Amazon Marketplace and return/refund

boyse7en

Friend of mine bought a JCB mobile phone from U R Mobile via Amazon Marketplace.

On delivery, the phone has a fault (the speaker doesn't work, so you can't hear anyone) so she contacted the seller to arrange a refund or replacement.

They say that under the Distance Selling Regulations the "the buyer must assist the seller with the return and to do this we need you to contact the manufacturer and retrieve a vendor approval reference".

Is this right? Or should UR Mobile sort it all out?

ThumbRemote

UR Mobile are wrong.

Under the Distance Selling Regulations the friend has 7 days to inform the company they don't want the product, and can return it (at their cost and risk) for a full refund.

Under the Sale of Goods Act the friend can reject the phone for a full refund. In this case the retailer must bear the cost of the return.

So legally UR Mobile should sort it all out. Your friend could send the phone off to them Special delivery, and claim back full purchase cost, plus the return cost. However, it's not too unreasonable for the customer to assist with things - is there a major problem with contacting the manufacturer?

boyse7en

She did try ringing the manufacturer last night. Was on hold for ages and eventually gave up. Can't ring them from work, so it is a bit of a PITA.

We're emailing the vendor again to tell them that she isn't returning it under DSR, but under SOGA so they need to refund the return postage too.