Looking for a refund but company offered replacement

Bencaa

Hi,

I bought a dress on 30 June for £110. I wore it on 12 July, after an hour the dress burst at the seam and stitching from the front panel came away. I sent an email to send it back and get a refund the next day and asked citizens advice for some help. I sent a formal letter asking for a full refund under the Sale of Goods Act as the dress did not lost a reasonable length of time. They emailed me today telling me I am not getting a refund as 'external factors' could have made the fault with the dress. They have offered a replacement but I do not want it - I want my money back. My worry is I don't wear the dress for a couple of months and the same happens they will not give me a refund then.

Where do I go from here? I paid cc so have paperwork to get them to sort it and give my money back but I wanted to try and resolve it myself. How can I get my money back from them?

Any advice is appreciated.

Jim_Jupiter

The retailer has the option of a repair, replacement or refund. Whilst you can request which you prefer you cannot demand it, and they've chosen replacement. They are acting within the SOGA appropriately.

There could be a valid argument for not accepting the goods, but I'm not sure how that would pan out given the time frames and the item. Someone more knowledgeable may be able to advise on this.

agrinnall

Wear the dress around the house for a couple of hours, if it's OK then there's probably no reason to think it has the same fault as the original one.

frugal_mike

The law says that the consumer has a reasonable time to reject the goods for a full refund if they do not conform to contract. Once that reasonable time has passed tge seller can instead repair or refund if that is cheaper. The timescales involved here are in the grey area between clearly reasonable and clearly unreasonable, and if it went before a judge I wouldn't like to guess which way it would go. Personally I would say it is probably reasonable, especially if the nature of the dress is its intended for occasional nights-out/parties etc.

Op, since you paid on credit card and the goods cost more than £100 you could attempt a Section 75 claim. The credit card supplier are jointly and severally liable for the contract. They may claim that the sellers offer of a replacement is acceptable though, and then the only recourse would be to risk a day in court.

Bencaa

Thanks for your replies.

It has taken a while but I let them know the problem the day after and couldn't get to the post office until the Friday.

Im going to see what CA say on Monday, I'm disappointed in the company in the fact that a dress at that amount shouldn't be bursting after an hour on

stevemLS

Erm, not sure how to put this delicately, it was the right size?

Bencaa

Believe it or not it was.

But thanks for your really helpful reply StevemLS

McKneff

There must have been pressure on the seams to cause them to burst though, it must have felt tight on you when you put it on.


sizes differ so much. A size 12 from Dotty P's is comepletely different from a size 12 from Debenhams.

bris

You bought You bought it nearly 4 weeks ago, acceptance has taken place, you have no rights to a refund, replacement is within the law.

ThumbRemote

McKneff wrote: »

There must have been pressure on the seams to cause them to burst though, it must have felt tight on you when you put it on.

Of they could just have moved about, thus putting light pressure on the seams. Normal people don't stand perfectly still once clothing is on, you know?

frugal_mike

bris wrote: »

You bought You bought it nearly 4 weeks ago, acceptance has taken place, you have no rights to a refund, replacement is within the law.

No, the attempted rejection was emailed to them on 13th July (the day after the dress ripped). That is less than 2 weeks after purchase, and after only one use. I don't think its clear that acceptance took place.