[Resolved] Clarification on delivery charges when returning a faulty item

Racxie

Hi all,

I purchased goods directly from a manufacture's web store on the 3rd August, which I paid via PayPal. The goods arrived on the 7th August and I inspected the goods straight away and discovered they were faulty. I followed the troubleshooting steps in the manual and their website to no avail, so I contacted the manufacturer the same day (7th August) via email advising them of the fault. They advised me to ring them and go through some troubleshooting steps, and after accepting there was a fault they sent me a replacement part (despite me being convinced this would be a waste of time they insisted), which they dispatched on the 11th August.

I received the replacement parts somewhere around the 24th - 27th August, and finally had a chance to test it out on the 29th August, and contacted them again as it still did not work. After much back and forth between being too busy to correspond and them constantly asking for various photographs as proof of the faulty items, they've finally got back to me today advising me to return the faulty item to Ireland with no mention of offering me a packing slip or mentioning that they will cover the cost of the return delivery charges. They have advised they would normally ship the replacement once they've received the faulty goods, but will send it out sooner if I provide them with a tracking number.

Now I've read both MSE's and Which?'s consumer rights guides, and I'm not clear on where I stand in-relation to the delivery charges of returning the item to them for a replacement. Both wordings seem to suggest that they'd only be liable for refunding me the original delivery charge (which was free), but even if the guides do mean that they legally have to refund me the delivery charge of returning the faulty item (the cheapest option as per MSE's guide which is fair enough), would this still apply as it's been over 30 days since my purchase, despite the fact that I did contact them the same day of receipt and they have tried to fix it in the meantime?

Following the guide on how to post here (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3809851/how-best-to-post-a-query-on-consumer-rights) I have highlighted all the relevant points, but as a TL;DR version:

• What did you buy? Physical goods
• When did you buy it? 3rd August - arrived 7th August
• Where from? (internet or in store - it DOES make a difference) Internet, direct from manufacturer
• How did you pay? (cash/cheque/debit card/credit card etc): PayPal Credit
• What went wrong? Item was faulty upon receipt
• What are the vendors telling you? To return the faulty good to Ireland after spending over 6 weeks attempting to troubleshoot/fix the issue & even sending a replacement part
• What solution or remedy are you looking for? (Companies may Repair / Refund / Replace): To know where I stand on being reimbursed the delivery cost for returning the faulty goods

zoob

What was it that you bought ? 

ssparks2003

And from whom? 

Racxie

zoob said:

What was it that you bought ? 

ssparks2003 said:

And from whom? 

Physical goods from here: https://gb.slendertone.com/

Jenni_D

We are based in Ireland

Hmm. Under UK law they're liable for all costs in providing the remedy, including returns costs. But https://gb.slendertone.com/pages/terms-and-conditions says that the laws of the Republic of Ireland apply to contracts, so your rights will be whatever those laws say. (Should be similar to UK consumer law, as all EU countries' consumer laws are supposed to be derived from the same EU directives, and the UK laws were enacted well before Brexit).

You could query why you have to return to RoI when they shipped the goods from a UK warehouse:

https://support.slendertone.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360015116552-What-countries-do-you-ship-to-

... as you'd now possibly have customs issues to resolve.

Racxie

Jenni_D said:

We are based in Ireland

Hmm. Under UK law they're liable for all costs in providing the remedy, including returns costs. But https://gb.slendertone.com/pages/terms-and-conditions says that the laws of the Republic of Ireland apply to contracts, so your rights will be whatever those laws say. (Should be similar to UK consumer law, as all EU countries' consumer laws are supposed to be derived from the same EU directives, and the UK laws were enacted well before Brexit).

You could query why you have to return to RoI when they shipped the goods from a UK warehouse:

https://support.slendertone.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360015116552-What-countries-do-you-ship-to-

... as you'd now possibly have customs issues to resolve.

I honestly hadn't thought to check the T&Cs, so thanks for pointing that out  but I can't imagine UK consumer rights laws don't apply if they're doing business/selling items in UK and have UK warehouses....

I can only guess that their HQ is based in Ireland so needs to be returned there to be fixed, but they deliver items to a UK warehouse in batches and then send from there to save on costs, rather than sending every item from Ireland individually? Either way I'm going to call them now and ask rather than emailing them. I know it's better to have it in writing, but as I actually have time to do it today I don't want to wait around.

Racxie

So just called them (the guy was nice but you could tell he clearly wanted to get off the phone asap). Confirmed that they would refund me once they've received the faulty item back!

Did say they're based in Ireland though so have to send it back there which is fair enough. Thanks again Jenni, I originally just wanted to prepared during the call with my rights in case they said no due to bad experiences in the past where I've been shafted and ended up losing out for giving up after the stress of having to go back and forth fighting when the law has been on my side.

Jenni_D

Racxie said:

So just called them (the guy was nice but you could tell he clearly wanted to get off the phone asap). Confirmed that they would refund me once they've received the faulty item back!

Send them an email follow up confirming the date/time/names/content of the call.  

Racxie

Jenni_D said:

Racxie said:

So just called them (the guy was nice but you could tell he clearly wanted to get off the phone asap). Confirmed that they would refund me once they've received the faulty item back!

Send them an email follow up confirming the date/time/names/content of the call.  

Just did that, thanks  does say their calls are recorded too so I'm sure it'll be fine. I was honestly reluctant to share the manufacturer at first because I was worried people might judge  but I'm glad I did. Thanks again

Sandtree

Racxie said:

Jenni_D said:

Racxie said:

So just called them (the guy was nice but you could tell he clearly wanted to get off the phone asap). Confirmed that they would refund me once they've received the faulty item back!

Send them an email follow up confirming the date/time/names/content of the call.  

Just did that, thanks  does say their calls are recorded too so I'm sure it'll be fine. I was honestly reluctant to share the manufacturer at first because I was worried people might judge  but I'm glad I did. Thanks again

You really shouldn't be worried about the thoughts of random strangers some of whom may well be typing out insults whilst in their own slendertone belt... knowing the company/product etc however does make it much easier to provide targeted advice/help.

Glad you got a good result with Jenni_D's help