Right to reject after 1 failed repair attempt? UPDATE: retailer saying they can just keep repairing

arthurfowler

Manxman_in_exile said:

arthurfowler said:

Sorry, yes, I am the giver. 
I called CC company and they said I will have to wait and see. I will possibly have to get the recipient to speak to the retailer and give their card details to get any potential refund. ...

I've only skimmed this thread so I may be confused, but what have the recipient's card details got to do with the refund?  If you bought the item (as a gift for someone else) it is you who is entitled to the refund, not the recipient.  Once you have your refund you buy a replacement gift - if you still want to.

Sorry, you can ignore this. It was a side issue and my CC company put my mind at ease, that it should be ok. 

Sandtree

arthurfowler said:

£79 is the calculation off the original value I have the agent over the phone based on how he told me they calculate the reduced value. 

Then you should have asked them how much it would have been if the item was 59 months old at which point they will have spotted their mistake as it would have been a near 100% refund.

Its up to you if you want to send them a letter before action or instigate a S75 claim against your credit card... the advantage of Currys is that they have acknowledged that there is a fault whereas your bank may ask for an engineers report to prove the fault.

arthurfowler

Sandtree said:

arthurfowler said:

£79 is the calculation off the original value I have the agent over the phone based on how he told me they calculate the reduced value. 

Then you should have asked them how much it would have been if the item was 59 months old at which point they will have spotted their mistake as it would have been a near 100% refund.

Its up to you if you want to send them a letter before action or instigate a S75 claim against your credit card... the advantage of Currys is that they have acknowledged that there is a fault whereas your bank may ask for an engineers report to prove the fault.

Yes, well I have written to the CEO team at Currys, so will see what they say. 
I have two reports from Currys acknowledging the fault though. I would hope that could suffice? You're right, it would be a lot easier through Currys. 

At this point, I would just accept the £180 from Currys (even though a 52% reduction in value is crazy to me) just to get this over with. I will then never purchase from them ever again. I read all the warnings, but never had an issue with Currys before. 

They really are awful.

Sandtree

I have been lucky with them and when my circa 22 month old TV died for a second time they gave a gift voucher for its full value and due to timings that meant I was able to buy in the "next years models have just been announced discounts" so not only got a new TV but several steps up from the old one.

Unfortunately John Lewis was the ones I had major troubles with on a faulty freezer which had a matching fridge and that took issuing court proceedings but did eventually get a good pre-hearing settlement (more than I'd asked for before litigating exc court fees)

arthurfowler

You were really lucky! 

I have spoken to a few genuinely nice people at Currys, but being nice doesn't actually mean anything will get done. 

The problems are not the staff themselves, but higher management who do not put proper procedures in place to help customers. The process of getting through to the right department is a joke to begin with. Then failed promises, over and over and over of call backs. 

Their processes do not work and the staff are not trained as they should be. 

arthurfowler

The CEO support team have responded to me and they are basically saying the same thing:

"In regards to your entitlements under the Consumer Rights, if your product has been repaired previously and goes faulty again within 6 months of the date of the purchase, you may request a full refund or exchange.  If the second fault occures between 6 and 12 months of the date of the purchase, you are no longer entitled to a full refund, but we can still exchange the item for you.  From 12 months on wards, you are entitled to a resolution for any faults, however, you are no longer able to reject the product.  We, as your retailer, will either repair the fault of provide depreciated credit. "

They are telling me I cannot reject the product after 12 months? And again telling me it is either a repair or depreciated credit. I just want the depreciated credit. 

Can someone advise what I should say?

neilmcl

arthurfowler said:

The CEO support team have responded to me and they are basically saying the same thing:

"In regards to your entitlements under the Consumer Rights, if your product has been repaired previously and goes faulty again within 6 months of the date of the purchase, you may request a full refund or exchange.  If the second fault occures between 6 and 12 months of the date of the purchase, you are no longer entitled to a full refund, but we can still exchange the item for you.  From 12 months on wards, you are entitled to a resolution for any faults, however, you are no longer able to reject the product.  We, as your retailer, will either repair the fault of provide depreciated credit. "

They are telling me I cannot reject the product after 12 months? And again telling me it is either a repair or depreciated credit. I just want the depreciated credit. 

Can someone advise what I should say?

They seem to be confusing the right to a full refund after six months and your final right to reject, which isn't time limited. That said, they are correct in that after 6 months they can deduct an amount from any potential refund to take into account the usage you have already had, however you do not have to accept this in the form of a credit note.

It's all in Section 24 of the CRA (sub section 5) - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24/enacted

So the bottom line, you are entitled to exercise your final right to reject and receive a refund (albeit partial), in the form of payment you original used in the purchase.

arthurfowler

Thank you Neil. I am perplexed as to why they keep repeating this. Maybe they have a set of guidelines printed which they refer to. 

Also, yes, completely understand it won't be a full refund. Thanks again

Sandtree

arthurfowler said:

Thank you Neil. I am perplexed as to why they keep repeating this. Maybe they have a set of guidelines printed which they refer to. 

Thats how companies normally deal with common themes of complaints to ensure consistency across the business. In most cases the more senior you get the more discretion you have however some still have hard lines. Exec Complaints Teams are a bit of an odd one, some are staffed with actually fairly senior people (though obviously well below executives) and others are just experienced/senior advisors so only one step up from the normal rank & file. 

At the end of the day you can continue to negotiate or send your letter before action. With my complaint to John Lewis they were asking me to quote sections of the CRA to them but when they claimed consumables (namely food) isnt covered by the CRA as items damaged by their goods they blank refused to evidence where they got this idea from. 

arthurfowler

Yeah, the challenge with Currys is that I have never entered into any form of negotiation with them because each time I am put in touch with someone, I have to explain everything from the beginning. 

I at least hope my contact with this current agent allows some form of back and forth, and not passed to another agent. This is part of the problem with them. 

I also don't understand why they'd want to keep repairing the item anyway. The TV is with them for the third time and considering the cost of transport, as well as the engineers' time to repair a dud TV over and over, it would surely cost them more.