Faulty light burnt carpet - no joy from B&Q!

Dannii75

My parents bought a light shade from B&Q less than 6months ago but no longer have the receipt. The circular inner fitting fell off out of one of the shades last night & was so hot it burn through the rug & scorched the main carpet. My mother called B&Q Customer Service dept today to ask what could be done & they have said my parents will need to pay for an electrician to visit their home to confirm the fact that the fitting was faulty. Does this sound reasonable to you? I'm surprised at their response. I hate to think what would have happened if someone had been stood under it at the time! Unsure what to do next... any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you

LilElvis

Dannii75 wrote: »

My parents bought a light shade from B&Q less than 6months ago but no longer have the receipt. The circular inner fitting fell off out of one of the shades last night & was so hot it burn through the rug & scorched the main carpet. My mother called B&Q Customer Service dept today to ask what could be done & they have said my parents will need to pay for an electrician to visit their home to confirm the fact that the fitting was faulty. Does this sound reasonable to you? I'm surprised at their response. I hate to think what would have happened if someone had been stood under it at the time! Unsure what to do next... any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you

That sounds entirely reasonable to me. It's one thing for a company to refund or replace a faulty item which has failed, but quite another for them to accept liability for damages, possibly many times greater than the cost of the item they sold, simply based on the customer's word. It is also possible/likely that this will involve the company's insurers who may require that an inspection and report be prepared before they reimburse.

Just another thought. I know you said that your parents no longer have the receipt, but did they pay by credit or debit card as a statement can be sufficient proof of purchase. It might give them leverage to insist that the company pays for the inspection. I know that if an item is less than six months old then the onus is on the seller to prove that the fault is due to misuse (and therefore the customer's fault) but I am not sure what the law says re the additional damages.

bris

LilElvis wrote: »

That sounds entirely reasonable to me. It's one thing for a company to refund or replace a faulty item which has failed, but quite another for them to accept liability for damages, possibly many times greater than the cost of the item they sold, simply based on the customer's word. It is also possible/likely that this will involve the company's insurers who may require that an inspection and report be prepared before they reimburse.

Just another thought. I know you said that your parents no longer have the receipt, but did they pay by credit or debit card as a statement can be sufficient proof of purchase. It might give them leverage to insist that the company pays for the inspection. I know that if an item is less than six months old then the onus is on the seller to prove that the fault is due to misuse (and therefore the customer's fault) but I am not sure what the law says re the additional damages.

But what about the children, think of all those poor children that could have been under it at the time.

Dannii75

Thanks for such a quick reply LilElvis.
OK, I get that. Fair's fair.

My parents pay cash for everything, they don't even use debit cards. A credit card would make them shake in their shoes bless them!

I'm a little surprised that B&Q also haven't offered a refund of the item. Not to worry, I'll talk my parents down.

Thanks for the advice.
Appreciated

hollydays

It's probably because at this point offering a refund would perhaps be seen as an admission of liability

ThumbRemote

Is it a B&Q own brand product?

pulliptears

bris wrote: »

But what about the children, think of all those poor children that could have been under it at the time.

Children aside, this could have caused a fire.

I had a similar issue with a B&Q own brand spotlight, they were moveable and held in place by what I can best describe as a rubber grommet. Despite being fitted with the recommended bulb the grommet melted and began to singe our duvet cover underneath. Fortunately I was in the room at the time and smelled the burning.
Stupidly I didn't complain but I don't have a great deal of faith in B&Q's lighting now.

Zandoni

Check the bulb wattage to see if it's higher than recommended for the shade.

Dannii75

Ah, yes, I'll check the bulb wattage! Didn't think of that. I'll pop over later!

as85

Hi,

My grandparents bought a new toilet from B&Q a week ago. The toilet was fitted by a plumber, but one of the fittings failed and split a day later, flooding all downstairs in their house. They now need new kitchen flooring, new kitchen carcasses and new carpet in their living room. Their insurance company is willing to pay out but the excess for water damage is £250 which they don't have to spare. Do they have any rights/would B&Q be liable for any of this? Total cost to replace is going to be around £3500 for the insurance company, all because of a flimsy piece of plastic.
Thanks for any advice on the matter.

DoaM

Did it fail because the part was faulty, or did it fail due to fitting error?

Your problem will be in apportioning blame, and proving it - B&Q and plumber will blame each other.