House of Fraser store faulty item

dragonfly02

Hi there,
I am having some issues with a purchase from House of Fraser and would welcome some advice please.

Item purchased - Michael Kors watch £229

Item purchased and tried on in store whilst on holiday. employee dropped something on the floor (said it was his keys) then boxed up watch.

Following day (am) I tried watch which was too large, Returned to store to have link taken out.
Employee took small hammer type tool and vigorously hammered out the pin to remove link. I tried the watch on and the fit was fine.
I returned the watch to its packaging to transport 2hrs drive home.

On returning home I see that one stone looks raised above the rest and was worried that it might fall out. I have since looked closer and the stone is either chipped or has some kind of glue or resin coming out, it's difficult to tell.
I also noticed 3 scratches on the glass face.

I immediately emailed House of Fraser less than 24hrs after purchase.

Cutting a long story short I have been emailed by the manager who says I have to send the watch to "fossil" assessment center recorded delivery and if found faulty will refund me the purchase price.
I must do this as it is watch stations policy.



I have a couple of issues with this.
I just want the same watch with flat stones not glue, Not a refund as the watch was a gift.

My receipt is from House of Fraser NOT watch station so surely House of Fraser should deal with this not be dictated to by the concession.
I have personally offered to TAKE the watch to a physical store which will mean going out of my way but at the end of the day I just want the non faulty watch that I thought I had purchased in the first place.
I have also made other suggestions to replace the item.

I have tried calling customer services to escalate this but they say that I am not able to speak to anyone regarding store purchases.

Any words of advice please I have been going to and fro with emails for nearly 2 weeks and have not been able to wear the £229 watch at all and I dont seem to be getting anywhere.

daytona0

Well, it may be worth mentioning the Sales of Goods Act to them and see what they say.

Some thoughts:

- Where did you buy the item when on holiday? Anywhere outside UK (not sure if they have branches abroad) will cause a bit more hassle sometimes.

- House of Fraser are not watch specialists, so they likely won't be able to examine the watch before refunding/replacing. They are PERFECTLY ENTITLED to inspect, or have the item inspected, prior to resolving your claim.

- The viable option is to have the manufacturer inspect the item. It is much better if just one lot of post is sent straight to the manufacturer, as apposed to you sending it to HOF and then HOF sending it to the manufacturer (or even you polluting the air with a 2 hour car trip as well as the postage!). If anything it likely decreases the time it takes to resolve it!

- The wording of your post implies that the manager of HOF has promised to refund you the money IF it is faulty. That is HOF dealing with your issue!!

- You are generally entitled to a REFUND, REPAIR or REPLACEMENT if it wasn't damage caused by you. It is fairly certain that the retailer has the right to choose the remedy here, so a refund is both legal and acceptable (and you can't demand for a replacement!).

- You are likely going to and fro with emails for 2 weeks because you won't send the item back to be checked, as instructed!! There is no evidence that they are not helping you to get this resolved.

dragonfly02

Thank you for your quick response,
The purchase was made in this country

I was trying to simplify the whole case as I thought that some of the things emailed to me would be assumed however in reply to your question the exact phrase the manager used was " they will quickly assess the watch and the damage and will sanction a full refund if deemed appropriate." implying that the concession would be dealing with it.

Maybe I was naive in assuming that I walk into House of Fraser and make a purchase by paying my money to House of Fraser that they would in fact be the company that I made the agreement with seeing as my receipt is a House of Fraser receipt.

I have not refused to send the item but simply expressed my concern in sending the item through the post as I would prefer to hand it over in person so the employee could verify the exact condition that the watch reached them in.
Once the watch is in the hands of Royal Mail who knows where it may end up or what condition the watch might reach Fossil in?

I was actual trying to simplify the process for myself and House of Fraser to try and reduce the possibility of any other issues.

My rationale behind contacting House of Fraser was, if I purchase faulty toothpaste from boots I would expect boots to replace or refund not refer me to Colgate am I wrong here?
I do have a watch station in my home town but it is an outlet.

wealdroam

dragonfly02 wrote: »

My rationale behind contacting House of Fraser was, if I purchase faulty toothpaste from boots I would expect boots to replace or refund not refer me to Colgate am I wrong here?

Using your toothpaste example, Boots are of course entitled to check that the toothpaste is faulty before offering any remedy, but for such a low value item they may not bother.

Let's go for a higher value item from Boots - a hairdryer say.
You take it back to the shop saying it is not working. The shop plug it in to confirm it isn't working. Now they need to know whether the fault is due to 'user error' or a manufacturing defect. The shop staff in Boots are probably not going to be able to do that in store, so send it to an expert - probably the manufacturer or their repair agent. That is perfectly acceptable.

Now your watch cost several times more than any hairdryer, not to mention a tube of toothpaste, so HoF will want to be sure that the problem is not due to, for example, your carelessness.
Do HoF have experts in store that are able to make that call - I don't know, but for a few hundred pounds they want to be sure of their position.

Now, having said all that, you could probably get the purchaser to reject the goods as not conforming to contract and insist on a full refund. As the receiver of a gift, I do not believe you are in a position to insist on a refund, but perhaps it is worth getting the buyer of your watch involved.

dragonfly02

Yes I see where you hairdryer example comes in to play.
as before I am happy to hand watch over to "A" store so that the damage is documented, even if that means making special trips within my area or planned activities.
What annoys me is I had seen the same watch in other shops and chosen to go into House of Fraser as I felt that they had a good reputation as a retailer and felt safer to purchase from them over other smaller businesses.

So many felts in the previous section lol can't you tell I'm an imotional feely person? (In the nicest possible way of course)

Zandoni

There's no way I'd get involved returning a new watch to the manufacturers, you bought it from HOF and they need to give you a refund.

If returning to the store is not an option trying phoning the store and actually talk to the manager.

daytona0

dragonfly02 wrote: »

as I felt that they had a good reputation as a retailer and felt safer to purchase from them over other smaller businesses.

Not all big retailers are good (or specialise in one or two specific items), and not all small retailers are bad.

You were on holiday, so shopping around likely wasn't a factor (

Example, I found the following watch for 229 on House of Fraser:

Michael Kors MK5865 Ladies Rose Gold Parker Watch


It was also listed on other sites for as little as 199.00 with FREE DELIVERY!

So, you probably made an impulsive buy on the day. Sadly, you chose a store which also has about 10 other sections (including furniture, garden, kids - hopefully the person who "fixed" your watch wasn't manager of those departments!) and so you got a slightly diluted aftercare service. If you avoid the awful "smaller companies" then you can generally get more specialised aftercare service AND maybe even cheaper items from good smaller companies.

But alas, nothing wrong with an impulse buy from time to time! You now simply have to get a REFUND, REPAIR or REPLACEMENT. In your situation it is 99% the case that the retailer can choose which one of those 3 to issue, as per some reasonable instructions. Whether you can negotiate these terms depends partly on how reasonable you are being, along with their policies etc.

Best thing is to just get it sent off recorded delivery (tracked), get your money back and buy elsewhere! Easy peasy lemon squeezy (oh, and get your postage refunded!).

dragonfly02

When I say holiday it was a romantic shopping break, I had been eyeing up this brand of watch for months and decided I would use the trip to my advantage, I had been to lots of shops with many different watches and was aware that hof have this brand in store.
Had I realised the whole concession issue and difficulty I could have I would have purchased elsewhere

whilst I would prefer exactly the same watch I am prepared to learn from my experience and purchase elsewhere.

I have been open to possible resolutions including travelling or taking to my local store, whichever was easier and feel that my concerns regarding posting the item are warranted.
I was asked for my contact details to be called by concession manager and was not called despite detailing my work schedule.
I will look into courier companies to ensure insurance coverage etc and take photographic evidence of damage before postage to the best of my abilities and hope the rest of the process goes smoothly.

Thank you for your input

photome

As a side note, Michael Kors watch is a Fossil watch with the Michael Kors name on in place of Fossil and a doubled or trebled price tag

Having said that I am sure you will get a positive result in the end from H of F

agrinnall

dragonfly02 wrote: »

When I say holiday it was a romantic shopping break,

I'm guessing that you didn't sell it to your other half that way, I know I'd struggle to consider shopping in any way romantic (or a break) .

custardy

dragonfly02 wrote: »

Thank you for your quick response,
The purchase was made in this country

I was trying to simplify the whole case as I thought that some of the things emailed to me would be assumed however in reply to your question the exact phrase the manager used was " they will quickly assess the watch and the damage and will sanction a full refund if deemed appropriate." implying that the concession would be dealing with it.

Maybe I was naive in assuming that I walk into House of Fraser and make a purchase by paying my money to House of Fraser that they would in fact be the company that I made the agreement with seeing as my receipt is a House of Fraser receipt.

I have not refused to send the item but simply expressed my concern in sending the item through the post as I would prefer to hand it over in person so the employee could verify the exact condition that the watch reached them in.
Once the watch is in the hands of Royal Mail who knows where it may end up or what condition the watch might reach Fossil in?

I was actual trying to simplify the process for myself and House of Fraser to try and reduce the possibility of any other issues.

My rationale behind contacting House of Fraser was, if I purchase faulty toothpaste from boots I would expect boots to replace or refund not refer me to Colgate am I wrong here?
I do have a watch station in my home town but it is an outlet.

Well you use the appropriate service and ensure it is adequately packaged.