Amazon being fair?

LM_UK

Amazon had an offer on for Prime customers whereby the Vtech Toot Toot Discovery House was at a special price of £19.99. We bought it. When my son opened it on Christmas Day, there was a big piece of the house missing. When we contacted Amazon they have said we can have a refund then buy the house again for £35 which is the price it is advertised for currently. We do not want to do this, we want an exchange- we would like them to send a new house or the missing part. Where do we stand on this matter?

martinthebandit

You bought something, it was faulty and they have offered to refund the full amount you paid.

Sounds fair to me.

Bogalot

Amazon would normally replace the faulty item without quibble.

Looking at the listing they do not have any stock at the moment, the item is only being sold by third parties. This is why they cannot replace it.

[Deleted User]

LM_UK wrote: »

When we contacted Amazon they have said we can have a refund then buy the house again for £35 which is the price it is advertised for currently. We do not want to do this, we want an exchange

Amazon will usually offer to exchange automatically.

Is the more expensive item an upgraded version of the toy (and therefore not a like-for-like exchange) ?

Certainly Amazon are within their rights to offer exchange, repair or refund. It may be that they are out-of-stock of the item and don't expect to replenish it anytime soon. Is the item on sale at the higher price from an Amazon seller rather than Amazon itself?

iammumtoone

martinthebandit wrote: »

You bought something, it was faulty and they have offered to refund the full amount you paid.

Sounds fair to me.

But its not as the OP wants the goods not the money, they are not asking for extra just what the paid for at the time. Most shops will do a exchange.

This could be a good 'scam' for a company sell things at really cheap prices that are faulty only give refunds then flog them at the full price item. This would work where children's products are involved as the child has now seen the present, likes it and wants it, the child will not understand about the money issue.

I have had the same thing happen to me with amazon I was annoyed but had to put up with it as the item was for me so made do without the replacement at the higher cost.

OP have you tried contacting the manufacture direct? They might be more helpful and send out the missing part?

[Deleted User]

iammumtoone wrote: »

This could be a good 'scam' for a company sell things at really cheap prices that are faulty only give refunds then flog them at the full price item.

Clearly, Amazon are not "scamming" anyone. The item was damaged in transit, it's not deliberately "faulty".

Amazon are not selling it at £35, another retailer on Amazon is.

Fosterdog

If Amazon don't have the stock to exchange it would be worth contacting the manufacturer to see if they will send out the missing part

1trainer1

I would go back and say you dont want a refund, you want what you paid for and are willing to give them a few days

powerful_Rogue

1trainer1 wrote: »

I would go back and say you dont want a refund, you want what you paid for and are willing to give them a few days

And if as already pointed out Amazon don't have the item in stock, what other option do they have apart from refunding?

As much as the OP doesn't like it, Amazon are complying with the law by offering a refund.

naedanger

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

And if as already pointed out Amazon don't have the item in stock, what other option do they have apart from refunding?

They could give an indication of when the item is likely to be back in stock and see if the customer was willing to wait. And if the customer is willing to wait then send the item to the customer (for the originally agreed price) when it comes back into stock.

Leo2020

I thought this would be classed as breaking the contract? Amazon agreed to supply X item at X price, they now can't but that us not the OPs fault. I believe you are legally entitled to purchase one at a higher price and take Amazon to court for the difference. But you have to mitigate your losses i.e if you could purchase it for less than £35 somewhere other than Amazon you have a responsibility to do so.