Bought a second hand fridge freezer and it doesn't work

sjlr1985

Posting on behalf of my sister..

Last week she bought a second hand Bosch fridge freezer from the Friday-Ad, she collected from the sellers house, it was not plugged in and never saw it working.

She got it home, left it the recommended 24 hours before switching on and it doesn't work at all. She informed the seller and they suggested calling an engineer which she did. The engineer came this morning and basically said it's a write off and would be around £500 to fix.

She called the seller again and his wife came onto the phone and shouted at my sister that it was working last week!

She paid £50 in total (£10 deposit via Paypal). In the advert it states 'Excellent working order' and 'VGC'. (I have a saved copy of the advert).

What rights does she have?

shaun_from_Africa

When buying privately, you have far fewer rights than when buying from a business but one of the rights you do have is that goods must be as described.
If the freezer was stated as working then it must work and if it doesn't, you are entitled to a full refund.


That's the law. However, enforcing the law is a different matter.
As the seller is claiming that the freezer was working when collected, they could also say that it was damaged during transport after it left their house.
If you want to try to forcer a refund, you could take legal action or at least state that you are going to do this (Do a Google search for "letter before action").
An LBA sent signed for may well get them to refund you. If not, then legal action will probably be your only option and only you can decide whether or not it's worth going that far.

[Deleted User]

I know hindsight is 20/20 but when I purchased a second hand fridge freezer, I did insist on seeing it working and tested all compartments were cold.

She should be able to claim her deposit back through paypal.., I assume cash was used for the remainder, which might be more difficult to get back.

If she bought it through ebay.., she could try their resolution service, but not having paid for it through ebay, that's going to be very difficult too.

shaun_from_Africa

deannatrois wrote: »

She should be able to claim her deposit back through paypal.., I assume cash was used for the remainder, which might be more difficult to get back.

That won't work.
The only time you can claim from Paypal is if the full payment was made using their services. partial payments or deposits are not covered.
The appliance was bought from an advert in the Friday Ad and not through ebay.

Fosterdog

How was the fridge freezer transported? They really do need to be kept upright and if it was laid flat to transport it could cause it to fail

forgotmyname

Laying them flat wont cause them to fail providing its left upright for 24 hours, i used to recommend 6 - 8 hours minimum, if it was transported upright.

24 hours if laid flat.

sjlr1985

Thank you for all the replies, they are very helpful. It's good to know that she is in her rights but don't know if we will get a positive response from the seller. I think I am going to try an call the seller myself to see if I can resolve this.

The Bosch engineer confirmed that it very most likely wasn't damaged during the transportation as it is a replacement part which is needed - a control panel of some sort which is faulty rather than leaking gasses which is what is usually damaged if it is due to moving.

Caz3121

sjlr1985 wrote: »

it was not plugged in and never saw it working.

I guess there is a lesson here...
my husband went to buy a skybox from a gumtree seller, was told it was all working fine...asked for it to be plugged in to show, made a sound and went kaput...he didn't bother with the purchase!