Returning faulty goods

oldno7a

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advise/help
I purchased a pair of safety boots on 9/11/16 in store from Sports Direct at a cost of £30.00. After a few days wear, I found the boots to be leaking & duly returned them & was given a replacement pair of the same style. Unfortunately, the replacement boots had an almost identical problem. I was offered a refund or exchange & opted to exchange the boots for a different style of safety boot at an additional cost of £5.00. The replacement boots again leaked through the sole of the boot during normal wear & I returned again to the store.
On this occasion, I was declined a refund & told that the boots "are not meant to be waterproof" & that there is no fault with the boots as they cant see a fault.
I have raised the issue with the local trading standards dept & am again returning the boots to the store for the area manager to inspect the boots, who is apparently qualified to inspect the boots!
My query/enquiry is 3 fold:-
1. I agree that there is no visible fault with the boots, but the do leak when worn & are therefore faulty. Do I need to prove this? (I have already given a photo)
2. Where do I stand if, as I suspect, the area manager comes back with the response along the lines of "there's no fault or I dont see a fault?
3. What qualifications do you need to be qualified to inspect & report on shoes!!

Apologies for the long ranting 1st post, but extremely frustrated by this & would like to be in receipt of as much info as poss prior to returning to store again tomorrow.
Thanks in advance

Tyler119

It is on the seller to prove that there is no fault. Unfortunately they can not do this themselves and would normally require a third party to inspect them and write a report.

Boots I imagine in terms of fit for purpose should allow the wearer to walk through water that is no deeper than the soles of the boot.

I would write them an official complaint and state that under the 2015 Consumer Act, you are requesting a full refund and that by refusing it they are infringing on your consumer rights.

With all the negative press surrounding this company, you would think they want happy customers...even one returning an item.

bris

Did the boots claim to be water proof? You know very, very little footwear is waterproof right? That's why there are specialists that make waterproof footwear.


£30 gets what £30 gets, for that money I would'nt even like to drop a spanner on them, you have no claim, I'm actually surprised they even took the first pair back.

Fosterdog

Were the boots advertised as waterproof?

ETA: missed above reply asking the same

Also how much water is there? Are you 100% sure that it's not sweat? I wear safety boots quite often in work and the ones I have now are perfect for stopping water ingress but they get very hot and my socks end up soaked in sweat more than any other pair ever has.

shaun_from_Africa

I'm currently wearing a pair of Dickies safety shoes (Cost £82) which are labelled as "outdoor" and although they are water resistant, I still ended up with wet feet when wearing them for more than 10 minutes in the rain. (The rain in the Caribbean wet season has to be seen to be believed).
I fixed this with a can of Scholl water treatment.

Before this I had "regular" safety shoes which although were not cheap, still let the water in, and as they were not sold to me as being waterproof or water resistant, I accepted this.

£30 for a pair of safety boots is at the very cheap end of the market and unless specifically stated as being waterproof, I wouldn't expect anything else.