Damaged Goods not Opened

mattgod69

I have just had an extension built and have obviously been purchasing several items including appliances for the new kitchen.  The fridge, which is a large American style fridge freezer, is huge and was placed in my summerhouse until it was a ready to be opened and installed.  

I opened it this week and noticed there was some damage to the rear at the bottom.  I highlighted this to the retailer just in case it causes an issue with the appliance and they have told me that under their terms and conditions, any damage need to be reported within 48 hours.  Obviously, I am well over this, it is almost two months!  

Thankfully, the damage is not critical and I am not bothered at all about it but I wanted to raise it with them in case it does affect the appliance in operation (although I doubt it will).

However, I would argue that with an appliance as large as the one I purchased, it would possibly be unreasonable to expect this to be checked within 48 hours.. Am I right in saying that the consumer legislation overrides any terms and conditions the retailer might choose to have, particularly if these are unreasonable.

I don't want to reject the goods or anything I am happy with the fridge, I just wondered what everybody's thoughts were and what my actual rights are.

Many thanks in advance for your comments.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

There's no time limit to raise an issue for something like this (their terms are in breach of the Consumer Rights Act) and you are entitled to a remedy which would be repair/replace at this stage and if they refused it would then be final right to reject (for a full refund if exercised within 6 months of delivery) or a price reduction to reflect the difference in what was delivered vs what was paid for and retain the goods. 

Some may say you can't prove you didn't damage the goods during the 2 months however within the first 6 months any issues are taken to have been present at the time of delivery unless demonstrated otherwise. 

PHK

The 48 hours would seem reasonable. It's only because of the highly unusual circumstance of being stored in a summerhouse that you had the delay in checking.

As for consumer rights, if there's a fault as you are within 6 months the retailer would need to show there is no fault. That's the point you might have an argument about whether it was damaged before delivery or in your care.


It's easy with hindsight but to protect yourself it would have been better to inspect the item and re-package. 

mattgod69

PHK said:

The 48 hours would seem reasonable. It's only because of the highly unusual circumstance of being stored in a summerhouse that you had the delay in checking.

As for consumer rights, if there's a fault as you are within 6 months the retailer would need to show there is no fault. That's the point you might have an argument about whether it was damaged before delivery or in your care.


It's easy with hindsight but to protect yourself it would have been better to inspect the item and re-package. 

Agreed, but it is so big..... !! Like almost 1m square x 2m high!  it would have been really difficult to unpack all the appliance and check it.  

mattgod69

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Hello OP

There's no time limit to raise an issue for something like this (their terms are in breach of the Consumer Rights Act) and you are entitled to a remedy which would be repair/replace at this stage and if they refused it would then be final right to reject (for a full refund if exercised within 6 months of delivery) or a price reduction to reflect the difference in what was delivered vs what was paid for and retain the goods. 

Some may say you can't prove you didn't damage the goods during the 2 months however within the first 6 months any issues are taken to have been present at the time of delivery unless demonstrated otherwise. 

This is my understanding too.... I took pictures of the unit still partially in the box..... so it can clearly be seen that it is not used etc.