Lidl colour changing kettle - Bought at discount but refused replacement at same price

christophercharles

Hi everyone

I bought a Salter brand colour change kettle from Lidl back in January this year and I used the Lidl app which used to give a discount of £10 if you spend more than £200 in a month (They stopped it a few months back). The original price of the kettle was £24.99 and with the app discount i got it for £14.99 and a 12 month warranty (3 year to return to manufacturer).

The hinges of the lid came off a few weeks ago (10 months after buying) and knowing that if i returned it for a refund i'd only get my original £14.99 back, i waited to see if they stocked another Salter Kettle, which has now just recently come back into store. However it is a slightly different model, in that the lid is no longer on hinges and is a slightly different shape, though still colour changing. Most improtantly its priced at £24.99 which is identical to the original priced one I bought in Jan.

I took the broken kettle back, thinking i could do an exchange for the one they currently have in stock and wouldnt have to pay any price difference (£10), but the manager told me that I would have to as it was a different model.

I thought that with the product being under warranty i was entitled to either a refund or a replacement, which if not identical would at least be as close as possible to the original, especially in price (both £24.99) and the discounted price I paid with my coupon back in Jan would still apply.

There was a large queue forming behind me and to be honest, I am a nervous wreck when it comes to arguing so I just accepted the manager at her word and asked for a refund £14.99 and left the store. But i'm sure there was a similar scenario many years ago with Argos where i tool back a toaster under warranty and they didnt have the same model, so they gave me a similar priced one, which just happened to be a newer version. Granted I didnt use any discount then but thats what led me to believe the same would apply here.

Past experience when buying products like these from Lidl, I really dont think they will bring back the exact same modle of kettle. I'm also bit suspicious with the newer model having a different lid design, it makes me think it was a well known issue that prompted the company to change, hence the identical model was never going to come back - but that's just speculation on my part.

What does everyone else think, was I right to believe I should have been entitled to an exchange and the voucher carrying over without having to pay the difference? Or was It just bad luck that the kettle I got at a discount turned out to be poor quality and I should have had to pay the extra £10 for the new kettle?

Grateful for any replies.

user1977

Nope, the retailer is entitled to choose to give you a refund if they want.

Aylesbury_Duck

Hypothetically, after this much time, exercising your statutory rights would be a waste of time, so you'd be best exercising your rights under the warranty instead.  What do the terms of the warranty say, and who provides the warranty?  Salter, or Lidl?  If Salter, then it's them you would get in touch with, and the warranty terms would dictate what you're entitled to, which might be a refund or a replacement.  I doubt very much they'd bother repairing a cheap item like a kettle.  If the warranty is provided by Lidl then you'd need to find out what the warranty entitles you to.

As it seems that you've returned it using your consumer rights, Lidl have the choice to repair, refund or replace.  Repairing it would be silly, so that leaves the option of a refund or replacement.  After this much time, they can reduce the refund (or value of the replacement) to reflect the use of the kettle so far.  I think their offer of a different model (albeit with an extra charge) or what is in effect a refund of 60%, is entirely fair.

christophercharles

user1977 said:

Nope, the retailer is entitled to choose to give you a refund if they want.

So you're saying that the retailer can choose not to give a replacement but instead give a refund because it means it will turn out as more profit and less cost for them? (sell new kettles at full price, but not exchange and only refund if bought on a discount) I didnt know that. Surely, even though thats' allowed, its bad customer service?

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Hypothetically, after this much time, exercising your statutory rights would be a waste of time, so you'd be best exercising your rights under the warranty instead.  What do the terms of the warranty say, and who provides the warranty?  Salter, or Lidl?  If Salter, then it's them you would get in touch with, and the warranty terms would dictate what you're entitled to, which might be a refund or a replacement.  I doubt very much they'd bother repairing a cheap item like a kettle.  If the warranty is provided by Lidl then you'd need to find out what the warranty entitles you to.

As it seems that you've returned it using your consumer rights, Lidl have the choice to repair, refund or replace.  Repairing it would be silly, so that leaves the option of a refund or replacement.  After this much time, they can reduce the refund (or value of the replacement) to reflect the use of the kettle so far.  I think their offer of a different model (albeit with an extra charge) or what is in effect a refund of 60%, is entirely fair.

I didn't know that they can reduce the refund/value of replacement if it has been used for some time before it broke. Thats is useful to know!

However this wasnt something the manager mentioned. From her point of view it was a diferent model and bought using a coupon therefore i wasnt entitled to a similar kettle which cost exactly the same as the other kettle would have, without the coupon. Had I not used the coupon before, or used it for something else (which applied to anything, including food items) then they would have replaced it because it was equal value...or refunded the full value then used that money to buy the replacement at the same price. So this is where i get confused.

The warranty is provided by Salter and on the Salter website it says that:

"In the event that we cannot provide an exact replacement, a similar product will be offered. If we cannot provide an exact or similar replacement, a voucher or a full refund will be offered. If an alternative product is offered but you decide you wish to return it, Salter will provide the returns instructions for the product."

It also says that :"All products come with a standard 12 month warranty, which lies with the retailer that the product was purchased from."

user1977

And when you returned it, did you specify you were returning it under the manufacturer warranty rather than exercising your statutory rights to return a faulty item?

christophercharles

user1977 said:

And when you returned it, did you specify you were returning it under the manufacturer warranty rather than exercising your statutory rights to return a faulty item?

I did, well it was more like, "its still under warranty as its within the 12 month period" but they definitely knew what I meant. It has 3 year warranty written on the box (extra 2 years if registered on the Salter website).

Aylesbury_Duck

So write to Lidl and claim the £10 you're owed, citing the bold part of the warranty terms you highlighted above.  Technically they should provide it like-for-like, i.e. as a voucher.

TELLIT01

I thought it was the vendor's decision whether refund or replacement was offered after 6 months.  If so, the vendor has done nothing wrong in refunding the actual purchase cost and not offering replacement as they don't have that item any more.

screech_78

If you wanted to exercise your rights with the warranty, you would have to have contacted Salter. Lidl aren’t responsible for the warranty, however you do have consumer rights against them. 

As others posters have mentioned, getting a full refund of what you paid is over and above what you’re actually entitled to. 

Aylesbury_Duck

screech_78 said:

If you wanted to exercise your rights with the warranty, you would have to have contacted Salter. Lidl aren’t responsible for the warranty, however you do have consumer rights against them. 

As others posters have mentioned, getting a full refund of what you paid is over and above what you’re actually entitled to. 

I would normally have agreed, but OP says that the warranty terms include this:

"All products come with a standard 12 month warranty, which lies with the retailer that the product was purchased from."

Which suggests that Lidl are responsible for fulfilling the warranty obligations in the first year, on behalf of Salter.

Aylesbury_Duck

TELLIT01 said:

I thought it was the vendor's decision whether refund or replacement was offered after 6 months.  If so, the vendor has done nothing wrong in refunding the actual purchase cost and not offering replacement as they don't have that item any more.

Normally I'd agree, but from what OP posted about the warranty terms, it appears that Lidl are responsible for fulfilling the warranty obligations in the first 12 months.  That would mean that they should have offered OP the similar kettle.  It's moot now, because OP accepted the refund, but there's no harm in them writing to Lidl to ask for the remainder of their refund, as the warranty terms seem to oblige them to provide, even if in voucher form.