Refusal to replace, repair or refund

MrUnwanted

Hello people,

Just hoping to get any help and ideas from you regarding a problem I'm having with a purchase made last month in a bricks and mortar high street shop.

Well, actually, it was my mother who made the purchase and I'm trying to help her with this.

On 17th April last month, she made a purchase in a shop for some things she needed totalling around £85. One of the items was a small electronic device that cost £35. This device has stopped working around a week ago (the 2 buttons on it do not work). It is an electrical fault I think on the inside. A couple of days ago, she returned to the store to see if she could get it repaired or replaced on warranty as she still had the receipt. The man at the store said it cant be replaced or fixed as the manufacturers warranty is 30 days and store policy is no refunds after 30 days. Well, this didn't sound right to me, so I did a quick look up on consumer rights yesterday, and as I was thinking, she should be protected for 6 months after purchase as long as it wasn't broken by her.

The device hasn't been dropped or had any sort of accident, its in perfect condition except for the electronics not registering when you press the buttons.

I got the shops number from their website, which was surprisingly basic for a company that has multiple shops dotted around different towns.

I phoned up this afternoon, and asked to speak to the manager and was handed over. I explained that my mother had tried to return an item and that someone there had refused to help and explained that she should either get a replacement, repair or refund as by UK consumer law, they had to for purchases made within the last 6 months. He started off by saying the warranty was for 30 days so no repair replacement from the manufacturer. He then proceeded to say that store policy was that no refunds after 30 days. I said that you cant just create a policy and have it trump UK law. At some point it seemed he was reading from some sort of script and just kept talking on and on about store policy trying his best to not let me get a word in and talk over the top of me.

I asked on what grounds are you refusing to abide by UK consumer law and violate her rights. He answered that they believed the damage was caused by her, and therefore, they didn't have to give any refund replacement or repair. I said that was ludicrous, the device is in mint condition and its just a electronic fault. I asked how he had come to the conclusion that she had damaged it herself, his exact response was, "it was working when it left the shop, and it's not working when you brought it in".

I told the man that I would be taking any action I could including reporting his business to the appropriate people.

He said, well, it's not actually my business, let me give my boss a phone call and I'll ring you back later. I said I would actually like to speak to your boss and deal with this myself. He clammed up a bit then refused stating he was uncomfortable giving his bosses personal information out.

I said I would be happy with an email address then and he refused again.

He said, lets not do anything rash after I suggested a small claims court would solve the problem and said he will ring me back later after speaking to "higher up".

A couple of hours later I got a phone call back and he basically said they won't be budging on the matter as the damage was caused by my mother. Again I asked how they came to this conclusion and again they said it was working when it left the shop and its broken when you returned it.

During the 2 hours I was waiting for a call back, I was browsing the consumer rights page on citizens advice website. It suggested I needed to follow the companies complaints proceedure and get a copy of it in writing. It also said you needed a copy of the returns policy and their reason for refusing the return / replace / refund.

I asked for these things and asked again for an email address to deal with this in writing. He refused to give me an email a second time but said he will write down what I wanted along with my email address and pass along my requests. After taking my email and requests for information he wished me luck in a smarmy tone and hung up.

I managed about an a hour ago to get the email address I wanted from a different employee at a different store using someone else's Facebook account and asking for it on their business page on Facebook.

They are being really uncooperative and I feel pretty certain they know they are supposed to offer some help as its within 6 months but they are just hoping I don't bother doing anything about it. My mother is 63 years old and she wouldn't be able to deal with this.

I've done some reading on the citizens advice website but I'm unsure how to proceed. That's why I'm asking for help here as I'm sure you people with experience will be able to advise the best course of action.

There doesn't seem to be an ombudsman that deals with high street shops.

I highly doubt this company is registered with a dispute resolution agency.

The purchase was made with cash, so I cant do a chargeback or get PayPal to help and even if it was paid by card, I think the citizens advice website said the purchase had to be over £100 to do the section 75 chargeback.

I am just looking at how a small claims action would work, but the citizens advice website recommends using this as a last resort and gives me the impression its not advisable.

Any advice or suggestions would be very welcome. How can you even deal with people who don't even want to give you an email address? It feels a bit hopeless to be honest.

Regards

powerful_Rogue

You already mentioned what the next step is in your post. Small Claims Court,

Send the company a 'Letter Before Action' - Keep it short and sweet. Item purchased on X date, item now faulty. Refusing to honour your consumer rights etc. Get a free certificate of postage from the post office.

They might respond saying that the item is only faulty due to user damage as they have already done - However 'It worked when it left the shop, so you must have broke it' won't hold much weight in court.

Give them 14 days, if no joy, start proceedings.

Diamandis

If they aren't cooperating then your next step is for your mother to send a letter before action and start the small claims court procedure. 

MrUnwanted

Yeah, I'm looking into template letters for starting the small claims. I was mainly posting this here in case anyone could say something like I've missed a ombusman for this sort of thing. I cant get through to the help line for consumer problems with citizens advice, I have tried 3 times and just get cut off after hearing "we're sorry but no-one can take your call now".

I'm going to try and get them to say "it was working when it left the shop" in an email so I have it in writing for evidence. I wish I had recorded the phone call really.

Can I be confident that court fees will be recouped should this shop decide to try its luck in court? It says on citizens advice site that that should be the case. Honestly, I would feel a bit embarrassed going to a small claims court for such a small amount, but I'm sick to death of people doing this. I have had things like this happen to me multiple times on ebay where users just blank you out hiding behind ebays 30 day buyer protection.

powerful_Rogue

No ombudsman or any other route that you haven't mentioned. Small claims court is all that is left.

If you win, you get the fee back.

MrUnwanted

Thanks, I just wanted to make sure.

user1977

MrUnwanted said:

I'm going to try and get them to say "it was working when it left the shop" in an email so I have it in writing for evidence. I wish I had recorded the phone call really.

You don't need any of that. She bought an item, it's broken, she's entitled to a refund or replacement. Letter before action (from your mum, not you) to wherever their registered office is, and then small claim. Most things don't have an "ombudsman", and there's no general need for businesses to have a complaints procedure or an email address.

MrUnwanted

Do I send the letter to the business address or directors address on companies house?

I assume the address for the director is his home address.

user1977

MrUnwanted said:

Do I send the letter to the business address or directors address on companies house?

I assume the address for the director is his home address.

Like I said, you send it to the company's registered office. It's not a debt owed by the director.

mobileron

Why dont u name the company,so others dont purchase from them. Also leave a review on Trust Pilot.
Seems they need to be educated re consumer law.

MrUnwanted

I was thinking of leaving something on trust pilot but wanted to wait until after it's all resolved one way or another.

Felt a little uneasy naming the company while writing but if you want to know, it was a vaping supply store called Xtreme Vapes.

I have all the letters written out now and they are getting posted tomorrow morning to get the ball rolling.