Refunds only for some customers

Elliesnan

Hi,

Just been searching for when I purchased this seat, it was February this year, so past the 6 months.

Thank you.

LilElvis

wealdroam wrote: »

Thank you, but the Daily Mail report mentioned is dated 27 Oct 2014.
Argos are quoted as still selling the few remaining in stock at that time.
Apparently, it was removed from their catalogue in July this year.

So it could easily been quite recent that the OP made his/her purchase.

I didn't say it hadn't been purchased recently, just that it had been discontinued (according to Which?) and that the most recent review I could see on the Argos site was very old. I hadn't looked at the Mail article because the OP posted that information whilst I was looking at the other sites.

nomoneytoday

Maybe try again with a different member of staff, or at a different store?

timbstoke

Elliesnan wrote: »

Just been searching for when I purchased this seat, it was February this year, so past the 6 months.

Makes no odds - after 6 months the onus is on you to prove that a fault was inherent at the time you bought it. Luckily, you have an independent report which shows that model to be unsafe, and therefore inherently faulty.

I'm guessing you've tried just popping back in with it and they've refused. So your next steps are:

1. Call the store manager. Point out that the seat is inherently faulty as proven in the Which report and tell him that you'd like a refund or an exchange for a model which is not faulty (if it costs more than you paid, you'd have to pay the difference. They may only want to offer a partial refund in recognition of the use you've had. If they do, I'd come out swinging and point out that they should be offering MORE than a full refund for the fact that your child has been in danger since february as a result of this product.

2. If the manager refuses point blank, ask him for the telephone number and address for the head office - it's easy enough to find anyway, but asking him gives him a last chance to fix it "in house". The trick here is to stay polite. Being angry at his refusal says "I'm just venting and I probably won't bother actually calling head office" while a polite "OK, that's fine - I assume small claims papers would need to be served on head office rather than the individual store? Can you give me the number and address?" says that you know your rights and you're quite happy to follow it up the chain until you get a result.

3. Write to head office pointing out the report and requesting a full refund. You could try phoning in the first instance, but I always find going to writing here has a better result - it prompts a written response which they know can then be produced in court. Remind them that despite the age, the report shows the fault to be inherent and SoGA is on your side.

4. If you still don't get anywhere, send a Letter Before Action to Head Office and CC the store manager.

5. Start a claim through MoneyClaimOnline.


Stay firm but polite, and chances are you won't need to go past step 3.

LilElvis

timbstoke wrote: »

Makes no odds - after 6 months the onus is on you to prove that a fault was inherent at the time you bought it. Luckily, you have an independent report which shows that model to be unsafe, and therefore inherently faulty.

No, the Which? test was more stringent than that required to meet the legal standard. As long as it meets these standards it isn't faulty, hence the fact that Argos can continue to sell it.

Our more stringent tests differ from ECE R44 in several key ways:

Our front crash test is carried out at a higher speed than ECE R44 - about 40mph instead of 30mph.
We include a side impact crash test, which ECE R44 does not require.
We test child car seats in a real car body, not on a sledge with a car bench seat fixed to it, so the position of the seat belt anchorage points and car seat characteristics are more realistic.

deanos

Im sure there are many chairs out there that would fail the Which test if tested, but have passed the standard test , as mentioned above which test far batter than the standard test

My advice, get a £1 which trial and get a seat that comes in at the top end of there test for piece of mind, that's what i did when i bought car seats in the past

peachyprice

Elliesnan wrote: »

Although Argos, say their stance is they will not refund, they have apparently refunded some customers for this item. But now say they will not refund.

Can they legally be selective over who they refund? Do they not set a precedent once they have refunded person or persons.

Unless there is a product recall then yes, they can give refunds at the discretion of the store.

peachyprice

timbstoke wrote: »

Makes no odds - after 6 months the onus is on you to prove that a fault was inherent at the time you bought it. Luckily, you have an independent report which shows that model to be unsafe, and therefore inherently faulty.

I'm guessing you've tried just popping back in with it and they've refused. So your next steps are:

1. Call the store manager. Point out that the seat is inherently faulty as proven in the Which report and tell him that you'd like a refund or an exchange for a model which is not faulty (if it costs more than you paid, you'd have to pay the difference. They may only want to offer a partial refund in recognition of the use you've had. If they do, I'd come out swinging and point out that they should be offering MORE than a full refund for the fact that your child has been in danger since february as a result of this product.

2. If the manager refuses point blank, ask him for the telephone number and address for the head office - it's easy enough to find anyway, but asking him gives him a last chance to fix it "in house". The trick here is to stay polite. Being angry at his refusal says "I'm just venting and I probably won't bother actually calling head office" while a polite "OK, that's fine - I assume small claims papers would need to be served on head office rather than the individual store? Can you give me the number and address?" says that you know your rights and you're quite happy to follow it up the chain until you get a result.

3. Write to head office pointing out the report and requesting a full refund. You could try phoning in the first instance, but I always find going to writing here has a better result - it prompts a written response which they know can then be produced in court. Remind them that despite the age, the report shows the fault to be inherent and SoGA is on your side.

4. If you still don't get anywhere, send a Letter Before Action to Head Office and CC the store manager.

5. Start a claim through MoneyClaimOnline.


Stay firm but polite, and chances are you won't need to go past step 3.

The product isn't inherently faulty, Which? used different tests to the official EU tests that it didn't pass. A product doesn't become inherently faulty just because it doesn't pass test set buy a non-official body.

If I set up an independent, non-official test and rolled over it with a JCB as part of that test it would break, doesn't make it inherently faulty.

Nick_C

Perhaps you should take the European Commission to the small claims court, for allowing an inadequate form of testing.

SuperHan

Also, without being too cynical, almost all the Argos reviews talk about the low price of the car seat. A quick google tells me it retailed between £30 and £35.

At this price, surely all you expect is a car seat that meets that absolute minimum safety requirements? It's not going to have bells and whistles at that end of the market when you can buy a different car seat for > £250.

Although I appreciate that the most expensive ones may not be the safest, surely you need to at least hit the middle of the market to get top safety?!