Year Old Summer House Not Fit For Purpose

spidystrider2

I've had to sign up to the forum again, as cannot remember my original password and no one will help me get it back

I am really hoping someone can help with a major issue I'm having.

Last March, I took delivery of a summer house from Mercia Garden Products, bought via Robert Dyas for £800. After 2 coats of preservative and 4 coats of Ronseal wood paint, 2 of the cladding boards bowed and started to split, after only a month. Customer service was awful and I was ill at the time, so I finally agreed to a £50 refund from Mercia and had the cladding repaired. This new cladding was treated with preservative and painted. Before the winter set in, the whole summer house received another 2 coats of wood paint. Unfortunately, this winter 3 more of the cladding boards have bowed, warped and split right open.

I am once again in talks with Mercia and they are as bad as ever. They are only agreeing to send me out 3 pieces of replacement cladding. Is all I am entitled to or do I have any right to a refund? There are so many reviews on Trustpilot from customers with the same issue. It seems wrong that a company can get away with selling this shoddy rubbish, which is not fit for purpose. I am not sure whether to fight my corner, I am in Scotland and the company is in England, so not sure how I go about taking them to a small claims court?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

lincroft1710

£800 for a summerhouse is the lower end of the market. Last year I had similar problems with a summerhouse from another manufacturer and ended up returning it for a full refund. Its replacement from a different manufacturer and supplier is better but not perfect. Only time will tell!

TELLIT01

Did you deal with Robert Dyas initially?  As this is the company who have responsibility to address the problem.

spidystrider2

TELLIT01 said:

Did you deal with Robert Dyas initially?  As this is the company who have responsibility to address the problem.

I did initially contact Robert Dyas, but they passed me straight on to Mercia Garden Products, who I've been dealing with ever since.

Aylesbury_Duck

spidystrider2 said:

TELLIT01 said:

Did you deal with Robert Dyas initially?  As this is the company who have responsibility to address the problem.

I did initially contact Robert Dyas, but they passed me straight on to Mercia Garden Products, who I've been dealing with ever since.

You have no consumer rights with Mercia, so you're not entitled to anything from them unless they provided a warranty and it covers this problem.  You need to deal with the retailer if you want to exercise your consumer rights.

TELLIT01

Aylesbury_Duck said:

spidystrider2 said:

TELLIT01 said:

Did you deal with Robert Dyas initially?  As this is the company who have responsibility to address the problem.

I did initially contact Robert Dyas, but they passed me straight on to Mercia Garden Products, who I've been dealing with ever since.

You have no consumer rights with Mercia, so you're not entitled to anything from them unless they provided a warranty and it covers this problem.  You need to deal with the retailer if you want to exercise your consumer rights.

Far too many retailers try to dump the problem on the manufacturer, and get away with it.

lincroft1710

TELLIT01 said:

Did you deal with Robert Dyas initially?  As this is the company who have responsibility to address the problem.

When I had the problems with my summerhouse I was dealing with the manufacturer rather than the retailer. It was the manufacturer who agreed the full refund with me and authorised the retailer to credit the refund back to my CC.