Being left disadvantaged after refund for faulty item

surfer91919

Hi All,
Would much appreciate some advice

I purchased a spring/ autumn wetsuit back in October. I always buy wetsuits in sales as they're ridiculously expensive. So I paid £195 for this wetsuit.
On the first use there were leaks around the knees and abdomen on this new suit. I promptly reported this to the retailer who authorised a return. Due to there being a lot of surf in the Autumn and needing a wetsuit I returned the suit to them only last week (it's now too cold to use an autumn/ spring suit, hence this time of year being a reasonable time to be without a spring/ autumn suit). The wetsuit had a years warranty starting in late October and according to the manufacturer (Xcel Wetsuits) successful claims will result in the wetsuit being repaired or replaced.

I had an email correspondence with the retailers customer service dept regarding the faulty wetsuit and at no point was a refund mentioned- they said they would email me back with the decision after receiving the returned wetsuit. I abruptly received a full refund without explanation yesterday.

Whilst many would think this was a good result the fact is I'll be needing the wetsuit come April/ May and am now in the position of having to pay another £125 just to get the same suit back (they are currently retailing for around £318 vs the £195 I paid in the Autumn).

I can see that the retailer has covered themselves by forcing a full refund upon me but from my perspective I've been left without a wetsuit plus having to fork out another £125 on top of the refunded amount to be back in the same position I was in the Autumn.
If I'd known I was going to be shut out in the cold (literally haha) like this I would've purchased from another supplier as there were other sales at the time- chances are I wouldn't have been sent a faulty wetsuit. It feels like they've burned my bridge.

I've explained the situation to them and have asked nicely if they would reconsider either getting the manufacturer to repair the original wetsuit or replace it but I was wondering if there were any precedents in respect to this sort of issue or legislation or guidelines I could use if they're not helpful.
Many thanks

KatrinaWaves

So you continued to use it in all the Autumn surf, instead of returning it and buying another sale wetsuit, and only returned it last week. And now you are moaning they are all more expensive...

You decided to keep hold of it for 3/4 more months. You disadvantaged yourself.

George_Michael

Personally I think that the retailer may have been entitled to refund less than the full price you paid.
You can't reject goods then continue using them without the permission of the retailer.
I know that the Consumer rights act states that no deduction can be made in the first 6 months (except for vehicles) but you knew that the wetsuit was faulty and despite this, you kept using it.
The extra use may have increased the damage thus making it uneconomic to repair, hence the reason for the refund.

pattycake

And you have had several months of use out of it. I think you’ve done well to get a full refund as the company could have deducted the use.

Aylesbury_Duck

You've had 3-4 months' free hire of a wetsuit and you think you've been disadvantaged? Dear oh dear.

Advice? Consider yourself fortunate that they didn't moderate the refund considerably to reflect your use of the item for all that time. You have no grounds for complaint.

Fosterdog

What do you mean by leaks? It's a wet suit they are supposed to let in water, it's dry suits that keep the water out, unless you mean the actual stitching came apart in which case continued use would almost certainly have caused more damage.

Also as you have learned here your warranty and your consumer rights are different, if you had gone through the manufacturer yourself you may have had your desired result but you opted to pursue the retailer instead and they are not going to give you an option that leaves them out of pocket.

surfer91919

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

So you continued to use it in all the Autumn surf, instead of returning it and buying another sale wetsuit, and only returned it last week. And now you are moaning they are all more expensive...

You decided to keep hold of it for 3/4 more months. You disadvantaged yourself.

I used it around 10 times. I used it after reporting the fault partly because I was trying to convince myself the pinhole leaks were OK and because according to the manufacturer it can take 3+ weeks to turn around a repair and I had bought a wetsuit to surf in not to ship around the country for extended periods of time to repair it whilst I watch the waves. This was, according to the manufacturer, a warranty issue whereby the suit would either be repaired or replaced. A refund was not mentioned Anywhere either by the manufacturer, the retailer or various posts on forums regarding warranty claims on wetsuits so how exactly was I supposed to know I would be refunded at this late stage?

If I had been told at the outset that it would be as simple and quick as sending my suit back, getting a full refund and then immediately buying a replacement Sale wetsuit then I would have done that back in October.... Except for the slight problem that the one I bought was the last one in my size.

ToxicWomble

Must be school holidays somewhere

surfer91919

George_Michael wrote: »

Personally I think that the retailer may have been entitled to refund less than the full price you paid.
You can't reject goods then continue using them without the permission of the retailer.
I know that the Consumer rights act states that no deduction can be made in the first 6 months (except for vehicles) but you knew that the wetsuit was faulty and despite this, you kept using it.
The extra use may have increased the damage thus making it uneconomic to repair, hence the reason for the refund.

That's fine- I didn't want a refund, I wanted a working wetsuit, repaired preferably. That's what I was told to expect (and expect a delay of weeks getting it back to use) so I didn't see there was any rush in sending it back immediately. A refund was never discussed or insinuated. I had a years warranty and claimed after the suit had quite obviously been very lightly and carefully used for about 2 months.
The extra use didn't make any difference at all. Because the refund landed within a day of them receiving the suit we can safely assume that the suit never got back to the manufacturer for seam pressure testing or any inspection at all. Throw away culture gone mad if you ask me and quite frustrating.

DCFC79

You've been refunded the amount you originally paid so your in the same position before you bought it.


You used it a number of times, you have to accept you should have returned it sooner.

surfer91919

pattycake wrote: »

And you have had several months of use out of it. I think you’ve done well to get a full refund as the company could have deducted the use.

Once again I didn't want a refund, I wanted my wetsuit working properly. I had a years warranty on seams and neoprene so I had every right to have that suit repaired or replaced under manufacturers warranty.