Faulty Pop Up Tent

kah22

My sister bought a pop up tent within the past week from Homebase, can’t say if she paid by credit or debit card.
We attempted to put it up this afternoon and really couldn’t, It wouldn’t pop up it’s full height, one of the inside supports actually snapped In the process. On the face of it our fault.
However, some young man, who works with garden furniture, later pointed out to us that one of the nuts on the frame was actually on the outside of the support where the rest of them were on the inside and told us that because of that the tent would never have went up the full way.  We have taken photographs of the where the nut was in the wrong place and where it’s counterparts were.  So we are taking it back.
Where do we stand as rights/returns. 

The tent was faulty before we started to put it and it wasn’t obvious to a lay person. Can Homebase insist we take a voucher, or a replacement. Or can we insist on having a full refund. 

As a matter of interest what’s Homebase’s reputation like as regards customers returning items. Are they easy to deal with or have they a poor reputation in this area
Thanks for any advice you can offer
Kevin

Aylesbury_Duck

If it's faulty, the purchase is entitled to a refund in the method originally paid.  Take it in, show them the fault and that should be that.   Have you checked that the "young man's" diagnosis is correct?

kah22

Well he pointed out where the fault was and showed us the corresponding nuts on the other supports and that was the only one on the outside. 

As I said I took a photo of it and one of the other supports which should show the fault, but again if they want to take the tent out and examine the fault themselves, no problem
Thanks for the speedy reply, greatly appreciated

kah22

A quick update. My sister visited Homebase this morning and shared her problem. There was no issue, no hassle. The manager would arrange for a full refund to be paid into her account. He did ask if she’d like a replacement or a credit note but that was it.

Its common to hear stories about companies trying to block customers returning faulty goods.  However, when service is good then I feel it should be recognised.

A 👍 to Homebase