Company refused refund and disposed of my goods

richweeks

Hi
I returned a porcelain sink to Victoria plumbing - they said it had arrived back broken and therefore would not refund me.  They sent pictures of the broken sink sitting in a box (couple of cracks).

I asked them if I could come and collect my goods - however, they told me they had disposed of my goods due to health and safety reasons.

I find this a bit odd that they can refuse a refund - and then throw away something that belong to me without my consent.

I find the argument that the item was not safe unconvincing - as it's not like a broken sink sitting in a box is dangerous....

Unfortunately I will not be able to reclaim costs from courier - so wondering if I have any consumer rights around them throwing away my goods without my consent.  Don't they need to keep the item for a period of time?

Thanks
Rich

davidmcn

What loss have you suffered?

Aylesbury_Duck

They can't keep the goods and your money.  They need to return one or the other.

bris

There is no value in a broken sink and moving it may be a health and safety risk they were not willing to take.

The claim is with the courier, why can't you claim from them? The photos are evidence it was damaged in transit.

mattyprice4004

A couple of cracks wouldn't render the sink a health and safety risk, so they shouldn't have disposed of this without your permission. They either need to return the money or the sink to you.

richweeks

davidmcn said:

What loss have you suffered?

I'm currently down the cost of a sink and and also the return postage to them - with not even a broken sink to show for it!

JJ_Egan

Send an LBA letter before action google for templates .

KatrinaWaves

How was it delivered to you, and how did you return it? Same box, same type of postage company? They may not have been willing to repackage it if they felt the damage was due to your inappropriate return method is what I am thinking

davidmcn

richweeks said:

davidmcn said:

What loss have you suffered?

I'm currently down the cost of a sink and and also the return postage to them - with not even a broken sink to show for it!

As far as I can see, your loss is whatever the value is of a broken sink (minus the cost of it coming back to you).

JetpackVelociraptor

If you engaged a courier to send the item back, and the courier subsequently broke the item, then you need to make a claim with the courier in order to recover the cost of the item. It's not unreasonable for the supplier to dispose of a broken sink that is a) worthless and b) covered in sharp edges that make handling it a risk.

If the supplier are the ones who arranged the courier, your claim would be with the supplier - assuming that you didn't package it up yourself. If you packed it, there's a risk that whoever you try to claim off (supplier or courier) they could say that it was broken because you didn't package it correctly.

Why do you say you can't reclaim your costs from the courier?

Sandtree

richweeks said:

Unfortunately I will not be able to reclaim costs from courier - so wondering if I have any consumer rights around them throwing away my goods without my consent.  Don't they need to keep the item for a period of time?

Why can you not claim off the courier? Presumably their insurance excludes this class of item?

davidmcn said:
As far as I can see, your loss is whatever the value is of a broken sink (minus the cost of it coming back to you).

Fully agree with David, your losses are only the value of a broken sink if you accept it was broken by the courier and there is no cover from the courier.

Back in my day of working in mail order we would never collect or ask broken ceramics or glass to be returned due to "health and safety" - though if it were part of a set we'd ask for the unbroken elements to be returned. Approaches to H&S have only gone one way in the last 25 years.