JD Sports - is it worth taking them to small claims court?

May1000

Very briefly, i bought a £40 t-shirt from JD Sports. Within 5 months there was a small hole - I believe where the cotton disintegrated.

I asked for a refund or exchange. They refused. With pressure from me they sent it off for "inspection" then refused again, sent it off for inspection a second time, and refused any compensation a second time and gave no reasons. All through they have used ridiculous delay tactics and their customer services is, frankly, dreadful and I believe deliberately obstructive. I have asked for address of JD sports CEO to write to him, but Customer Services refuse to give me any details!

My question is should I bother threatening to take them to small claims court with a letter before action. Would this be a potentially expensive risk for me? This would be for the principle of the matter - since they have behaved so badly from the beginning. On the other hand I don't want to be lumbered with costs if I lose.

Thanks, if you have any advice I'd be grateful.

jobdone1

Smash them go all the way.

[Deleted User]

Well, you'd need the results of an independent inspection to counter the retailer's examination. If you were to pay for such an inspection and it were to find against you then you'll have wasted your money. The inspection would have to find an inherent fault.

Small holes in cotton fabric are not normally a symptom of faulty manufacture, I'm afraid, but the very definition of "wear and tear"

I don't really fancy your chances in court..

unholyangel

Cotton is a harder wearing fibre and not a delicate one likely to "disintegrate" without some massive outside influence - not trying to offend just giving the "wisdom" of my knitting/crocheting expertise.

Chances are this has caught on something (even a zip in a washing machine perhaps!) or perhaps even been munched by a moth.


Filing against them in court will cost more than you paid for the t-shirt and best case scenario you'd probably be looking to get £20 back maximum. As annoying as it might be, personally I'd let it go.

naedanger

May1000 wrote: »

Very briefly, i bought a £40 t-shirt from JD Sports. Within 5 months there was a small hole - I believe where the cotton disintegrated.

I asked for a refund or exchange. They refused. With pressure from me they sent it off for "inspection" then refused again, sent it off for inspection a second time, and refused any compensation a second time and gave no reasons. All through they have used ridiculous delay tactics and their customer services is, frankly, dreadful and I believe deliberately obstructive. I have asked for address of JD sports CEO to write to him, but Customer Services refuse to give me any details!

My question is should I bother threatening to take them to small claims court with a letter before action. Would this be a potentially expensive risk for me? This would be for the principle of the matter - since they have behaved so badly from the beginning. On the other hand I don't want to be lumbered with costs if I lose.

Thanks, if you have any advice I'd be grateful.

I am also of the view that the small claims court is not worth the risk in your specific case.

If you want to complain to the CEO or chairman you could do a google search for "ceo email addresses for uk companies". A website will appear at or very near the top that gives CEO email addresses. Find the UK section and search for "jdsport" with no spaces. I found the Exec Chairman's email address that way.

Keep any email as brief as possible and even then I expect your chances of getting a helpful reply are low.

SnowTiger

Details on their website about how to complain. I'd follow that route first.

fleshandbone

Yes take them to the highest court in the land, how dare a 5 month old shirt get a small hole, that is a right liberty and JD must pay compensation out to everyone who gets a hole in a t-shirt.

May1000

Thanks so much for your help!

I think I am on a hiding to nothing here. So will just drop it, and not buy stuff at JD Sports again!

I was peeved because it was a designer t-shirt and cost £40, so shouldn't start to develop these problems so soon IMO. If it had been a tenner or £20 I wouldn't have bothered. Also, the woman (manager) at the JD shop was incredibly rude when I went into the shop, which really put my hackles up!!

Anyway, it would have been hard to prove, and thank for confirming that it could be an expensive risk for me, as there is a chance the fabric is not at fault e.g. the moth theory Unholyangel, you could be right - though I've not had this problem with any other clothing I could have been unlucky here.

There's probably no point in writing to the CEO either, as I'm sure they are aware of how their Customer Services is.

I'LL LET THIS GO!

THANKS ALOT TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP I'm usually fairly clear about things, but it is occasionally you can lose perspective when you feel you've been treated badly.