Is Argos acting legally?

molerat

I would argue for 80% and if they come back with 70 - 75% rip their hands off

steampowered

takman wrote: »

But if they don't negotiate and the OP decides the offer is not acceptable Argos can't be forced to provide detailed evidence of why they came up with that price unless he takes it to court. Even then if he does it don't think they will have any problem finding 2 year old mattresses at less than 67% of their retail price. If anything I think they could reduce that offer further.

The cost to the Op of issuing a claim for the Op is probably a £15 issue fee. The cost of Argos defending the claim would be much more, and they wouldn't recover their legal costs even if Argos won. I am sure Argos would settle if pushed.

foxtrotoscar_2

steampowered wrote: »

The cost to the Op of issuing a claim for the Op is probably a £15 issue fee. The cost of Argos defending the claim would be much more, and they wouldn't recover their legal costs even if Argos won. I am sure Argos would settle if pushed.

Can you give link?

System

OP take the offer , i am returning a faulty iron to High street tv and after under 3 months only being offered 75% back .

foxtrotoscar_2

CHRISSYG wrote: »

OP take the offer , i am returning a faulty iron to High street tv and after under 3 months only being offered 75% back .

From memory they are not allowed to make a reduction in the first six months. I'm sure the more knowledgeable regulars will set us right.

steampowered

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

Can you give link?

Details of court fees are set out in https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/ex50-eng.pdf, go to page 4.

Most claims are issued using MCOL (money claim online) so that is the column to look at.

My apologies, the minimum issue fee is in fact £25 rather than £15.

daytona0

steampowered wrote: »

The six years limit is a procedural limit on filing a claim with the court, which applies to all types of claim. It isn't a SOGA thing about how long goods are supposed to last.

Aye, but a successful SOGA claim just before the 6 year time frame would result in some sort of recompense.

I see the point you are making about knocking off a larger chunk for earlier years. But personally I struggle to see how Argos could say you get more use out of a mattress in year 1 than you do in year 3. I wouldn't fancy Argos' chances running that argument in front of a judge in a small claims hearing in the Op's local county court.

I suspect the main possibility is that within year 1 an item goes from "new" to "used". Each subsequent year it goes from "used" to "more used".

I personally would be asking Argos for more money. Argos' offer suggests the expected average life of a mattress is 6 years and I don't think that's reasonable.

It only suggests that if the depreciation is linear. There are other ways of working out depreciation, as I am pointing out

Some ways of working out the depreciation (for example an exponential) suggest a lifespan of longer than 6 years.

BUT I see your argument, and in laymans terms it makes sense. 67% does in fact *seem* a bit low and I would be pushing for more like 75% personally (settling at 70% as a compromise).

Also, the Op could claim for the cost of having a mattress delivered and installed. That's an additional cost they bear as a result of the mattress being faulty. More leverage to use to get Argos to give a better settlement.

No they couldn't!

The consumer paid for the company to deliver the item - this was done.

The consumer paid for installation (installing a mattress?) - this was done.

No breach of contract in respect to either of those points. The company did what was asked of them. OR, if you were arguing that they contracted an independent to install/deliver or they used petrol + their own manpower to deliver it, then it still wouldn't really be strong enough case to be consequential loss. But another poster will correct me if I'm wrong there

foxtrotoscar_2

steampowered wrote: »

Details of court fees are set out in https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/ex50-eng.pdf, go to page 4.

Most claims are issued using MCOL (money claim online) so that is the column to look at.

My apologies, the minimum issue fee is in fact £25 rather than £15.

So probably £15 has now become £25 minimum...what's the maximum? I'm concerned that you are giving out incorrect information as it may mislead.

daytona0

Rainbowgirl84 wrote: »

You are assuming the depreciation is linear. It could be that it's 20-25% in the first year and ~10%/year subsequently.

Have to say but I'm impressed with your mathematical understanding here! I didn't see your post before I made mine

I crunched the numbers in a similar thread (:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=71711705&postcount=6

It was certainly not completely a linear projection (or did I turn an exponential into a linear?) and could accommodate t>6, but it did highlight that a bigger percentage was taken off on the earlier years!

I would have tried to map out a rough projection for OP too had it not been for foxtrotoscar and Hermione Granger... "pile of embarrassing tripe!"

Not many people like the maths (and I'm not perfect, so I'm open to criticism RE: my calculations!)....

The layman approach is often better in situations like this.... 67% offered *looks like* it implies that the mattress lasts 6 years, so it *looks like* it should be more around 70-75%.

But in fairness I think 70-75% is the correct range but sadly that's just my own opinion as I am refraining from posting any more "pile of embarrasing tripe" here

System

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

From memory they are not allowed to make a reduction in the first six months. I'm sure the more knowledgeable regulars will set us right.

Thanks for that , i googled it and you are right they can't so i have fired off an email to that effect.