7 Days to return goods

sstjc

When into Fenwicks in Canterbury yesterday and brought a Train Set for my son which was reduced from £130 to £65. When I paid I was told that because it was marked as reduced I only had 7 days to return it if there were any problems with it. I said thats not a problem because the sale of goods act overrides that and was told thats not the case. Having done some research I can't find anything specific that clarifies this. Can they do this and who is correct here and where can I find the law relevant to this specific situation please?
Many thanks in advance.
Barry

shaun_from_Africa

It's now the Consumer rights act and not the Sale of goods act.
This legislation gives you 50 days to reject goods for which a fault is discovered in this period.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/22/enacted

Shaka_Zulu

I suspect Fenwicks were not talking about that but that they offer a 14 day(?) returns policy which is reduced to 7 days on discounted items.

Sounds like crossed wires to me.

sstjc

That very interesting. Many thanks to you both.

naedanger

sstjc wrote: »

When into Fenwicks in Canterbury yesterday and brought a Train Set for my son which was reduced from £130 to £65. When I paid I was told that because it was marked as reduced I only had 7 days to return it if there were any problems with it. I said thats not a problem because the sale of goods act overrides that and was told thats not the case. Having done some research I can't find anything specific that clarifies this. Can they do this and who is correct here and where can I find the law relevant to this specific situation please?
Many thanks in advance.
Barry

If they mean you have only seven days to return it should you find it is not what you want then that is fine. (They don't need to offer any return period for a change of mind.)

If they mean they will not offer any remedy after 7 days when they would otherwise be required by statute to do so (e.g. if the item was faulty) then you are correct (but this is now covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 rather than the Sale of Goods Act).

See section 31:

Liability that cannot be excluded or restricted
(1) A term of a contract to supply goods is not binding on the consumer to the
extent that it would exclude or restrict the trader’s liability arising under any
of these provisions—
(a) section 9 (goods to be of satisfactory quality);
(b) section 10 (goods to be fit for particular purpose);
(c) section 11 (goods to be as described);
(d) section 12 (other pre-contract information included in contract);
(e) section 13 (goods to match a sample);
(f) section 14 (goods to match a model seen or examined);
(g) section 15 (installation as part of conformity of the goods with the
contract);
(h) section 16 (goods not conforming to contract if digital content does not
conform);
(i) section 17 (trader to have right to supply the goods etc);
(j) section 28 (delivery of goods);
(k) section 29 (passing of risk).

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted

neilmcl

As above, I suspect the shop was merely talking about their own returns policy with regards change of mind purchases. This won't override your statutory rights should the goods be faulty.

sstjc

This is interesting because in reply I specifically stated that faulty goods were covered by law and not their policy and the 7 day limit was reiterated. I have now written to the store to see what their response is. However having read these replies I rather feel they are not training their staff correctly because the member of staff seemed genuine in believing what she said. So I hope this is just a mixup beteen the law and their own 7/14 day exchange policy which I have to say I was not aware existed.
Many thanks

steampowered

This is pretty common. A lot of retail staff do not understand the difference between customer's statutory rights to return faulty goods and their store's exchange policy to make returns whether they are faulty or not.

It is understandable that shop floor staff might not be fully trained in this, but I'd expect managers to know the difference.

marliepanda

You've actually written in about the staff not being trained properly? Doesn't sound like she said anything wrong

Maybe you confused her by quoting outdated legislation? Maybe you misinterpreted what she meant by 'problems' with it.

I hope no one gets reprimanded for you being a busybody and writing to the store over a storm in a teacup.

iammumtoone

This time of year shop assistants have to deal with lots of 'problems' with purchased goods.

Most goods are being brought as presents leading to 'problems' such as, wrong size/colour/wrong item etc.

These are the problems the shop assistant would have been referring referring to.

I don't think they have done anything wrong, unless you specially questioned the 7 day return if it was faulty.

unholyangel

steampowered wrote: »

This is pretty common. A lot of retail staff do not understand the difference between customer's statutory rights to return faulty goods and their store's exchange policy to make returns whether they are faulty or not.

It is understandable that shop floor staff might not be fully trained in this, but I'd expect managers to know the difference.

The irony is that one of the reasons consumer legislation was simplified & changed (by the consumer rights act etc) was to make it cheaper & easier for retailers to train their staff.....which made me laugh at the time as most retailers don't train their staff in anything other than company policy so there was no "cheaper & easier".