Adidas Refuse To Accept Returned Football Kit

dibble34

Hi All

We Purchased an Adidas Bayern Munich kit from Adidas direct and paid extra to have the current keepers name and number printed on the top which was an option from the drop downs. He is 9 so we ordered 9-10 kit and it is far too small for him. Adidas are refusing to exchange the item or refund it as it has been customised. We are within the 14 day window to withdraw from the contract however they have advised customised items are excluded and quoted this
“As I have informed you over the phone here is an extract from Terms and Conditions of adidas, point 2.13, as your case goes under exception of withdrawal:
"Exceptions to your right of withdrawal

You do not have a legal right of withdrawal for contracts regarding the:

delivery of goods that are made to your own specifications or which are clearly tailored to your personal needs; and/or
delivery of goods which are not suitable to be returned for health or hygiene reasons and where a seal was removed after delivery."

I can understand if we had our sons name printed on the back or something, but surely most people would have chosen to have the current keeper details printed on the back.

Any advice gratefully received as spent over £80 on this and just seems wrong!

ssparks2003

You had changes made to the standard kit by having it printed, thus it is customised and they are correct. But yes I agree it does seem wrong that you did not check the sizes before ordering, but instead 9 year old children only come in one size, it also seems wrong that you assume they should bail out of your mistakes.

dibble34

Really helpful, thank you.

dibble34

Seem so bit harsh that a personalisation counts as having the goalkeeper of the club printed on the back? You could even choose this from suggestions and suspect most people would choose this. If I had my sons name on the back I would totally agree. Feels like they are using a loophole almost.

unholyangel

OP try pointing them in the direction of the implementing guidance for the Consumer Contract Regulations. Part of that guidance states:

I sell premier league football shirts online. Customers can order a shirt with their own name on it or that of a premier league team player. Can the
consumer change their mind after they have ordered?
13. Items made to a particular, often unique specification are exempt from
cancellation rights on the basis that a trader might otherwise be left with a
product so specific to a particular consumer’s needs that there is no other
market for it once the consumer has cancelled the contract. Judgements of
what is truly bespoke will, therefore, inevitably be on a case by case basis. In
the above case, the customer should be able to cancel a shirt bearing a team player name on it. However, a shirt bearing their own name would be likely to constitute a personalised item to which cancellation rights do not apply.

14. An item made up following a consumer order does not necessarily make it
a bespoke item which is exempt from cancellation rights. An item, for example
a sofa or computer, can be assembled following an order but the component
parts may be made up of parts offered from a standard range. So, for
instance, a sofa where the consumer chooses a fabric and colour from a
range on offer will not be bespoke for the purposes of these Regulations.
However, if the consumer asks the trader to source a special finish and which
is not in the range generally offered by the trader, that is likely to be a
bespoke item.

dibble34

Omg you are a star. This I shall exactly what I am trying to say, thank you so much for your help.

steampowered

Excellent find by unholyangel.

That guidance is very clear.

As it is something you selected from a drop-down menu rather than a custom request, it seems to me that you should be able to cancel this order.

Let us know you get on!

dibble34

Will do, have sent them a link vi email and on their Facebook page. Thanks again ��

pinkshoes

As others have said, if you select something from a drop down menu then this does not qualify as customisation, so you are free to return it.

Good choice of kit though! My 7 year old also got this for Christmas!

agrinnall

The problem with unholyangel's find is that it refers to UK law, whereas Adidas.co.uk seems to be governed by Dutch law. This section in particular from the T&Cs is relevant:

"Insofar as the order involves Customised Products you will not have any cooling-off period, right of revocation, right of return or right of termination (Section 6:230p under f, subsection 1˚ of the Dutch Civil Code)."

Section 2.11 d of

http://www.adidas.co.uk/help-topics-terms_and_conditions.html

unholyangel

agrinnall wrote: »

The problem with unholyangel's find is that it refers to UK law, whereas Adidas.co.uk seems to be governed by Dutch law. This section in particular from the T&Cs is relevant:

"Insofar as the order involves Customised Products you will not have any cooling-off period, right of revocation, right of return or right of termination (Section 6:230p under f, subsection 1˚ of the Dutch Civil Code)."

Section 2.11 d of

http://www.adidas.co.uk/help-topics-terms_and_conditions.html

Fortunately our legislation was transposed directly from EU directive 2011/83/EU and the netherlands also transposed the same directive into their legislation. The directive guidance on the matter states:

Specification/ personalisation in this context should be taken to mean that the goods are, in
principle, unique and produced according to the individual wishes and requirements stated by
the consumer and agreed with the trader.

In contrast, where the consumer simply make up the goods by picking from the standard (preset)
options provided by the trader, such as colour or additional equipment in a car, or makes
up a set of furniture on the basis of standard elements, it should not be possible to speak of
either 'specification' or 'personalisation' in the narrow sense of this provision.