Damaged Goods from EU

NeverTooLate

I bought a ceiling fan from an online company, it was only after I had purchased the fan and was tracking the delivery that I realized that the company was Spanish and that the fan was being delivered from Spain.

The fan arrived with a broken light (glass smashed), we only discovered this around 10 days after delivery when we unpacked the box.

The company want to charge me to replace the light as we didn't inform them of the damage within 48 hours of receipt. They say that they only have 7 days to reclaim from the courier.

Before Brexit I would have been sure of my rights, do EU consumer rights still apply to goods sent to the UK?

MattMattMattUK

NeverTooLate said:

I bought a ceiling fan from an online company, it was only after I had purchased the fan and was tracking the delivery that I realized that the company was Spanish and that the fan was being delivered from Spain.

The fan arrived with a broken light (glass smashed), we only discovered this around 10 days after delivery when we unpacked the box.

The company want to charge me to replace the light as we didn't inform them of the damage within 48 hours of receipt. They say that they only have 7 days to reclaim from the courier.

Before Brexit I would have been sure of my rights, do EU consumer rights still apply to goods sent to the UK?

Your consumer rights are based on Spanish law, you will need to research what your rights are under that jurisdiction. 

NeverTooLate

MattMattMattUK said:

NeverTooLate said:

I bought a ceiling fan from an online company, it was only after I had purchased the fan and was tracking the delivery that I realized that the company was Spanish and that the fan was being delivered from Spain.

The fan arrived with a broken light (glass smashed), we only discovered this around 10 days after delivery when we unpacked the box.

The company want to charge me to replace the light as we didn't inform them of the damage within 48 hours of receipt. They say that they only have 7 days to reclaim from the courier.

Before Brexit I would have been sure of my rights, do EU consumer rights still apply to goods sent to the UK?

Your consumer rights are based on Spanish law, you will need to research what your rights are under that jurisdiction. 

I believe that the Spanish rules are the same as the EU rules, I just want to check that it still applies if they are sending to a country outside of the the EU.

Also how to go about getting it enforced if they are refusing a refund or replacement?

JJ_Egan

Spanish courts  would be your route .

MattMattMattUK

NeverTooLate said:

MattMattMattUK said:

NeverTooLate said:

I bought a ceiling fan from an online company, it was only after I had purchased the fan and was tracking the delivery that I realized that the company was Spanish and that the fan was being delivered from Spain.

The fan arrived with a broken light (glass smashed), we only discovered this around 10 days after delivery when we unpacked the box.

The company want to charge me to replace the light as we didn't inform them of the damage within 48 hours of receipt. They say that they only have 7 days to reclaim from the courier.

Before Brexit I would have been sure of my rights, do EU consumer rights still apply to goods sent to the UK?

Your consumer rights are based on Spanish law, you will need to research what your rights are under that jurisdiction. 

I believe that the Spanish rules are the same as the EU rules, I just want to check that it still applies if they are sending to a country outside of the the EU.

There are no "EU rules" as such, each nation state applies domestic legislation to comply with the EU policy, but it varies from country to country. There will almost certainly be differences in application when the recipient is outside of the EU, though how and what they impact will depend on the terms and conditions as they can apply different rules to non-EU customers.

NeverTooLate said:

Also how to go about getting it enforced if they are refusing a refund or replacement?

Legal action in a Spanish court, if you actually have the right under Spanish law and the terms and conditions, which means unless the replacement glass was very expensive it probably is not worth the bother. 

NeverTooLate

Legal action in a Spanish court, if you actually have the right under Spanish law and the terms and conditions, which means unless the replacement glass was very expensive it probably is not worth the bother. 

Would my credit card company be able to get a refund for me?

MattMattMattUK

NeverTooLate said:

Legal action in a Spanish court, if you actually have the right under Spanish law and the terms and conditions, which means unless the replacement glass was very expensive it probably is not worth the bother. 

Would my credit card company be able to get a refund for me?

Only if you are legally entitled to one under Spanish law. They will likely want you to demonstrate a breach of the relevant law or contract to process a chargeback and will be very reluctant to process a S75 claim as that costs them money.

macman

Why do so many people order stuff and then not open it to check it for days or weeks afterwards? It happened with a TV set on here recently. 
Anything with glass in it is going to be vulnerable in transit.

NeverTooLate

macman said:

Why do so many people order stuff and then not open it to check it for days or weeks afterwards? It happened with a TV set on here recently. 
Anything with glass in it is going to be vulnerable in transit.

Not sure how it would have made any difference if we'd opened it sooner, we're still within the 14 days cooling off period for online goods.

MattMattMattUK

NeverTooLate said:

macman said:

Why do so many people order stuff and then not open it to check it for days or weeks afterwards? It happened with a TV set on here recently. 
Anything with glass in it is going to be vulnerable in transit.

Not sure how it would have made any difference if we'd opened it sooner, we're still within the 14 days cooling off period for online goods.

I am not sure you are covered by this. The EU/Spanish laws that related to the cooling off period apply to residents of EU states, you are not a resident of an EU state. UK law does not apply because your transaction was conducted in Spain, under the jurisdiction of Spanish law. The Spanish laws, relating to online sales, shipping goods outside of the EU will be more complicated, something which you need to investigate and verify, rather than just assume apply.

NeverTooLate

MattMattMattUK said:

NeverTooLate said:

macman said:

Why do so many people order stuff and then not open it to check it for days or weeks afterwards? It happened with a TV set on here recently. 
Anything with glass in it is going to be vulnerable in transit.

Not sure how it would have made any difference if we'd opened it sooner, we're still within the 14 days cooling off period for online goods.

I am not sure you are covered by this. The EU/Spanish laws that related to the cooling off period apply to residents of EU states, you are not a resident of an EU state. UK law does not apply because your transaction was conducted in Spain, under the jurisdiction of Spanish law. The Spanish laws, relating to online sales, shipping goods outside of the EU will be more complicated, something which you need to investigate and verify, rather than just assume apply.

I have tried to investigate, but can't find a definitive answer - Brexit has certainly muddied the waters, hence posting here to see if anyone with better knowledge of Spain's consumer law could help.

The company's website states that they have a cooling off period.