Argos returns policy is a con - just sue them in County Court for a refund

AmoUK

Argos misleadingly claim a 30 day return policy which is extended during the Christmas period, but then their store management use all kinds of excuses to refuse returns, even of faulty goods, and hide behind various unfair smallprint, which is questionable.

I came across a rude, unhelpful brick wall when I tried to return 2 faulty laptops at the local Argos store, fully packaged with all original accessories and materials. They refused to refund, repair, exchange or even test the faulty items, effectively sticking 2 fingers up at me.

Their line was "you've used them, so we cant take them back". How are you supposed to know they are faulty without using them? No answer from the Argos store managers. They tried to use all kind of tricks, trying to blame Microsoft or the laptop manufacturer and trying to palm me off to them. By law, the Retailer is responsible for faulty goods, they are the ones who took your money.

Then they tried saying "It will work fine if you update Windows" - effectively admitting the items were faulty and non-usable at the time they were sold. Nowhere in the catalog or product box does it say "This product will only work properly if you update Windows". In any event, even after updating Windows the faults continued.

So I issued a County Court Claim straight away, which the head office acknowledged receipt of, but since then they have failed to file a Defence within the court's time limit.

I would guess no lawyer in the Argos head office was capable of competently denying that their policy breaches statutory consumer rights when it comes to the retailer taking responsibility for faulty goods that were faulty at the point of sale, and that they offered no replacement, no exchange, and no offer to inspect or repair. Shoddy cowboy tactics by a major high street business.

I have now obtained a County Court Judgment against Argos for the full value of the transaction, plus interest and court issue fees due to their failure to respond with a Defence within time.

I will take a copy of the Judgment to the local branch on Monday and repeat my request for a full refund (plus the court costs). If they still dont cough up or resolve, then I will pay the additional court fee for a Warrant (which is recoverable from Argos too) which will then get the case passed to a Bailiff, resulting in Argos having to pay out much more for their letter and a visit to remove goods.

Argos cannot appeal because they filed an Acknowledgment that they received the court claim, so they are now out of time to file a defence.

It would seem Argos try it on with their misleading Returns Policy, then get Managers at the store to fob you off with excuses when you try to return something.

Dont accept any nonsense from Argos - if they mess you around having sold you faulty goods then go to Money Claim Online and sue them using a County Court Claim. Its simple, low cost and within a relatively short time forces them to either refund you or give your issue proper attention without pathetic palming-off excuses by the store managers.

sjbrun

So how long did you give them to reply in your letter before action?

If you didn't send one then you didn't follow process so Argos could apply for it to be set aside quite easily.

Did you follow the Argos complaints process first?

Did you go in with a confrontational attitude like your post suggests? If so that may not have helped.

AmoUK

The fact they they filed an Acknowledgment of Service, have failed to offer to resolve the matter since, and then failed to file a Defence means they cannot rely on the points you make. The grounds to apply to set aside a Default Judgment would be futile in that circumstance.

The LBA is not a mandatory requirement in small claims procedure, particularly if other party has been given reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue and is not grounds in itself to set aside a judgment.

Default Judgments are typically set aside where the other party claims not to have received the Claim Form - that doesnt apply here. A senior person at the head office has acknowledged receipt in writing. A major company like Argos with its own inhouse legal team missing the deadline to file a Defence is its own fault, and I doubt any judge in the land would entertain any feeble excuses for that failure by Argos.

The only hope I can see they have is if they have a postal receipt and their Defence has been lost in the post, or the court office did receive a Defence from them within the time limit but didnt update the system. Both events highly unlikely (although remotely possible).

neilmcl

AmoUK wrote: »

I will take a copy of the Judgment to the local branch on Monday and repeat my request for a full refund (plus the court costs). If they still dont cough up or resolve, then I will pay the additional court fee for a Warrant (which is recoverable from Argos too) which will then get the case passed to a Bailiff, resulting in Argos having to pay out much more for their letter and a visit to remove goods.

I can't see the individual store going to do anything on the strength of you turning up with your CCJ., You need to be contacting (or waiting) from Argos Head Office to deal with this.

AmoUK

Just like the Claim Form, the (previously rude) store manager will send it on to their head office, even though they will get an original in post from Court too.

My point is they wont be able to ignore the issue now as they tried to do previously, effectively telling a customer to f*** off and accept faulty goods.

The consequences of ignoring the CCJ are obvious - in due course warrant will be issued, bailiff will turn up and they either pay up then or have goods removed.

laineyhen

shame that:cool: i worked there recently
my main job was to help customers with exchanges and refunds

i was amazed at the regularity

but also the customer service was brilliant:beer:

now i dont work there i wouldnt think twice about
shoppin there

societys_child

Then they tried saying "It will work fine if you update Windows" - effectively admitting the items were faulty and non-usable at the time they were sold. Nowhere in the catalog or product box does it say "This product will only work properly if you update Windows".

That's not a fault, Windows always needs updating.

barbiedoll

The staff in our local Argos are fab. I once changed a vacuum cleaner because it was rubbish, performance-wise and the very helpful staff not only exchanged it without quibble, they also recommended a different one, which was £10 cheaper and was, indeed, much more suitable.

My husband recently exchanged his new big telly twice, simply because he "didn't like it"....the customer care woman knows him by name now!

I've never had a problem with Argos.

unholyangel

AmoUK wrote: »

The fact they they filed an Acknowledgment of Service, have failed to offer to resolve the matter since, and then failed to file a Defence means they cannot rely on the points you make. The grounds to apply to set aside a Default Judgment would be futile in that circumstance.

The LBA is not a mandatory requirement in small claims procedure, particularly if other party has been given reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue and is not grounds in itself to set aside a judgment.

Default Judgments are typically set aside where the other party claims not to have received the Claim Form - that doesnt apply here. A senior person at the head office has acknowledged receipt in writing. A major company like Argos with its own inhouse legal team missing the deadline to file a Defence is its own fault, and I doubt any judge in the land would entertain any feeble excuses for that failure by Argos.

The only hope I can see they have is if they have a postal receipt and their Defence has been lost in the post, or the court office did receive a Defence from them within the time limit but didnt update the system. Both events highly unlikely (although remotely possible).

If you don't comply with the procedure as set out by the civil procedure rules, you run the risk of not having costs awarded or having them awarded against you. You seem to have been lucky with argos not filing a defence as the case (and costs) is automatically found in your favour whether your claim is valid/has merit or not. Thats not to say your claim doesn't have merit - just detailing why you should always comply with CPRs.

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/pd_pre-action_conduct

Steps before issuing a claim at court
6. Where there is a relevant pre-action protocol, the parties should comply with that protocol before commencing proceedings. Where there is no relevant pre-action protocol, the parties should exchange correspondence and information to comply with the objectives in paragraph 3, bearing in mind that compliance should be proportionate. The steps will usually include—
(a) the claimant writing to the defendant with concise details of the claim. The letter should include the basis on which the claim is made, a summary of the facts, what the claimant wants from the defendant, and if money, how the amount is calculated;
(b) the defendant responding within a reasonable time - 14 days in a straight forward case and no more than 3 months in a very complex one. The reply should include confirmation as to whether the claim is accepted and, if it is not accepted, the reasons why, together with an explanation as to which facts and parts of the claim are disputed and whether the defendant is making a counterclaim as well as providing details of any counterclaim; and
(c) the parties disclosing key documents relevant to the issues in dispute.

Also, a judgement can be set aside for a few reasons and judges have a bit of leeway with it. For example they can set aside a judgement if they think they have a reasonable prospect of defending the claim.

Again not commenting on your specific circumstances as I don't know what they are. But perhaps best not to count your chickens until youve actually received payment.

visidigi

This is on the wrong board - it should be here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=82

And I am amazed how much effort you actually put in to avoid saying what was wrong with the items and what advice you could be given (which would have made this the right board).

As has been said, you're aggressive - even on a forum!

AmoUK

societys_child wrote: »

That's not a fault, Windows always needs updating.

i didnt say Update requirement is a fault, I said it didnt fix the fault.

Second, the law requires a product to be working at the point of sale. So even if Update was a resolution to a fault, Argos would have been in breach, as it didnt state that an Update is necessary before product is usable. (in this case, still not usable after Update).