Arbitration is all very well, but what if......

lovinituk

miserable_ol_so_n_so wrote: »

I am about to commence recovery of full refund of an item purchased from an Amazon seller which fell apart after a few months of use.

Exactly how many months after you received it? More or less than 6?

miserable_ol_so_n_so

hollydays wrote: »

Do you have a link to those instances?
It seems you'd be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut by taking them to court.

Thanks. I will look these up and supply here. Pls bear with me.

miserable_ol_so_n_so

lovinituk wrote: »

Exactly how many months after you received it? More or less than 6?

4 moths. However, the item in question ought to last many years. Should not need replacing every few months. If my memory serves me right, there is no time limit as to when the problem manifests itself.

SuperHan

miserable_ol_so_n_so wrote: »

If my memory serves me right, there is no time limit as to when the problem manifests itself.

There is. It's 6 years.


The relevance of 6 months is after this you would need to prove the fault was inherent, but you haven't passed that time so that's of no concern.


Could you elaborate on what you bought and how it fell apart (I'm genuinely intrigued...)

lovinituk

miserable_ol_so_n_so wrote: »

4 moths. However, the item in question ought to last many years. Should not need replacing every few months. If my memory serves me right, there is no time limit as to when the problem manifests itself.

If it had been over 6 months then it would have been your responsibility to prove that the fault was inherent. As it is less than 6 months you don't have to provide this.

miserable_ol_so_n_so

SuperHan wrote: »

There is. It's 6 years.


The relevance of 6 months is after this you would need to prove the fault was inherent, but you haven't passed that time so that's of no concern.


Could you elaborate on what you bought and how it fell apart (I'm genuinely intrigued...)

It is a toilet seat. It is not the cheapest which go for £4.99 but was £24.99. I would expect it to last many years. The rubber grommet on one side of the hinge has cracked. The seat is unsafe. I got in touch with the merchant, informed him it was unsafe and provided him with all the evidence he asked for (photographs). He was taking his time and no progress was made over several days to this unsafe situation. I proposed a solution whereby I would order a metal replacement hinge. The manufacturer of the seat sells it at about £12. I found it for £6 on ebay. It would have arrived the next day. This would have cured the problem for good. At this suggestion the merchant told me that the problem was not with the item but I had installed it incorrectly. Now I am a retired electrical engineer, worked 40 years on 3 continents. There is no one on earth who can say that the item was installed incorrectly if they were not witness to that installation. He did not specify particularly which installation step was not complied with.He said as a gesture of goodwill he will get in touch with the manufacturer. This rang alarm bells. I informed him that I disagreed with his diagnosis. I withdrew my offer of replacing the hinge, informed him that I rejected the goods as they were not of merchantable quality and demanded a full refund. He refused twice. I ordered a replacement seat. I informed him that I will retain the goods so I can produce them in court to prove my point. This has taken up so much of my time. Time is what I don't have. I am a carer for my other half and don't want to spend my time chasing rogue merchants.

KeithP

miserable_ol_so_n_so wrote: »

It is a toilet seat. It is not the cheapest which go for £4.99 but was £24.99. I would expect it to last many years. The rubber grommet on one side of the hinge has cracked. The seat is unsafe. I got in touch with the merchant, informed him it was unsafe and provided him with all the evidence he asked for (photographs). He was taking his time and no progress was made over several days to this unsafe situation. I proposed a solution whereby I would order a metal replacement hinge. The manufacturer of the seat sells it at about £12. I found it for £6 on ebay. It would have arrived the next day. This would have cured the problem for good. At this suggestion the merchant told me that the problem was not with the item but I had installed it incorrectly. Now I am a retired electrical engineer, worked 40 years on 3 continents. There is no one on earth who can say that the item was installed incorrectly if they were not witness to that installation. He did not specify particularly which installation step was not complied with.He said as a gesture of goodwill he will get in touch with the manufacturer. This rang alarm bells. I informed him that I disagreed with his diagnosis. I withdrew my offer of replacing the hinge, informed him that I rejected the goods as they were not of merchantable quality and demanded a full refund. He refused twice. I ordered a replacement seat. I informed him that I will retain the goods so I can produce them in court to prove my point. This has taken up so much of my time. Time is what I don't have. I am a carer for my other half and don't want to spend my time chasing rogue merchants.

What right do you think you have to reject the goods and demand a full refund?

The seller has a right to examine the goods if they wish with a view to deciding whether or not the goods are inherently faulty.

DoaM

KeithP wrote: »

What right do you think you have to reject the goods and demand a full refund?

The seller has a right to examine the goods if they wish with a view to deciding whether or not the goods are inherently faulty.

No ... under 6 months the seller needs to prove that the fault was caused by user misuse; they can't just flip a coin and say "not inherently faulty".

miserable_ol_so_n_so

KeithP wrote: »

What right do you think you have to reject the goods and demand a full refund?

The seller has a right to examine the goods if they wish with a view to deciding whether or not the goods are inherently faulty.

Thanks. I have every right to reject the goods. It fell apart within a few months. It was installed as per the manufacturers instructions. The seller was provided with all the information he asked for. Based upon that, he made the diagnosis. If this goes to court, the faulty item will be submitted to court and he can examine it. He can have it examined by an expert witness if needed. Besides, were I to accept a repair action, I would forever forfeit my right to a refund and forevermore have to accept a repair action. Not on. I was not prepared to wait and wait and wait and have an unsafe seat in my house either. Time was of the essence. The problem could have been solved the next day by installing a £6 hinge. As it is, I did solve it the next day by getting another seat which came with a 10 year guarantee.

miserable_ol_so_n_so

waamo wrote: »

That is a very good point. As I said earlier court should be a last resort. If you haven't approached Amazon first you risk it being chucked out.

Thanks I will. And if I have any issues with Amazon, they can keep their Prime and lose my regular orders. They are convenient but so what.