Delivery fee refund for partial order return

dzjsk

Hi there,

I have a question about consumer rights with regard to returning part of an order.

What did you buy? My partner bought a washing machine and a fridge-freezer from a charity shop, with £17 paid for delivery. The delivery price is £17, regardless of how many items we had delivered.

When did you buy it? Purchased 7th December 2021, delivered on 16th December 2021.

Where from? Purchased from a charity shop after seeing the washing machine listed on Gumtree (which is how they list their available items). Purchase was made over the phone after calling the shop directly.

How did you pay? Debit card

What went wrong? We tried using the washing machine for the first time yesterday (22/12). I ran a hot cycle on the washing machine to clean it out and noticed it didn't seem to be getting hot. The washing machine then displayed an error indicating an issue with water heating or a control board fault. This fault was not pointed out by the vendor. Consequently, we'd like to return the washing machine (but keep the fridge-freezer). Our understanding of consumer rights is that we should be able to return the washing machine for a refund/replacement, but we're less clear about the situation with delivery charges and the return.

Regarding the delivery charges, how much of a refund (if any) would be entitled to?

• On the one hand, there is a static delivery fee, and we still got the fridge-freezer with that delivery (hence, it could be argued that a delivery service was provided). 
• On the other hand, if we return the item, it could be argued that we're financially out-of-pocket since we deliberately chose to get the two items together to avoid paying two delivery fees.

Regarding the return of the washing machine, my partner and I don't have the means to remove/return it ourselves. What are their obligations for helping us with this?

What are the vendors telling you? N/a -- we haven't contacted them yet, just wanted to understand our rights before contacting them.

What solution or remedy are you looking for? Refund/replacement, but this post is specifically looking for clarification on the delivery question.

Thanks in advance for any insights, and happy holidays!

born_again

To be fair you are talking about a charity.

See what they say.

pinkshoes

It's a CHARITY and only £17 which you at least got another item delivered for.

Also, why not actually see what they say about the refund? Perhaps they will just refund the item then scrap metal people would collect it for free?

cx6

For me, I would say the delivery charge was £17 for just the fridge and so you are not owed anything.

I understand the 'saving for two items' thoughts though, so maybe you could ask them to keep an eye out for another washing machine and deliver with no delivery charge.

dzjsk

born_again said:

To be fair you are talking about a charity.

See what they say.

Thanks for the reply! 

For reference, we've now called them and they've been nothing short of great (we're getting a replacement and they'll take the old one away at the time -- can't fault them)! I would never want to try and exploit a charity or anything. The reason I posted the question was more that I'm curious about the delivery fee question, simply because I've not found a clear answer online. I just used this situation as an example.