Buyers rights

P111NOJ

The wife bought a mattress from mattressonline website which we paid with a credit card. After opening the package to see how it fit and looked, we realised it was too big for our kid bed. Straight away I packaged it back with the original package it came with and rang customer service  asking kindly for an exchange and to add an extra one to the order. They weren’t helpful at all asking to email customer service. It turns out that they are reluctant to accept it back because it has been opened, despite this has not been used or slept on at all.. and it was all packaged back within 5 minutes after realising it was to big for the bed. Just wondering if I have a chance to get my money back? Just because it was bought with a credit card... appreciate any help in advance. 

DCFC79

P111NOJ said:

The wife bought a mattress from mattressonline website which we paid with a credit card. After opening the package to see how it fit and looked, we realised it was too big for our kid bed. Straight away I packaged it back with the original package it came with and rang customer service  asking kindly for an exchange and to add an extra one to the order. They weren’t helpful at all asking to email customer service. It turns out that they are reluctant to accept it back because it has been opened, despite this has not been used or slept on at all.. and it was all packaged back within 5 minutes after realising it was to big for the bed. Just wondering if I have a chance to get my money back? Just because it was bought with a credit card... appreciate any help in advance. 

Did you not measure the bed or was it listed with wrong measurements ?

pinkshoes

P111NOJ said:

The wife bought a mattress from mattressonline website which we paid with a credit card. After opening the package to see how it fit and looked, we realised it was too big for our kid bed. Straight away I packaged it back with the original package it came with and rang customer service  asking kindly for an exchange and to add an extra one to the order. They weren’t helpful at all asking to email customer service. It turns out that they are reluctant to accept it back because it has been opened, despite this has not been used or slept on at all.. and it was all packaged back within 5 minutes after realising it was to big for the bed. Just wondering if I have a chance to get my money back? Just because it was bought with a credit card... appreciate any help in advance. 

Unless it was one of those mattresses that was rolled up, then there was no need to unwrap it to see if it was the right size.

As you have unwrapped it, then there is now a potential hygiene issue. You are entitled to return it, but they are entitled to deduct an amount due a reduced value because of excessive handling by you.

The_Rainmaker

Better tax your Mercedes Op.........

George_Michael

pinkshoes said:

As you have unwrapped it, then there is now a potential hygiene issue. You are entitled to return it, but they are entitled to deduct an amount due a reduced value because of excessive handling by you.

Provided that the one delivered was the same size as advertised and ordered then there is no right of right of return for the mattress.

The CCR's are very explicit and they state that the right of cancellation and return does not apply to goods that are supplied in a sealed state for health and hygiene reasons and they become unsealed after delivery.
and this is also stated in the T&C's for Mattressonline:

7.3. Customers wishing to cancel their order after dispatch must ensure that reasonable care is taken of the goods and that they are returned to MattressOnline.co.uk Ltd (see returns address) unopened and unused in an 'as new' condition complete in its sealed original packaging and with all instructions included.

davidmcn

P111NOJ said:

we realised it was too big for our kid bed

You'll need to clarify whether you mean "they sent a different size from the one they advertised" or "you ordered the wrong size".

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

This has been discussed before and a poster gave credible advice that a mattress would not be excluded from the right to cancel merely due to being unwrapped. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5986408/john-lewis-wont-refund-mattress-purchased-online/p2

Wiseguy said:

Fortunately, the OP is in luck. The Court of Justice of the Euorpean Union has decided on this point last month in slew v Ledowski Case C-681/17, upholding the opinion of the Attorney General that mattresses which have the protective seal removed following delivery does not prevent the consumer from exercising their right of withdrawal.

The Court provided the example of mattresses in a hotel being constantly used by multiple guests and also applied the Attorney General's example of comparing a mattress with items of clothing tried on by consumers. Bottom line, unless its absolutely impossible for the goods not to be put in a resaleable condition due to health or hygiene (for example toothbrushes), then the exemption won't apply.

The Court did go on to explain that where the goods have diminished in value, the trader is entitled to be compensated. In other words, the consumer should take care of the goods if they are not sure they will be keeping them.

The AG's opinion is also an interesting read as although the CJEU didn't discuss the meaning of sealed goods, the AG gave some in-depth explanation on this and may be of assistance in other cases.

Link to slewo v Ledowski

Link to AG Opinion

40. Accordingly, it must be found that, as the Advocate General points out in point 33 of his Opinion, the exception to the right of withdrawal under Article 16(e) of Directive 2011/83 applies only if, after the packaging has been unsealed, the goods contained therein are definitively no longer in a saleable condition due to genuine health protection or hygiene reasons, because the very nature of the goods makes it impossible or excessively difficult, for the trader to take the necessary measures allowing for resale without affecting either of those requirements.

42. First, although it may potentially have been used, such a mattress does not appear, by that fact alone, to be definitively unsuitable for being used again by a third party or for being sold again. It suffices, in that regard, to recall in particular that one and the same mattress is used by successive guests at a hotel, that there is a market for second-hand mattresses and that used mattresses can be deep-cleaned

45. It is common ground that many garments, when they are tried on in accordance with their intended purpose, may come into contact with the human body — which cannot be ruled out in the case of mattresses — without being subject in practice to requirements in terms of special protection in order to prevent such contact during trying on.

46. Such an equation between those two categories of goods — namely garments and mattresses — may, as the Advocate General notes in point 34 of his Opinion, be envisaged, in so far as, even in the case of direct contact of those goods with the human body, it may be presumed that the trader is in a position to make those goods, after they have been returned by the consumer, by means of a treatment such as cleaning or disinfection, suitable for new use by a third party and, accordingly, for a new sale, without prejudice to the requirements of health protection or hygiene.

47. The fact remains that, in accordance with Article 14(2) of Directive 2011/83, read in the light of recital 47 thereof, the consumer is liable for any diminished value of goods resulting from handling other than that necessary in order to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods, without the consumer thereby being deprived of his right of withdrawal

shaun_from_Africa

Taking the current Covid-19 situation into account, I wonder how much it would cost the retailer to treat the mattress to 100% guarantee that it was free of any possible contamination?
I know that the risk is extremely small, but would a sensible retailer want to take any risk when they don't have to?

JJ_Egan

And who would want to buy a used mattress now or in the next year .

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

shaun_from_Africa said:

Taking the current Covid-19 situation into account, I wonder how much it would cost the retailer to treat the mattress to 100% guarantee that it was free of any possible contamination?
I know that the risk is extremely small, but would a sensible retailer want to take any risk when they don't have to?

The same would apply to clothing and pretty much everything else really but the virus requires a host to survive so the product should only require a stint of self isolation.

JJ_Egan said:

And who would want to buy a used mattress now or in the next year .

The legislation doesn't specifically require the product to be resell-able, only that a deduction may be made for diminished value, in the instance of a pristine mattress being returned the only acceptable deduction would be the cost of resealing which is minimal .    

[Deleted User]

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

The legislation doesn't specifically require the product to be resell-able, only that a deduction may be made for diminished value, 

The "diminished value" will be precisely nil because of the virus. 

Seriously, would YOU purchase a "used" mattress at the moment...?