large item- return

cleofish

Hi, wondering if anyone can help.

I bought a shed end of last year and paid a professional to put it up. All was good with the shed and i moved all my stuff in.

Its been water tight but some mould/fungus/spores im not sure what they are have started to grow on the inside of the roof panels. The shed isnt leaking and ive never seen something like this before. We had an old shed when we moved into the house that was leaking but nothing like this. It is everywhere, all different colours and starting to get very 3D now!

I contacted the company,it was nearly a £500 shed- alot of money for my family and ive not been able to use it because of all the mould. I havent wanted to go in it for fear of breathing it in. I complained as all my belongings including my daughters toys are under the roof panels and i wouldnt feel happy using them without disinfecting them.
Customer service came back with an offer of £20 for me to clean it. I have no idea of what mould it is- but £20 on a 10x8ft shed wouldnt cover the cost of the cleaning at all.

I removed the felt that came with the shed and all the mould was growing under the felt as well on the outside of the roof panels. It is like the mould was in the boards when i bought it and its started to grow.
Anyway i found the company directors names and sent each of them a recorded letter- a template consumer rights letter along with all the photos i took of the mould.
I then had an email where they admitted it shouldnt have happened and that it is excessive. They have offered a full refund but on return of the shed and they have offered to get it picked up.

This is a 10x8ft shed that is full of my belongings that i would have to dismantle, move around the side of my house all the while having to touch the infected panels to dismantle it. I also dont have anywhere to store my things.
I wrote back to say i thought it was an unreasonable request that they would ask for the shed to be returned and i again asked for a full refund as it would be a huge inconvenience to go through the whole thing of returning the shed as i would be left without a shed and no money until the refund comes through to get a new one.

So its a stalemate at the moment, i appreciate they have offered to refund but this is only after the shed is returned, which is just impossible to do- i have 2 small children and wouldnt be able to do this myself.

Ive read the consumer rights and ive seen there is a bit where it says something like the retailer has to offer a refund or repair unless it would be a huge inconvenience to return the goods. There was also something called a price reduction where i could keep the goods (shed) and they would pay the damages? i think it said.

I have priced up how much it would cost to clean the panels inside and out and the amount i paid for the new felt. This would be the bare minimum just to bring it back to a normal standard as at the moment, i dont go in it. Although as its a wooden shed there is going to the chance that the mould spores will infect the walls and floors now.

What would be your advice- should i write back with the detailed costs and just ask for that money or take it further and look for a full refund. Im not looking for a free shed but i paid alot of money for a new shed, got excited to think what we could do with it and now im left with doing a botch job of cleaning it hoping it wont return in the future.. Cleaning it is going to take time and money on what should have been a simple case of moving my belongings in.

should i tell them ill keep the shed and they pay the price of cleaning or should i continue with the smalls claim and go for the full refund?
What chance do you think i have with going to court as the company have offered a full refund on return will the court consider the company have done the right thing?
If it was a tv i would return it but its a 10x8ft full shed- where is the line drawn when it counts as a huge inconvenience in terms of returning under the consumer rights?

thanks in advance.

god, sorry its so long!

ssparks2003

I assume that when delivered the roof panels were bare and the person put it up they felted the roof with the role of felt provided? If so how are you sure it is an issue with the shed rather than the assembly?

cleofish

Hi, thanks for replying.

Yes the shed came bare in panels and we used the felt that came with the shed.

I paid a professional to put it up and the structure of the shed is fine, its not been leaking (ive been checking) and its all good and sturdy its just alot of mould/fungus/spores that have grown on the inside and outside (under the felt) of the roof osb panels. Im not even sure what it is but its just not normal, its not like mould/damp you would normally find and it has covered every bit of the osb panels.

The company have admitted that it is excessive and not normal when they saw the pictures as well.

Fosterdog

cleofish wrote: »

Hi, thanks for replying.

Yes the shed came bare in panels and we used the felt that came with the shed.

I paid a professional to put it up and the structure of the shed is fine, its not been leaking (ive been checking) and its all good and sturdy its just alot of mould/fungus/spores that have grown on the inside and outside (under the felt) of the roof osb panels. Im not even sure what it is but its just not normal, its not like mould/damp you would normally find and it has covered every bit of the osb panels.

The company have admitted that it is excessive and not normal when they saw the pictures as well.

But how do you know that the installer didn't do something wrong? Possibly a warm day, on a shed roof, doing physical work, has a bottle of pop for hydration and accidentally spills some and covers it with the felt. Several months on the spilled substance has caused spores which have spread.

Ultimately even if you took them to court, they will not be required to pay you a penny until you let them have what will then be their property back. Ask them for a price reduction for cleaning if you would prefer, they don't have to agree to it, but worth asking. But your only other option will be to make the shed available for them to collect.

unholyangel

cleofish wrote: »

Ive read the consumer rights and ive seen there is a bit where it says something like the retailer has to offer a refund or repair unless it would be a huge inconvenience to return the goods. There was also something called a price reduction where i could keep the goods (shed) and they would pay the damages? i think it said.

What would be your advice- should i write back with the detailed costs and just ask for that money or take it further and look for a full refund. Im not looking for a free shed but i paid alot of money for a new shed, got excited to think what we could do with it and now im left with doing a botch job of cleaning it hoping it wont return in the future.. Cleaning it is going to take time and money on what should have been a simple case of moving my belongings in.

should i tell them ill keep the shed and they pay the price of cleaning or should i continue with the smalls claim and go for the full refund?
What chance do you think i have with going to court as the company have offered a full refund on return will the court consider the company have done the right thing?
If it was a tv i would return it but its a 10x8ft full shed- where is the line drawn when it counts as a huge inconvenience in terms of returning under the consumer rights?

You've misread - there is no "unless it would be a huge inconvenience to return the goods".

A price reduction is reliant on the trader offering you the goods at a price you find acceptable. If they aren't willing to offer a reduced price, you can't force it.

If you are saying about continuing with a small claim to get a full refund AND keep the shed, that won't happen. If the retailer wants the shed back then the courts would tell you to return the shed.


Personally, I'd take the full refund and have the shed collected. Even if you clean it, unless you manage to get into every single crevice and crease, it will likely return in future.

ssparks2003

And the roofs on sheds tend to be treated ply or osb the chances of the wood being at fault is fairly unlikely. My money would be on the professional you hired doing it wrong.

[Deleted User]

cleofish wrote: »

I paid a professional to put it up

You are questioning the quality of the item you bought when I believe you should be questioning the quality of workmanship of the "professional" you employed to assemble it for you.

You won't get anywhere with this in court I'm afraid and you certainly won't get a refund as well as keeping the shed.

What you could do is negotiate a part-refund with the firm whereby they discount the cost of the shed while allowing you to keep it.

To be honest, though, it does sound like poor workmanship during assembly.

brewthebear

Just take the refund......

photome

Am I right in thinking you want a full refund and keep the shed?

Not many if any company is going to do that.

I think their offer of a refund on return is fair and more than many companies would offer without a fight

cleofish

Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply.

Im not trying to be greedy by getting a refund and keeping the shed, i dont mean it to look that way. I just want to be able to have what i bought the shed for and at the moment i cant use it because of the mould or even get my belongings without the danger of the spores.

The profeesional was a friendly friend who is in the business and i was out the garden when he was doing the work so there was no:

'Possibly a warm day, on a shed roof, doing physical work, has a bottle of pop for hydration and accidentally spills some and covers it with the felt.'

If it was something smaller and easier to manage i would gladly return the item but it is an already erected 10x8ft shed with all my belongings in that would need to be cleaned of the mould anyway before it could be dismantled as the roof panels would be touched.

I just dont have the time with my little ones to be able to take it down, i also have no idea where i would put all my stuff either, i dont have the space in my house. Until i had the refund i couldnt buy a new shed and i dont have the money now to pay to erect the new one even with the family friend.

It looks like my best bet will now be to see if i can get the money to clean the shed as either way im going to be out of pocket.

Keep_pedalling

I think you are over reacting to any danger associated with wood mould. The atmosphere is full of mould spores, and if you are that worried you should definitely not be taking walks anywhere near woodland.