Refurbished phone company

Tats22

Hello, I was looking to check my consumer rights as I believe mine are being denied.

I bought a refurbished mobile phone online using a credit card as a Christmas present, but was sent out the wrong colour. I had bought from that website as they said it was next day delivery, however despite waiting in the next day it never arrived, and at around 4pm they sent an email saying delivery was delayed. They didn't give an alternative date, but said it would be before Christmas. It eventually arrived on 22/12/21 but was the wrong colour so I got in touch to tell them. They offered £10 compensation to keep it. But that was not acceptable and had pretty much ruined Christmas for the recipient, so on 28/12/21 I contracted them to refuse that and said I wanted to return the phone and get a refund. They sent me a returns label and said I had 14 days to do this from the date I received the handset i.e. 22/12/21. I believe that the 14 day window applies to items for which you've changed your mind about, and that you have 14 days from receipt to let the seller know you don't want it. Then from date, in my case the 28/12/21, you have a further 14 days to actually return the item. They pointed out that the returns label they sent only covered up to the value of £100, which wasn't much good for a mobile phone worth over £400, so I queried it. They said I didn't have to use their label. But the only reason I was returning the handset was because they had sent the wrong one, so I felt it was unfair of them to expect me to pay to return it so then they sent me another label which covered its value out of 'goodwill'. But by the time they sent me this it was nearly New Year. There seemed to be quite a few reviews online for this company where customers spoke of high-value items going missing in the post, so I was concerned about this happening whilst the mail system closed down over the Bank Holidays. So I contacted them to share my concern and said I would post the handset back to them as soon as I could when Post Offices reopened but to get back in touch with me if that was not acceptable and they wanted me to post it on the 31/12/21 regardless, as long as they accepted liability. I didn't hear back from them until after the New Year break when they told me that the 14 day window was up and I should have got the handset back to them before that. I disagree. In fact I believe that, according to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, I have 30 days in which to return the item as the handset they had sent to me was not as described, being the wrong colour.

They are very persistent and refuse to acknowledge what I've written to them about my rights according to the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Even though they currently have the phone back, they keep on insisting they will send the phone back to me. I have been explicit in saying I don't want it and would not accept delivery. I have said that because they refuse to refund me that I will now have to go to my credit card company for refund under the Chargeback scheme. Because they are trying to force me to have this phone and saying they will send it back to me even though I have refused it, would their behaviour be covered under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008?

I have never come across such unbelievable behaviour from a company and wonder now if they're trying to scam me. Does anyone else have a similar experience of buying a refurbished phone online like this? Thanks 

JJ_Egan

Are you asking   if you have 30 days to return ?? under Consumer Rights law  .

Tats22

Yes do I have 30 days?, but also does anyone else have experience of this company, is this routine behaviour towards their customers?

mobileron

Someones Xmas was ruined because of the wrong colour,love  to hear how.

neilmcl

Tats22 said:

Yes do I have 30 days?, but also does anyone else have experience of this company, is this routine behaviour towards their customers?

You have 30 days to "reject" the item due to it being not as described and therefore in breach of your contract with the seller. This is covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. They also should cover the complete cost of return.

Tats22

mobileron said:

Someones Xmas was ruined because of the wrong colour,love  to hear how.

Ok so "ruined" Xmas sounds dramatic, but to a 13yo these things matter. I'm not sure I agree with it but at my kids school phones are important to them and it matters to them that they have something decent. It mattered to me to get them the present they wanted so badly, and because it was an expensive gift (well IMHO spending £430 on one gift makes it expensive for me, but again everything's relative for different people) it was effectively the only present with their name on under the tree from me. It wasn't a hard task to order the phone they had specifically asked for - the model, colour etc, and whilst the colour might not matter to someone else, the fact is it mattered to my 13yo and I have to respect their feelings. There have been lots of things going on for them recently and this was just the tipping point. They were visibly upset when they opened their only present from me to find it wasn't what they wanted or what I'd ordered, so yes for them their Christmas was ruined. Just another thing going wrong for them in a whole catalogue of things, these things stack up, cause a downward spiral and ultimately cause mental harm. I felt really bad letting them down, I couldn't even get their Christmas present right, even though I wasn't the one to blame for sending out the wrong thing. If you read the reviews on Trust Pilot it appears this is a common occurrence though. Some reviewers even argue that this company are advertising handsets for sale that they don't actually have in stock, and then just send something similar to customers instead, in the hope they accept them instead which sounds like sharp practice, lures you in to place an order that can't be fulfilled. I therefore invite the MoneySavingExpert team to look into customers' complaints and poor experience with them as they seem to be occurring too regularly just to be down to human error. But in our case it did matter to get the right colour. So I was within my rights to return the handset which I did within 14 days of cancelling the contract, but they are refusing to refund me, so I have been unable to buy the correct phone from another supplier until the matter is rectified. Reading the reviews and from my experience with them I don't trust them any more and don't want a replacement phone from them even in the correct colour, as I'd rather spend my money with a company that respects their customers' legal rights and gives a more positive customer service experience. So at this point in time, that Christmas present promised, ordered, paid for still hasn't arrived, a refund has been denied which would have enabled me to buy the correct one from elsewhere, and therefore they still have no phone and for them Christmas continues to be ruined, and I feel it's not up to me or anyone else to tell them how they should or should not feel. I'm just doing my best to sort things out for them...

Tats22

neilmcl said:

Tats22 said:

Yes do I have 30 days?, but also does anyone else have experience of this company, is this routine behaviour towards their customers?

You have 30 days to "reject" the item due to it being not as described and therefore in breach of your contract with the seller. This is covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. They also should cover the complete cost of return.

Thank you, that's really helpful and confirms what I believe

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

There is no time limit (that I can see) for you to return rejected goods because they don’t conform to the contract.

Given the holiday period it doesn’t to my view seem unreasonable that someone may take a while send something back either.

Have you returned the phone?If not send it back and if they don’t refund contact your card company. If you have contact the card company now.

Wrong colour is very straightforward and it’s better to keep it this way Forget everything else and simply focus on wrong colour, company incorrectly imposing time limit for return, no refund.

Tats22

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

There is no time limit (that I can see) for you to return rejected goods because they don’t conform to the contract.

Given the holiday period it doesn’t to my view seem unreasonable that someone may take a while send something back either.

Have you returned the phone?If not send it back and if they don’t refund contact your card company. If you have contact the card company now.

Wrong colour is very straightforward and it’s better to keep it this way Forget everything else and simply focus on wrong colour, company incorrectly imposing time limit for return, no refund.

Thank you. Yes I have returned the phone. But they say I am outwith their stated time-frame to return the phone (which they claim is 14 days from when I took delivery on the 22/12/21). I thought 14 days applied to when you just changed your mind about buying a product you hadn't seen, via 'distance selling' - you get 14 days to inform the company you wanted to return the goods and cancel the contract, which I did on the 28/12/21, and then the clock starts ticking again and you get a further 14 days to actually return the goods, and they confirmed receipt of it on 7/1/22 so well within the that time-frame. But that's for when you change your mind although you don't have to give the company a reason. In this case I feel that doesn't apply, instead I believe I have 30 days to tell them, and return the goods, because it did not match its original description i.e. the wrong colour to that which I ordered. I'm happy to be stood corrected if that is what the law says, but I believe I've done what the law requires. Not once have they addressed the points I've raised in relation to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 so I feel they are just ignoring the rights written there by repeating (their words):

"As you are out of the 14 day period, we can not offer a refund or replacement. We apologise for inconvenience.

Your handset will be sent to you, to your original address on your invoice."

I have stressed to them to not return the handset as I had never ordered it, but they have threatened to send it 3 times now. If they do send it and I see the courier I would tell them to return it to sender, but if I'm out and they leave it regardless, then what? Do they then unsolicited goods?, because in my view I have cancelled the original contract and therefore they should not be sending anything else out. What would people advise? I have contacted my credit card company but they say they will take 25 days to investigate.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Yes the 14 day thing is if you change your mind rather than something being wrong with the goods.

Best to wait the 25 days, if the card company say they can’t help come back for more advice. 

If the company have the phone back I wouldn’t bother talking to them any more, just keep the tracking details for the return safe. 

Tats22

Thanks for your help 
There seem to be so many customers out there being denied their rights by this company it seems a shame they can't get together as a consumer group to be stronger in voice rather than fighting individual battles.