Tapi Carpets selling products under a different name.

EricWhite

Hi there, I wonder if anyone could help.

After a recent trip to Tapi Carpets my partner and I found some Laminate Flooring that we both loved (Westerham Liddell Chestnut) and being astute bargain hunters we went home and searched online to see if we could purchase it for cheaper elsewhere. Not being able to find it we decided we would purchase it directly from the store. Luckily (or so we thought) when we went back they had a 30% discount offer and so we bought it there and then.

Now here's the thing! After picking up the 13 boxes and getting home, I noticed that the boxes weren't called Westerham Liddell Chestnut, but were called Krono Original Bakersfield Chestnut?!?! After further online investigation I found out that I could have purchased the exact same Krono laminate for less than half the price of what we paid. I immediately phoned the branch to advise them of the error to be told that "yeah, it's exactly the same flooring, but we rename it". After a discussion with the store manager today apparently this is "perfectly legal" and "lots of companies do it". I was told that I was welcome to return it, but there would be a "20% stock holding fee"!

So, I've been advised by citizens advice that I should be able to claim a full refund under the consumer rights act 2015, as the description of the goods supplied are different to that of the ones purchased, but I'd like to know how companies are able to get away with this sort of practice and whether there is further legislation I can quote to help speed up my claim for a refund. I've also found very little online about the legality of renaming / rebranding so if anyone has any useful links they would be most appreciated. After all is this not a form of deception?

Thanks very much,

Eric

davidmcn

EricWhite wrote: »

After a discussion with the store manager today apparently this is "perfectly legal" and "lots of companies do it".

This seems correct advice to me, rather than what the CAB has told you. You bought the product you saw in the showroom, there's no obligation for the retailer to disclose any alter egos which the product has.

da_rule

And I also assume that the name on the box wasn’t hidden etc so you could’ve reasonably realised that the names were different before purchasing.

eddddy

EricWhite wrote: »

So, I've been advised by citizens advice that I should be able to claim a full refund under the consumer rights act 2015, as the description of the goods supplied are different to that of the ones purchased...

In what way were the goods "not as described".

Calling something by a different name isn't mis-describing it.

I think the citizen's advice people may have misunderstood. Perhaps they think you ordered one type of flooring, and you were given another type.

Lip_Stick

This is something a lot of the big companies do when it comes to flooring, and they've been doing it for years. I found a forum for carpet fitters where you can get the proper alternative names for flooring that has been renamed.

Aylesbury_Duck

I’m also struggling to see the problem. You bought from a store so presumably saw the boxes, chose them and collected them yourself? In what way were you misled?

EricWhite

da_rule wrote: »

And I also assume that the name on the box wasn’t hidden etc so you could’ve reasonably realised that the names were different before purchasing.

The flooring was ordered and paid for on the 17th and then collected on the 22nd. If I had seen the Krono boxes at the time of purchase I wouldn't have made the purchase, as I would have been able to find the product cheaper online.

EricWhite

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

I’m also struggling to see the problem. You bought from a store so presumably saw the boxes, chose them and collected them yourself? In what way were you misled?

The flooring was ordered and paid for on the 17th and then collected on the 22nd. If I had seen the Krono boxes at the time of purchase I wouldn't have made the purchase, as I would have been able to find the product cheaper online.

powerful_Rogue

You were happy with the flooring, you were happy with the price.

The company has done nothing wrong.

Aylesbury_Duck

EricWhite wrote: »

The flooring was ordered and paid for on the 17th and then collected on the 22nd. If I had seen the Krono boxes at the time of purchase I wouldn't have made the purchase, as I would have been able to find the product cheaper online.

Ok, that's a bit more information than you included in your original post. You said yourself you went back there, saw it was on offer and bought it. That means it wasn't a distance sale, for example, you had the chance to view what you were buying.

What did your receipt say from the 17th? Did it state one product line but you collected another? If your receipt says you bought Westerham but you ended up with Krono then I think you have an argument. If it doesn't specify the name I don't think you do.

EricWhite

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Ok, that's a bit more information than you included in your original post. You said yourself you went back there, saw it was on offer and bought it. That means it wasn't a distance sale, for example, you had the chance to view what you were buying.

What did your receipt say from the 17th? Did it state one product line but you collected another? If your receipt says you bought Westerham but you ended up with Krono then I think you have an argument. If it doesn't specify the name I don't think you do.

Apologies this was my first post and I should have been more explicit.

But, yes my receipt clearly states that under description it is Westerham yet I received Krono