Marks and Spencer have dealt with this so far, I have very little faith that they will come back with any other answer than, "no fault found, case closed", since they only started becoming difficult when the furniture damage was raised.
Another customer posted a review of the knobs on the company website, stating that they had had a problem with them exploding while being fitted. I pointed this out to customer services...since which, that version of the knobs (a different colour) has disappeared from the site, along with the reviews.

hollydays

There is till a mention of them on the reviews on m and s site

unholyangel

First (and on a childish note) am I the only one whos disappointed that "exploding glass knobs" refers to furniture?

Now for the adult response

SoGA states:

(3)For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above goods which do not conform to the contract of sale at any time within the period of six months starting with the date on which the goods were delivered to the buyer must be taken not to have so conformed at that date.
(4)Subsection (3) above does not apply if—

(a)it is established that the goods did so conform at that date;

(b)its application is incompatible with the nature of the goods or the nature of the lack of conformity.

The damage that's been caused....can it be covered with other knobs/handles?

tumbledowngirl

Hollydays - is that the green knobs, with 4 reviews? I couldn't find it when searching earlier - only the clear knobs.

Unholyangel - definitely NOT the only one! #knobgate has caused much interest when referred to on my FB profile ;-)
The "footprint" of the knobs is much bigger than the original knobs, so can't be covered.

Thanks for both replies.

wealdroam

OP, could it be that the knobs were overtightened when fitting to the furniture?

Thus not only stressing the glass, but also damaging the paintwork.

I imagine you will be fitting some replacement handle of some sort, so will the damage to the paintwork not be hidden by the replacements?

tumbledowngirl

wealdroam wrote: »

OP, could it be that the knobs were overtightened when fitting to the furniture?

Thus not only stressing the glass, but also damaging the paintwork.

I imagine you will be fitting some replacement handle of some sort, so will the damage to the paintwork not be hidden by the replacements?

Only hand tightened.
Interestingly enough, the knobs supplied with the furniture had also left damage to the paintwork, only discovered when removed. As I replied above, the latter damage can't be hidden because the broken knobs are bigger in diameter.

My husband thinks that the issue is that the knobs, being made in India and "rustic" in design, have a random fault where the 2 holes that the fixing screw goes through doesn't line up. As it is fitted into the furniture, the screw puts pressure on the glass at the point it goes through the second hole, causing it to shatter. Out of 13 knobs, only 2 have exploded.

tumbledowngirl

I have checked back on their site today and the green version of the knobs (which had the other review on it) has been removed.
I forgot to say - I tried to submit a review 3 times and it has been refused for publication each time. After waiting for a month to be told why, M&S said it was because I had mentioned a safety issue.

Strangely enough, my posts on their FB page, concerning my complaint, have also disappeared...I don't generally go in for conspiracy theories, but it all seems a bit...odd.

wealdroam

tumbledowngirl wrote: »

wealdroam wrote: »

I imagine you will be fitting some replacement handle of some sort, so will the damage to the paintwork not be hidden by the replacements?

As I replied above, the latter damage can't be hidden because the broken knobs are bigger in diameter.

OK, let me rephrase that:

I imagine you will be fitting some replacement handles of some sort, so will it not be possible to hide the damage to the paintwork by choosing slightly larger replacements?

tumbledowngirl

wealdroam wrote: »

OK, let me rephrase that:

I imagine you will be fitting some replacement handles of some sort, so will it not be possible to hide the damage to the paintwork by choosing slightly larger replacements?

Without shopping around, I can't really answer that.
We chose knobs that were already bigger than the originals - anything bigger again may look ridiculous.

I guess what I am asking is whether the damage to the furniture comes under "consequential damage" - had the knobs been ok, ie not exploding, the damage would still have occurred but been hidden. It is only in having to return the knobs, because of their fault, that we have been left with the problem.
It's M&S furniture, quite by chance. Their argument that we have voided the warranty (which seems irrelevant, as we are not claiming any fault with the furniture, only damage caused) wouldn't come into play if the furniture was from another retailer, so I'm wondering what they would have said if that was the case.

robatwork

If you have put these on "Hand tight" ie. as per the instructions then this sounds dangerous and you should call Trading Standards:

"Need help with with sorting out problems - call Citizens Advice consumer service 08454 04 05 06"
"In cases of reported criminal behaviour, for example, scams, unsafe goods and rogue traders, the Citizens Advice consumer service will refer your details to the relevant local authority trading standards service who will decide on what to do next."

tumbledowngirl

robatwork wrote: »

If you have put these on "Hand tight" ie. as per the instructions then this sounds dangerous and you should call Trading Standards:

"Need help with with sorting out problems - call Citizens Advice consumer service 08454 04 05 06"
"In cases of reported criminal behaviour, for example, scams, unsafe goods and rogue traders, the Citizens Advice consumer service will refer your details to the relevant local authority trading standards service who will decide on what to do next."

I did contact the consumer service and had a message from Trading Standards some weeks later. At that point, it looked like M&S were dealing with it properly, so I didn't persue Trading Standards.
Obviously, I wish I had now. The broken knobs have now been returned to M&S for "safety testing".
I have asked them why the version of the knobs that had the review claiming a similar experience to us has been removed from their website - no response.

I fully expect a report to come back that says they found no fault, although how they can test a bag of already-broken glass and say that is puzzling.