Online shop delaying refund for faulty goods

xxdiddiexx

I bought a sports bag from an online store.
I took receipt of the bag on a Saturday, and when I went to use it 4 days later, I noted it had a fault. It was ripped.

I took several photos and emailed the seller asking for a replacement.
After a week of no response, I chased them up and asked for a refund. I had to get the bag elsewhere as it was needed.

They responded that I should return the item, they will examine it, and refund the cost of returning the item.

A further week after returning the item, there was no response so I chased it up. I received a response to say that they receive hundreds of returns every week, and I should basically wait my turn.

Lo and behold approx5 days later a replacement bag was delivered, despite my request for a full refund on the returns note and via email.

I contacted them to ask why they sent me another bag when I explicitly said I wanted a refund. They responded that they were legally obliged to send a replacement within 30 days, and they would refund the return costs, and have done everything to help.

I told them again, that I wanted a refund plus the cost of returning the item. No response.

After a week I raised a dispute in PayPal.
They contacted me the following day to ask why. I explained why, and they claimed no knowledge of me wanting a refund.

I had also told them to send me returns label, as I don't see why I should bear the cost again of sending back the replacement item.

I had taken a copy of the returns note, so I scanned it and sent it to them as proof. They said they would send a courier today to collect it and once they got it back they would refund my money.

The courier never arrived.

I first ordered this item Fri 10th Jan.

I just want my money back. What are my legal rights in this case?
I need to quote legalese to them as they seem to just be stalling for time, and hanging on to my money for no valid reason. It was clear from the photos there was a fault and I contacted them as soon as I saw it, which was 4 days after taking receipt.

PayPal decided that they were not able to decide the claim in my favour. No reason given.

Do I need to take these people to small claims court?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Geodark

As far as I know, and I could be wrong here, but the retailer has a right to repair, refund or replace - and it is there choice. You can request a refund, but it is up to the shops policy as to what remedy they give.

neilmcl

Geodark wrote: »

As far as I know, and I could be wrong here, but the retailer has a right to repair, refund or replace - and it is there choice. You can request a refund, but it is up to the shops policy as to what remedy they give.

You're not completely correct. The buyer has a reasonable period in which they can reject the faulty item outright for a full refund. I'd suggest this is one of those occasions.

xxdiddiexx

Thanks for your replies.
What can I do now seeing as they are dragging their feet?

frugal_mike

How much did you pay? In the probably unlikely event it cost more than £100 and you paid by Credit Card then you canissue a Section 75 claim against the credit card supplier as they are liable for the breach of contract.

In the more likely scenario that it cost less than £100 then you will have to send them a Letter Before Action to warn them you will take them to court if they don't refund you, and then if they still refuse you will have to go through with the threat and take them to court.

Whether or not its worth the hassle will be up to you, but from what you've said it sounds like it would be difficult for them to defend.

xxdiddiexx

Thank you for your reply. Very helpful.

You are correct it was less than 100. It was in fact £30 but I am more annoyed about the shoddy customer service.

Considering how long this has been going on, how many days should I specify in my letter before action?

Also have they not broken any Distance Selling Regulations?

frugal_mike

xxdiddiexx wrote: »

Thank you for your reply. Very helpful.

You are correct it was less than 100. It was in fact £30 but I am more annoyed about the shoddy customer service.

Considering how long this has been going on, how many days should I specify in my letter before action?

Also have they not broken any Distance Selling Regulations?

Any time limit you give should be reasonable, so probably a couple of weeks.

As for distance selling regulations, they could well have breached them. You have a minimum of 7 working days to notify them you are cancelling, starting the day after delivery. You received the item on a Saturday so the first working day is Monday. The 7working days would end at the end of Tuesday in the following week.

If they failed to inform you of your right to cancel then the 7 working day period extends to 3 month and 7 working days. They have to inform you by durable means, so website terms and conditions don't count.

However, since your bag was faulty the Sale of Goods Act gives you a reasonable time to reject for a full refund anyway. As long as you you requested the refund in a reasonable time it won't matter if you missed the Distance Selling Regulation 7 working day deadline.

xxdiddiexx

Ok. Once again thanks for this. I notified them within a week of receiving the bag.

They have known since Jan that I want a refund so I'm going to give them 14 days to cough up.

They have l ready stated that they will refund once they receive the replacement bag they sent to me. The same bag that they failed to collect yesterday.

frugal_mike

xxdiddiexx wrote: »

Ok. Once again thanks for this. I notified them within a week of receiving the bag.

They have known since Jan that I want a refund so I'm going to give them 14 days to cough up.

They have l ready stated that they will refund once they receive the replacement bag they sent to me. The same bag that they failed to collect yesterday.

Under the Distance Selling Regulations they have 30 days to refund you, starting the day you cancelled. If you are going to send a Letter Before Action I would wait until that 30 days is up if it isn't already.

They also have 21 days to collect the goods from you,again starting from the day you cancelled. Technically they did collect the goods from you already since you sent them back. They've complicated it slightly by sending you a replacement by mistake, but that shouldn't affect your unconditional right to a refund within 30 days.

In reality though most companies ignore that part of the law and insist on having the goods back before they will refund.

xxdiddiexx

Thank you very much for this. I will quote the 30 days refund in my letter.

DevCoder

Just out of interest, why is the replacement (assuming its not faulty either) not acceptable?