Damaged Goods 23 November 2022 at 6:00PM in Consumer rights 3 replies 151 views

littlefacey

Hello, 

I sell meter boxes online and recently I have had an influx of people who have ordered boxes and only checked them 4/5 weeks later to say they have been damaged. I do try and urge customers to let me know in the first 7 days so I can then get a brand new box to them and claim the money back from the courier because these things to happen! However more and more people are coming back to me weeks later and state they have the right to a repair or replacement (these boxes, once damaged cannot be repaired) so I can only send a replacement out which I absolutely dont mind doing but as soon as it's over 14 days I cannot claim this with the courier and I am out of pocket. I am only a small business and will do everything I can to help people but with all these damages i am loosing so much money   Is there anything I can do?? 

P.S these boxes can also be damaged easily when installing so I dont know that if they've had this for a month and broken it themselves!? or as a lot of people are tradesmen I dont know if they have stored them on a building site and theyve got damaged? 

Please help!  

(Sorry if this is in the wrong forum) 

km1500

 There is nothing you can do when you are running an online business - you are I suppose at the mercy of couriers and buyers

if you are not making any money then it might be time to consider moving to a different business

Jonboy_1984

Is this business to business sales or business to consumer?

If b2b you can look at putting a set examination period into terms and conditions but may risk future sales by doing so. 

littlefacey

I sell to businesses & consumers but majority are tradesmen but they purchase it under their name rather than their business name. I've had one this morning where a customer informed me of damage a month ago but has taken him 2 nearly 4 weeks to send the images over so i've lost out again. Just frustrating.