Not as advertised

Toyah14

I placed an order with a well known retailer of luxury handbags.
The item was heavily discounted from nearly £400.00.

The item arrived and was a different zip than as advertised, in being the advertised zip was metal the one I received was plastic.
I brought this to their attention and was offered 20% discount or full refund on return of the goods.
I refused this and asked them to replace with the item I purchased.
They have informed me that they do not replace only refund, so I will have to return the item and re order.
However they have now changed the picture on their website to the plastic cheaper zip so I still cannot get what I wanted.

This may sound petty but I did my research before I purchased the bag and double checked that the zip was a metal one before I ordered, as the plastic zip is the cheaper outlet version.

I really don't know what to do as other than that I love the bag and cannot find a replacement its for my sons wedding and matches perfectly.

Thank you 

Sandtree

Your statutory rights are only to demand a refund, including return cost.

Contractual rights will depend on the exact wording of the contract but for what is clearly an administration error its exceptionally difficult to claim the cost of buying the metal zipped version elsewhere and the most likely outcome would be rescinding the contract for a full refund. 

Toyah14

Sandtree said:

Your statutory rights are only to demand a refund, including return cost.

Contractual rights will depend on the exact wording of the contract but for what is clearly an administration error its exceptionally difficult to claim the cost of buying the metal zipped version elsewhere and the most likely outcome would be rescinding the contract for a full refund. 

Thank you....x

visidigi

yes - if they have changed the photos/description then its also pretty clear they cant give you what you wanted.

So its either return & refund or accept the 20%.

sheramber

if they don't have bags with a metal zip they cannot send you one.

Toyah14

visidigi said:

yes - if they have changed the photos/description then its also pretty clear they cant give you what you wanted.

So its either return & refund or accept the 20%.

sheramber said:

if they don't have bags with a metal zip they 5cannot send you one.

Yes I'm in total agreement, but if they don't have one why don't they just say so..
I think I will end up taking the discount...im just annoyed I didn't get what I wanted 😒

MattMattMattUK

Toyah14 said:

visidigi said:

yes - if they have changed the photos/description then its also pretty clear they cant give you what you wanted.

So its either return & refund or accept the 20%.

sheramber said:

if they don't have bags with a metal zip they 5cannot send you one.

Yes I'm in total agreement, but if they don't have one why don't they just say so..

The most likely reason is that the manufacturer made an adjustment to the model and did not specifically inform them. This happens quite a lot when it is a minor change rather than something fundamental (size change, colour change etc.), the zip is a zip, the plastic one will have the same warranty/guarantee as the metal one and most plastic zips last just as long as metal ones.

Toyah14 said:

I think I will end up taking the discount...im just annoyed I didn't get what I wanted 😒

I would say that 20% off, but with such a minor variance is absolutely worth it, especially as it was already heavily discounted.

Sandtree

MattMattMattUK said:

Toyah14 said:

visidigi said:

yes - if they have changed the photos/description then its also pretty clear they cant give you what you wanted.

So its either return & refund or accept the 20%.

sheramber said:

if they don't have bags with a metal zip they 5cannot send you one.

Yes I'm in total agreement, but if they don't have one why don't they just say so..

The most likely reason is that the manufacturer made an adjustment to the model and did not specifically inform them. This happens quite a lot when it is a minor change rather than something fundamental (size change, colour change etc.), the zip is a zip, the plastic one will have the same warranty/guarantee as the metal one and most plastic zips last just as long as metal ones.

It will depend on the genesis @mat@MattMattMattUK

Toyah14 said:

double checked that the zip was a metal one before I ordered, as the plastic zip is the cheaper outlet version.

And it sounds from the above that the two items sit side by side with one being the premium version and the other being the budget. 

Given how underhanded the outlets are generally (listing the MRRP of the premium product despite the variances) they tend to have the same model name for both versions and so its not too hard for a simple admin error to occur. You'd assume they have different SKUs but the retailer may not organise their website images by manufacturer SKU.

Manxman_in_exile

MattMattMattUK said:

I would say that 20% off, but with such a minor variance is absolutely worth it, especially as it was already heavily discounted.

You don't understand - she wants it for her son's wedding and it's a perfect match - so long as it has a metal zip and not a plastic one.

A lot of people would not take any notice of what material the zip on the groom's mother's handbag is made of, but some people might, so it's not worth the heavy discount plus a further 20% off...

Manxman_in_exile

Sandtree said

It will depend on the genesis @mat@MattMattMattUK

Sorry Sandtree, but what does this ^^^ mean?

Also, what is a "SKU"?  I'm sure I should know but I don't.

Sandtree

Manxman_in_exile said:

Sandtree said

It will depend on the genesis @mat@MattMattMattUK

Sorry Sandtree, but what does this ^^^ mean?

Also, what is a "SKU"?  I'm sure I should know but I don't.

It means before you speculate on how the situation has arisen you'd really need to understand the full back story of the product and where they've bought it from etc - hence the genesis 


A SKU is a stock keeping unit, its a code for an item but includes all options - so for clothing the same shirt will have a different SKU for each size it comes in... for a handbag for each material, colour, colour of hardware, metal or plastic zip etc. Whilst the name suggests it for stock keeping purposes they are used much more widely... the company we want to buy a dishwasher from noted last year they were reducing the number of "SKUs" they are manufacturing due to parts and labour shortages to simplify their lineup.