Refused refund

Valli

Just wanted to comment that I think the OP has had first class advice from many of the regular posters on here, in particular re 'acceptance'!

I hope this leads to a rapid resolution, preferably without recourse to the Financial Ombudsman!

unholyangel

Alice1270 wrote: »

Thank you as ever to the lovely people who post helpful replies. When I rang my credit card company up after I had received the last letter citing that Tecaz had fulfilled their obligation to me, I read out the legislation concerning rights when goods are not accepted. As Tecaz are also trying to use their terms and conditions of sale which state"that I must allow them reasonable time" to sort any issues out, as a way to get out of refunding I have directed her to the fact that they can basically say what they like, it does not affect my statutory rights. My partner did sign the order with this on but it certainly is vague enough to not alert you to the fact they refuse refunds. They did actually send me a letter before they knew I was going to take the section 75 route which stated that most of the damaged and faulted areas would either be hidden or not used at all and they were actually doing me a favour by replacing it. I had to laugh as that was a lot of cods wallop. Horrible, lying, bullying company who have atrocious reviews on Trustpilot with lots of people in the same position as me. On the plus side, I'm learning so much about consumer law.

Their T&C's are not only questionable - but crossing over into illegal territory. Plus any term which seeks to restrict or remove a consumers statutory rights is automatically unfair and thus void & unenforceable in law. Using the disclaimer "statutory rights are unaffected" cannot make an unfair term fair and - with no explanation of what your rights actually are - it amounts to legal jargon which breaches the plain and intelligible language requirement for contracts.

What did the card company say when you mentioned about having the right to reject under non-acceptance etc? You have said that you read it out to them but (unless i've perhaps missed it) havent said what their response was.

Alice1270

Hello again. In response to Valli, I couldn't agree more, the advice has been both superb and invaluable and to respond to unholyangel, the credit card people did not appear to be fully aware of the relevance of non acceptance, or rather were hoping I wasn't. Obviously, due to the excellent advice from yourself, amongst others, I'm becoming quite good at all this. I have of course taken all your help on board and have just drafted an e-mail to the credit card provider that details specific sections of the guidance for unfair contract terms, which I hope they may contact Tecaz about. I have also reiterated that they contact the online consumer website, which will detail a lot of other customers of this company, who have had similar complaints to mine and finally I have also requested that they look at the Financial Ombudsman's website at the upheld cases very similar to mine. I will definitely give everybody updates, as I hope it will assist people in similar situations.

unholyangel

Alice1270 wrote: »

Hello again. In response to Valli, I couldn't agree more, the advice has been both superb and invaluable and to respond to unholyangel, the credit card people did not appear to be fully aware of the relevance of non acceptance, or rather were hoping I wasn't. Obviously, due to the excellent advice from yourself, amongst others, I'm becoming quite good at all this. I have of course taken all your help on board and have just drafted an e-mail to the credit card provider that details specific sections of the guidance for unfair contract terms, which I hope they may contact Tecaz about. I have also reiterated that they contact the online consumer website, which will detail a lot of other customers of this company, who have had similar complaints to mine and finally I have also requested that they look at the Financial Ombudsman's website at the upheld cases very similar to mine. I will definitely give everybody updates, as I hope it will assist people in similar situations.

If the card company are looking into this, it might be worthwhile providing them with your local TS's page.

All of them should have guidance on when you can insist on a refund. If you're having trouble finding it, just pmail me (or reply here if you dont mind sharing on the forum) and I'll look it out for you.

I'd also consider a complaint to TS themselves not only about the retailer (and their dubious T&C's) but also about the advice you received from them to start with. They really should know better and imo inexcusable for them to mislead consumers about their rights/helping retailers mislead consumers.

Alice1270

Just checked my local TS page and guess what, it doesn't specify when I can insist on a refund. It's very vague, and apart from giving external links, just states the entitlement of either refund/replacement/repair. I think I shall be giving them a call, as I totally agree with you, Unholyangel, they haven't been the best, have they?

unholyangel

Alice1270 wrote: »

Just checked my local TS page and guess what, it doesn't specify when I can insist on a refund. It's very vague, and apart from giving external links, just states the entitlement of either refund/replacement/repair. I think I shall be giving them a call, as I totally agree with you, Unholyangel, they haven't been the best, have they?

Perhaps try this site then - its been archived since our wonderful government decided to spend money updating all gov websites etc, but the advice is still about the same legislation (sale of goods act) so it is still valid.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402142426/http://sogahub.tradingstandards.gov.uk/sogaexplained

Under the "Faulty Goods - your consumer rights" section (number 5) it states:

Faulty goods, no acceptance

If the item does not conform to contract (is faulty ) for any of the reasons mentioned previously, and the customer has not accepted the goods, the law says the customer is entitled to

reject the goods and claim a full refund, or
request a repair or replacement if that is the customer's preferred option.

As the retailer, you can offer a repair, a replacement or a credit note, but you cannot insist on any one of these. It is the customer's right to receive a full refund in these circumstances.

Where a customer is entitled to a full refund because they have not accepted the goods but have agreed that you may repair or replace the goods, they can still claim a full refund if the repair or replacement is

taking an unreasonable time, or
causing an unreasonable inconvenience, or
if the repair or replacement is not satisfactory when they receive it.

unholyangel

Theres also this TS site which gives details on when a refund is due.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/glos/con1item.cgi?file=*ADV1024-1011.txt

arcon5

Admittedly i've fallen behind a bit with recent updates in consumer law, but wasn't they planning on removing the ambiguity the term "reasonable time" brought with a fixed period of 30 days?

frugal_mike

arcon5 wrote: »

Admittedly i've fallen behind a bit with recent updates in consumer law, but wasn't they planning on removing the ambiguity the term "reasonable time" brought with a fixed period of 30 days?

Yes, I think that is in the works. I can't remember whether it is a blanket 30 days, or a minimum of 30 days. I haven't read it in depth though so i'm sure someone more knowledgeable will correct me.

unholyangel

frugal_mike wrote: »

Yes, I think that is in the works. I can't remember whether it is a blanket 30 days, or a minimum of 30 days. I haven't read it in depth though so i'm sure someone more knowledgeable will correct me.

They originally were making it a minimum - with exceptions for special circumstances (ie lawnmower in winter) but it appears once its went through government, its been changed so that its 30 days full stop.

Due to come in october this year I believe.