How do so many online retailers get away with not adhering to consumer rights regulations?

LaHostessAvecLaMostess

Ergates said:

JJ_Egan said:

Would you have been able to turn the item on in a shop ??

Not the actual console itself, but they could well have had a demonstration model.

Not seen those for years WRT consoles, although it's probably more likely in a shop selling games like Game.

Undervalued

Ergates said:

JJ_Egan said:

Would you have been able to turn the item on in a shop ??

Not the actual console itself, but they could well have had a demonstration model.

Or equally may not have. That is a business decision they make. Unless the manufacturer provides them with a demo model they have to decide if it makes economic sense to buy and use one for that purpose. Ultimately it will have to be either sold at a significant discount or scrapped.

This is why, understandably, many sellers take a tight line regarding how much handling is acceptable on returns from online sales. Obviously they have to comply with the law if a "buyer" pushes it that far but they don't have to go out of their way to make it easy.

A good example that regularly gets exploited are expensive lenses for high end camera. All too often these are "bought" rather than hired and used for a couple of days then returned for a refund. Obviously if it could be proved that was for a business purpose the consumer laws wouldn't apply but so often they are "bought" in a private name with a personal credit card.

Ultimately the honest consumers end up meeting the cost of all this in the price they pay.

Questionerhere

LaHostessAvecLaMostess said:

Questionerhere said:

LaHostessAvecLaMostess said:

Then you did a bit more than just remove the internal packaging that you initially suggested, and I'd be very surprised that you could see the UI without signing up/in for an account.

I think they have you bang to rights here, unfortunately, and you may need to take it on the chin and resell it as Bradden says.

It's a Switch special edition. In a few months I could probably sell it for more than I bought it just because it is a special edition one. I didn't get as far as creating an account.

Do they really have me bang to rights? Aren't they supposed to give me a partial refund at resell value, if I have used it more than I could have in store? In a small claims court how would they explain not offering at least that partial refund instead of purchasing it back to resell at a higher price?

They have you bang to rights in the sense that your handling is in excess of what could reasonably be done in a shop, so claiming a full refund on the basis that you just removed the packaging isn't realistic.

You are right this seems subjective. You can try consoles out in a shop. You may want to feel how the controller feels in your hands when moving something around the screen. However not all stored have demo consoles and those that do have already set up accounts.

The one place I could get them is that they didn't mention all the rights required by the regulation. This removes their right to diminish the value of the return.

The regulation: "(11) Paragraph (9) does not apply if the trader has failed to provide the consumer with the information on the right to cancel required by paragraph (l) of Schedule 2, in accordance with Part 2."

They said that no return for used consoles are possible at all. Used being merely turned on. They didn't mention the right to return for a diminished value.

I am considering if this argument would win in the small claims court.