Garden storage box not waterproof, what are my rights?

twinkleseren

I recently bought a garden storage box from Dealmonster online. However, once built and put outside it appears to not be waterproof.

I have emailed the merchant who have responded "The storage box is advertised as weatherproof rather than waterproof, we do not advise that fabric items are stored in these boxes. I have requested further information from our customer service team however if this has been built and is being used it is unlikely that they will offer you a refund".

Do I have any rights in terms of claiming a refund for this as obviously it is built otherwise we would never have known it was not waterproof, and a garden storage box would be expected to be, otherwise what is the point of it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

powerful_Rogue

twinkleseren wrote: »

I recently bought a garden storage box from Dealmonster online. However, once built and put outside it appears to not be waterproof.

I have emailed the merchant who have responded "The storage box is advertised as weatherproof rather than waterproof, we do not advise that fabric items are stored in these boxes. I have requested further information from our customer service team however if this has been built and is being used it is unlikely that they will offer you a refund".

Do I have any rights in terms of claiming a refund for this as obviously it is built otherwise we would never have known it was not waterproof, and a garden storage box would be expected to be, otherwise what is the point of it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

How recently did you but it?
Have you got a link to the item?

eddddy

Presumably they made no specific statement about the storage box being waterproof or not being waterproof, so I guess it boils down to...

Would a reasonable person understand 'weatherproof' to mean 'waterproof'? (If so, it's not as described.)

And/or would a reasonable person expect a garden storage box to be waterproof? (If so, it's not fit for purpose.)

I guess either or both of the above points could form the basis of your argument.

agrinnall

I have a garden storage box and it was clearly never meant to be waterproof as there is a gap between the lid and the back of the box. It is, however, pretty good at protecting the contents from the weather, although I've had to put some bricks on the lid as high winds tend to try to lift it. I think I'm a pretty reasonable person and I wouldn't expect it to be waterproof unless it actually said so.

martinsurrey

is this the type of thing?

I always read weatherproof to mean rain wont get in, but standing water will soak in.

I guess in this case the faces are plastic, so waterproof, but the joints are not sealed, so water ingress is inevitable.

the ad also says "made from weatherproof plastic", which it is. it does not say Weatherproof box.

how much did you pay, don't forget that an item has be sufficient quality, but yuo have to consider its price.

if it is the one I linked, how much did you expect for £20?

p00hsticks

martinsurrey wrote: »

is this the type of thing?

I always read weatherproof to mean rain wont get in, but standing water will soak in.

I guess in this case the faces are plastic, so waterproof, but the joints are not sealed, so water ingress is inevitable.

the ad also says "made from weatherproof plastic", which it is. it does not say Weatherproof box.

The similar one on the right hand side page of your link, for the same price as the main one featured, does however claim to be waterproof

martinsurrey

p00hsticks wrote: »

The similar one on the right hand side page of your link, for the same price as the main one featured, does however claim to be waterproof

but the OP specifically told us that the ad was for a weatherproof one.

"The storage box is advertised as weatherproof rather than waterproof"

and did not claim that was untrue.

Spank

Weather proof could mean that it's not damaged by sunlight.

twinkleseren

hello thank you all for your replies. Yes it is the same one as in the link and I bought it a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't expecting anything amazing for that price, but I would expect that a garden storage box would be relatively waterproof and not completely useless :-/ I am yet to receive a further response from the supplier in regards to their customer service team.

ssparks2003

twinkleseren wrote: »

but I would expect that a garden storage box would be relatively waterproof and not completely useless

But it is relatively waterproof just not totally waterproof. we call that weatherproof.