Claiming for wasted time and inconvenience etc

etwallace

I purchased a fairly expensive technology product from a high street store, it was not a clearance or a repaired product. It was faulty out of the box, the exchange unit I accepted was also faulty out of the box. I decided not to gamble any further and was given a refund. Can I claim for time wasting, travel, petrol, stress and inconvenience? The products really were faulty (not my imagination) and I estimate my actual costs to be over one hundred pounds.

cono1717

You got your refund now go buy it somewhere else. You save yourself a lot of hassle in the future...

JJ_Egan

List your actual costs and submit to the retailer and see what they say .
Stress is not a claimable item neither is time wasting likewise inconvenience .

bris

You can claim for actual losses nothing else. Your time is not a loss neither is your inconvenience.


You claim tbh would boil down to your petrol costs as this is your only actual cost. In line with government petrol allowances put in a claim for 45p for each mile.


Where is the stress coming into it? If you find it stressful taking back a faulty product perhaps you should seek professional help from a doctor instead.

unholyangel

Time, travel, stress and inconvenience.

The only one out of the 4 you'd have any hope of getting would be travel and even then, its not straightforward. You have a statutory duty to mitigate your losses - perhaps by posting it if it was cheaper, asking the store to collect it from you or even waiting till you're next in that area (some shops will suggest this if you call/email them first).

Theres no entitlement to any amount that can be reasonably saved.

As for stress and inconvenience, courts do sometimes award this but they make their disdain for it known by awarding trivial sums. For example, a couple were told a house needed no work done, just general upkeep etc. It actually required a lot of work (£34k worth) and also required the couple to travel for several hours each week as the house was uninhabitable and they had to travel up from london (where they worked) and this went on for several years and they also contributed the stress of the situation towards the breakdown in their marriage. They got £750 between them and that was only really that high because they didnt have use/enjoyment of the property during that time.

For having to return two faulty items? You'd be lucky to get £1.

etwallace

I was sold one faulty product, which had to be returned, and the replacement was also faulty, and that was returned too. That's two journeys that shouldn't have been necessary, 2 hours of my time, parking, etc, and driving in a city is stressful due to congestion and hold-ups etc.

POPPYOSCAR

Did you ask them to deliver a replacement and collect the faulty one?


That is what I would have done if taking it back was a problem.

wealdroam

etwallace wrote: »

I was sold one faulty product, which had to be returned, and the replacement was also faulty, and that was returned too. That's two journeys that shouldn't have been necessary, 2 hours of my time, parking, etc, and driving in a city is stressful due to congestion and hold-ups etc.

Your time has no value.

Can you tell us what you would otherwise be doing if you weren't travelling to store and back?

AJXX

OP I wouldn't bother - I'm sorry to say that most retailers tend to just laugh at people these days who claim "stress" or want "compensating" etc... There was a time that may have gotten you a gesture of goodwill but nowadays most people claim "stress" almost as a given right, and retailers are wise to that fact.

I'd be interested to see how you arrived at the figure of £100 for travel costs over two trips to the shops and back, that seems very excessive.

etwallace

Right, so now I know. Thanks to those who've made useful comments and a big raspberry to the others. It seems that its worthwhile making a claim to the store manager or the head honcho, but going any further and taking it through the courts etc is likely to leave me out of pocket.

foxtrotoscar_2

I actually enjoy city driving...it's more enjoyable and challenging and
less boring than motorway driving.