Being fobbed off regarding returning unused tiles within 14 days cooling off

dave18

Hello, 
I placed and paid for an order for tiles over the phone with a local tiles merchant. At the time they advised any unopened boxes could be returned, so at the time of purchasing we erred on the side of caution regarding wastage and purchased 1 extra box of each of the 4 types of tile we were using to refurbish our bathroom. We have now finished the refurbishment of the bathroom and tried to return the 4 boxes but were advised this was not possible due to it being a "custom order". All of the tiles ordered are standard items available from the manufacturer and purchased by many wholesalers/showrooms. I have since emailed the customer service team at this tile wholesaler and received the below response. How do people suggest I proceed?

Thank you for getting in touch regarding your tile order and the return of excess tiles.

 

The Narbonne and the K-Wood tiles are special order, non-stock items and we order these in for each individual project directly from the factory. When placing an order for these tiles we arrange to bring in the quantities which you as, the customer, state you need to complete the job. Our terms and conditions of sale, a copy of which is attached, state the following in section 4;

 

“It is your responsibility to ensure that you order a sufficient quantity of the products to allow for wastage and breakages that may be incurred during the installation of the products. We recommend that an extra 10% be added to any order of tiles to allow for some wastage and accidental breakages. We will not refund or accept the return of any products that are ordered in excess of your requirements. The products may be required to be supplied in boxes of fixed quantities and the quantity of the products ordered may need to be rounded up to the nearest box and you will be required to pay for any such additional box”

 

Further to these conditions of sale, we have signs in the showroom, particularly around the desk area, that state the following; “We regret we cannot accept back any surplus material on non-stock items” and “It is the responsibility of the customer or their tradesman to order quantities correctly.”.

 

Regarding the Distance Selling Regulations; the DRS are regulations that govern the selling of items for circumstances where “you are buying products or services from suppliers without face-to-face contact, and where the consumer has not had an opportunity to examine the goods before buying or discuss the service in person.”. In the case of your particular order you had face to face contact in the showroom on several occasions, you were also given samples that you took away with you and you did have several conversations with Jevon to discuss the product.

 

With all this in mind I am unable to provide a refund for these goods in this case.

sheramber

If you buy in store you have no cooling off period unless the store offer that as a goodwill gesture.
Do you have any proof that you were told you could return unused  non stock items?
Presumably tiles kept in stock can be returned as opposed to tiles that have to be ordered in specially, which  will not be readily  saleable. 

bris

How did you view the tiles? Going to see the tiles then thinking about it and ordering over the phone is not a distance sale.
You also state a wholesale order, did you order these as a tradesman would with a trade account or as a pure consumer?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

OP as a consumer you have the right to cancel your contact if you purchase at a distance (within certain parameters), my understanding is that unfortunately returning part of your order isn't cancelling the contract. 

dave18

I am not a trade account holder as this was purchased as a retail customer. Sadly for me, there is no written record of the agreement to allow returns of unopened boxes. This is a tile they keep on display and order on a regular basis. They have a warehouse with attached showroom, much like Topps Tiles etc. The most frustrating thing about all of this tbh regards the fact they lulled us into a false sense of security by saying we could return the extra boxes that made us err on the side of caution regarding how many extra tiles we would require due to wastage.

DoaM

Made to order is not the same as custom made or personalised. If they don't hold stock and only order in when a customer request arrives then such a contract would still fall under the new distance selling regs. However, I'm not sure if ordering in excess and then trying to make a partial return would still be covered by the regs.

Sandtree

DoaM said:

 If they don't hold stock and only order in when a customer request arrives then such a contract would still fall under the new distance selling regs. However, I'm not sure if ordering in excess and then trying to make a partial return would still be covered by the regs.

The issue here is that the OP had been in store to view the items first and therefore this is not a distance sale even though it was finally placed over the phone. Had the OP never been in store then the DSR may well apply.

DoaM

Sandtree said:

DoaM said:

 If they don't hold stock and only order in when a customer request arrives then such a contract would still fall under the new distance selling regs. However, I'm not sure if ordering in excess and then trying to make a partial return would still be covered by the regs.

The issue here is that the OP had been in store to view the items first and therefore this is not a distance sale even though it was finally placed over the phone. Had the OP never been in store then the DSR may well apply.

Having re-read the OP I can see now that this was indeed the case (according to the seller anyway).

Regarding the Distance Selling Regulations; the DRS are regulations that govern the selling of items for circumstances where “you are buying products or services from suppliers without face-to-face contact, and where the consumer has not had an opportunity to examine the goods before buying or discuss the service in person.”. In the case of your particular order you had face to face contact in the showroom on several occasions, you were also given samples that you took away with you and you did have several conversations with Jevon to discuss the product.