The Range store refusing refund of faulty items without a receipt

daniel1984uk

I purchased two valve items at my local the range store. Two aquarium air stones.

I got home are realised they were both cracked and unusable. I returned to the store two days later and went to the shelf to check the other stock, 80% were cracked. I took two intact ones to customer service to exchange them.

I had lost my receipt, I did however have with me the bank statement showing the purchase. The manager refused to exchange the broken items without receipt. I mentioned the consumer right act and told them a receipt not being necessary and a bank statement should be sufficient.

They manager told me that I was wrong and they wouldn't exchange them without a receipt saying "I could have bought them anywhere". Despite me pointing out that nearly all the stock they have are broken and their cctv at the cashiers desk would show my buying them, and there will be a till receipt matching my statement.

 After that things go a little... heated. lol

Am i right or wrong on this?

So far my emails have been ignored and the reply to my trustpilot reply was "Go to the store with the receipt and they will exchange it" They clearly didn't read the review. I think the next step is to write to head office. Ive read the consumer rights act but I'm failing to find the section regarding a receipt not being needed or needed, which section should i quote in the letter?

 

Thanks for your help all.

Murphybear

You are correct.  You don’t need a receipt but proving you bought an item in a particular store without one can be tricky.  There is actually no legal requirement in this country to be given a receipt but I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want one 

WhiskersTheWonderCat

I guess the receipt is the proof that you are their consumer. They're certainly not going to dig through days of CCTV to inspect whether you did in fact buy two stones from their store. 

If you do in fact want these stones, then go in and buy two that are definitely not cracked. Then bring the two cracked ones back with that receipt for refund. 

breaking_free

I reckon Whiskers has found the easiest solution and in your shoes I'd go with that.

Lomast

You are correct however the range are not well know for their recognition of consumer law or employment law but that's another story

p00hsticks

daniel1984uk said:

I had lost my receipt, I did however have with me the bank statement showing the purchase. The manager refused to exchange the broken items without receipt. I mentioned the consumer right act and told them a receipt not being necessary and a bank statement should be sufficient.

I'm aware that this is the case, but I don't really see how a bank statement shows that you bought a specific item in a store for a specific amount, as a receipt would, only that you paid a certain total amount in that store for various unspecified items. I can understand why stores would much prefer you to have the receipt.

Manxman_in_exile

daniel1984uk said:

... So far my emails have been ignored and the reply to my trustpilot reply was "Go to the store with the receipt and they will exchange it" They clearly didn't read the review. I think the next step is to write to head office. Ive read the consumer rights act but I'm failing to find the section regarding a receipt not being needed or needed, which section should i quote in the letter?

Have you been back to the store and shown the manager the reply from The Range on trustpilot?  That's an instruction to him (or her) to refund you.  (If the Range trustpilot team haven't read your review properly that's their problem).

If you want to contact head office go ahead.

So far as I'm aware, nowhere in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) does it mention anything about either receipts or proofs of purchase.  I am aware that there are many sources of advice online (eg Which? and MSE) that say that a receipt is not necessary and that all you need is proof of purchase, but I don't know what the authority for these statements is.

However, lets's assume it is right that all you need is proof of purchase.  Write to Range HO, outline the situation and explain to them that you have proof of payment on your bank (or credit card) statement of £xx to The Range at zzzz branch on dd/mm/yyyy.  Suggest to them that it will no doubt be easy for them to tie that payment to a till transaction at a particular time and branch, confirming your purchase of the goods in question.

You could say that part of the definition of a "sales contract" under s5 of the CRA 2015 is one where "... the consumer pays or agrees to pay the price... " and that you have provided evidence of paying. 

If feeling particularly argumentative, you could then also add that the store manager, in demanding you produce a receipt - which is not necessary under the law - was wrongly trying to limit your legal rights under the CRA.

user1977

Manxman_in_exile said:

daniel1984uk said:

... So far my emails have been ignored and the reply to my trustpilot reply was "Go to the store with the receipt and they will exchange it" They clearly didn't read the review. I think the next step is to write to head office. Ive read the consumer rights act but I'm failing to find the section regarding a receipt not being needed or needed, which section should i quote in the letter?

So far as I'm aware, nowhere in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) does it mention anything about either receipts or proofs of purchase.  I am aware that there are many sources of advice online (eg Which? and MSE) that say that a receipt is not necessary and that all you need is proof of purchase, but I don't know what the authority for these statements is.

The law says nothing specific about proof, so ultimately it would be up to a court to decide on the balance of probabilities whether / where / when the item in question was bought, if the retailer was disputing any of those claims. And that can be proved by any method e.g. testimony of the customer and/or other witnesses, bank statements, how widely distributed the item is etc.

So it really depends how far the OP wants to push it.

Undervalued

Manxman_in_exile said:

daniel1984uk said:

... So far my emails have been ignored and the reply to my trustpilot reply was "Go to the store with the receipt and they will exchange it" They clearly didn't read the review. I think the next step is to write to head office. Ive read the consumer rights act but I'm failing to find the section regarding a receipt not being needed or needed, which section should i quote in the letter?

Have you been back to the store and shown the manager the reply from The Range on trustpilot?  That's an instruction to him (or her) to refund you.  (If the Range trustpilot team haven't read your review properly that's their problem).

If you want to contact head office go ahead.

So far as I'm aware, nowhere in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) does it mention anything about either receipts or proofs of purchase.  I am aware that there are many sources of advice online (eg Which? and MSE) that say that a receipt is not necessary and that all you need is proof of purchase, but I don't know what the authority for these statements is.

However, lets's assume it is right that all you need is proof of purchase.  Write to Range HO, outline the situation and explain to them that you have proof of payment on your bank (or credit card) statement of £xx to The Range at zzzz branch on dd/mm/yyyy.  Suggest to them that it will no doubt be easy for them to tie that payment to a till transaction at a particular time and branch, confirming your purchase of the goods in question.

You could say that part of the definition of a "sales contract" under s5 of the CRA 2015 is one where "... the consumer pays or agrees to pay the price... " and that you have provided evidence of paying. 

If feeling particularly argumentative, you could then also add that the store manager, in demanding you produce a receipt - which is not necessary under the law - was wrongly trying to limit your legal rights under the CRA.

Why do you assume that whoever deals with their Trustpilot has the authority to instruct a store manage what to do?

That said, my understanding is that the OP is entitled to a refund subject to providing reasonable proof of purchase. The bank statement they mention MAY be sufficient but lawyers have earned fees for centuries debating what is reasonable!

Tucosalamanca

Since the most expensive air stones shown on The Range website are £3.29 each, this whole saga seems crazy for £6.58.
What a kerfuffle!

daniel1984uk

Yes it is crazy for £6.58! I am only interested in what's right and what's wrong. Its a learning experience for any future transactions that go south.

"So far as I'm aware, nowhere in the consumer rights act does it mention anything about either receipts or proofs of purchase.  I am aware that there are many sources of advice online (eg Which? and MSE) that say that a receipt is not necessary and that all you need is proof of purchase, but I don't know what the authority for these statements is."

This is the conclusion I came to. (Which) and MSE say a receipt is not necessary, and that may be technically true. However I cannot find any legislation to back it up. There is clear evidence I bought them, but the range aren't going to bother digging it out. 

So in conclusion. If you pushed this and took it to court, you'd probably win but there is no certainty. So for all intents and purposes you do need a receipt. However, the manager should have used discretion and done the exchange regardless, and him stating you do need a receipt is technically wrong.

"If you do in fact want these stones, then go in and buy two that are definitely not cracked. Then bring the two cracked ones back with that receipt for refund. "

This seems to be the best solution. However, I don't fancy another heated discussion at my local store, there is no way that manager is going to accept that return either after out previous exchange. I am going to write to head office regardless as I am curious of their response. I won't take it any further than that for the above reasons. Had there been better legislation I certain would proceed further.

Thank you all.