Warranty Refund Refusal

ceriwills

I bought a car battery from Halfords 2 years ago, with a 5 year. It failed during lockdown, so Halfords was closed. A local main dealer was able to replace the failed battery and get me back on the road. Halfords, now that they're open, are refusing to refund me the original £115 (cash) that I paid. They will only replace the battery, which I don't need. Whereas this battery was the Halfords recommended item, the main dealer (Audi) said it wasn't powerful enough for the car. Under these exceptional circumstances we're experiencing  this is terrible customer service. Do I have any  consumer rights?

JJ_Egan

No Consumer Rights against a warranty ,read the warranty's terms .

Warranty is subject to any T&C they want , usually replace .

You have Consumer Rights against the vendor .

Take it up with them under CR   , but a 2 year old battery and its lifespan depend upon usage . Halfords may ask you to provide an independent report  . Any refund would be subject to discount for usage .

Lomast

The terms of The 5 year warranty almost certainly state replacement not refund. In theory you could make a claim under your consumer rights but after 6 months you would most likely need an independent report stating the battery failed due to an inherent fault and even then you would not get a full refund after 2 years use

theonlywayisup

ceriwills said:

I bought a car battery from Halfords 2 years ago, with a 5 year. It failed during lockdown, so Halfords was closed. A local main dealer was able to replace the failed battery and get me back on the road. Halfords, now that they're open, are refusing to refund me the original £115 (cash) that I paid. They will only replace the battery, which I don't need. Whereas this battery was the Halfords recommended item, the main dealer (Audi) said it wasn't powerful enough for the car. Under these exceptional circumstances we're experiencing  this is terrible customer service. Do I have any  consumer rights?

I am intrigued as to why you think you should get your full £115 back on something you have used for 2 years. 

As others have said, your warranty will depend on the T&C and is likely a repair/exchange and not a refund.  Your Consumer Rights put the onus on you proving the fault was inherent at time of purchase.  Even then, that will not provide you a full refund. 

Fosterdog

They are allowed to offer a replacement under your consumer rights, I don't know where in the country you are but my town and the four surrounding towns Halfords was the only car place that did stay open throughout lockdown, local independents didn't start opening back up until several weeks in so I'm sure you could have got to a branch if you tried.

Spank

Take the new battery and sell it

ceriwills

Fosterdog said:

They are allowed to offer a replacement under your consumer rights, I don't know where in the country you are but my town and the four surrounding towns Halfords was the only car place that did stay open throughout lockdown, local independents didn't start opening back up until several weeks in so I'm sure you could have got to a branch if you tried.

I'm in South Wales.  Lockdown was carried out correctly here, so non essential retail was shut down. Travelling to England to find an open Halfords was a little over the 5 mile travel from home rule. Thanks for the advice on going against the Welsh Assembly's guidance. 

Aylesbury_Duck

ceriwills said:

Fosterdog said:

They are allowed to offer a replacement under your consumer rights, I don't know where in the country you are but my town and the four surrounding towns Halfords was the only car place that did stay open throughout lockdown, local independents didn't start opening back up until several weeks in so I'm sure you could have got to a branch if you tried.

I'm in South Wales.  Lockdown was carried out correctly here, so non essential retail was shut down. Travelling to England to find an open Halfords was a little over the 5 mile travel from home rule. Thanks for the advice on going against the Welsh Assembly's guidance. 

There's no need to get shirty with people offering opinions.  Fosterdog didn't advise you to go against the advice, they made a perfectly reasonable assumption you aren't in Wales.

I was going to offer advice, but I don't think I'll bother.

Fosterdog

ceriwills said:

Fosterdog said:

They are allowed to offer a replacement under your consumer rights, I don't know where in the country you are but my town and the four surrounding towns Halfords was the only car place that did stay open throughout lockdown, local independents didn't start opening back up until several weeks in so I'm sure you could have got to a branch if you tried.

I'm in South Wales.  Lockdown was carried out correctly here, so non essential retail was shut down. Travelling to England to find an open Halfords was a little over the 5 mile travel from home rule. Thanks for the advice on going against the Welsh Assembly's guidance. 

I'm also in South Wales and know for a fact that most if not all Halfords branches were open albeit on limited service and hours throughout lockdown, car maintenance was classed as essential service. My sister in law had to use them mid April to get her brake disks changed because they were the only place open (she's a key worker so needed her car on the road to do her essential job), around a week later a few local places started to open too, and then it was beginning to mid June that they were all up and running. Don't act all high and mighty without getting your facts straight, as for the 5 mile rule that was for non essential travel, some people live further than that from a supermarket so had to travel more just to eat. If you genuinely needed your car on the road then it would have been classed as essential travel so allowed outside 5 miles.