Consumer Police. See if you can get your heads around this?

Ron1e

Ok, like I said I have been  working in retail for more than 50 years and have never had any problems dealing with customers or any retailer I have bought goods from. 

So here we go. I buy an amplifier, (goods) these goods are bought in person from the person who makes them. He doesn't have demonstration facilities, but he does offer the following. 

 A 60 day rock solid money back guarantee so you may buy with confidence on his website, and the goods I bought were advertised with the following description on his Facebook page. 

All we ask is your acceptance of our offer, to try these amplifiers in your own home, in your own time, with your own equipment and with your own music. All without risk should you decide otherwise.

You might think “what could possibly go wrong”?

I paid £4056.00 and collected them in person, when I got them home I was disappointed with them and said that I would like to return them for a refund. £4056.00 is a lot of money to part with for something your not happy with.

Reason 1, This is what shocked me, he said that they were made to my precise wishes, which was rubbish. It is crystal clear on his Facebook page that these  were a commercial  product, available to anyone who would choose to buy them. It's there for all the world to see. 

After a few email exchanges he then says. 

Reason 2,That I agreed that the conditions of the sale were FINAL AND BINDING and I appeared to accept this with my silence. Again rubbish, your consumer rights are set in law. No one can take them away from you.

Reason 3. Three weeks after I had returned them and made them freely available for inspection, he says I have tampered with them and he will refund me, less £500 what is has cost to make them good.
I haven't tampered with them, I know nothing about any form of electronics and to suggest I have is absurd.

He hasn't got a shred of evidence to support any of the claims he makes, he just wants to come out of this at my expense.
He also threatened to counter sue me if I didn't accept his offer.

And to top it off, when he sent me the documents he sent to the court, it included  the invoice.
It's the first time I have had sight of this and it clearly show a Credit Card surcharge listed as a separate  item of £56.00. This is unlawful since Jan 2018.

So my question is, what are my chances of winning my case, or not.

Thank you in advance of your input, but please base any replies  on the assumption that everything I have said is true. Because it is.

Many thanks

Ron

 

DE_612183

Reason 1 -  have you copies of the website etc? - Is there a specific order form that you have?
Reason 2 - Consumer Rights are only if something is wrong - not if you change your mind - unless it's a distance sale ( which as you picked them up this is not the case ).
Reason 3 - difficult to prove ( his word against yours )
Last point - I'm surprised to spent over £4k and didn't know the exact details of what that covered.

It sounds like he is a bit dodgy, but not sure what you can prove.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

2 aspects here 1) Consumer Rights, the right to cancel comes with an off-premises or distance contract, if you looked online (Facebook, website, whatever) and agreed to buy via a distance, without any terms stipulating acceptance occurs upon collection*, I would suggest the right to cancel exists.

If you saw an ad online and went to his place of business and agreed to buy there then there wouldn't be any right to cancel as that would be on-premises.

Goods being of satisfactory quality is a consideration for the Consumer Rights Act which considers, any description of the goods, the price (or other consideration) for the goods or any public statement about the specific characteristics of the goods made by the trader can be measured against fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied and more simply goods must be as described. 

Burden of proof falls on the trader within 6 months if you seek a repair/replacement or upon yourself if you seek a refund within 30 days. 

*we had a long discussion about this recently and there wasn't any conclusion drawn with regards to click and collect type sales where trader's were stating acceptance occurs upon collection. 

2) 60 day guarantee depends upon what is said, any ambiguity in meaning would be taken to mean whatever was most favourable to yourself.  Screenshots of what the guarantee is exactly would help  

Regarding the tampering he claims I think he would likely have to prove this, saying a consumer damaged something by dropping it or using it wrong is one thing but claiming they opened it up and fiddled about with it sounds to me like a claim for damages with him to prove. 

The credit card fee would be refunded as part of the full payment, the legality of charging such fees, I assume, falls on Trading Standards to address. 

sheramber

If ypou hav e[aid for the item and returned it to him, what is he suing you fpr?

Ron1e

Ok, so the consensus of opinion seems to be, because these were were bought in person and not on-line that I don't have any right to ask for a refund. I get that.

But because he advertised these with these descriptions

This is from his Facebook page.

**** We don't need magazine reviews for folks to salivate over and we don't need a massive advertising budget - the cost of which is loaded onto the product - All we ask is your acceptance of our offer to try these amplifiers in your own system, your own time and with your own music - all without risk to you should you decide otherwise. ****

                                                   ******************************************

This is from his website.

Are you saying  these descriptions only apply to the goods if they are bought on-line? and not in store?

This seems to make like a personal plea to try his goods and if you don't like like them you can return them.

Like I said, I have more than 50 years in retail. Am I missing something here.

Ron1e

It won't let me post links because I'm a newbie.

Ron1e

sheramber said:

If ypou hav e[aid for the item and returned it to him, what is he suing you fpr?

He's not suing me, he threatened to to sue me.

Ron1e

Sorry lunatic, I misread your reply, you think I may have a right to cancel.?

Ron1e

How do I edit or delete a comment?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ron1e said:

It won't let me post links because I'm a newbie.

If you are happy to, you can just post the name of the website.

Ron1e said:

**** We don't need magazine reviews for folks to salivate over and we don't need a massive advertising budget - the cost of which is loaded onto the product - All we ask is your acceptance of our offer to try these amplifiers in your own system, your own time and with your own music - all without risk to you should you decide otherwise. ****

                                                   ******************************************

This is from his website.

Are you saying  these descriptions only apply to the goods if they are bought on-line? and not in store?

I would say it only applies to online if it says it only applies to online, if dealing with a big company there would be a bunch of terms and conditions to set out exactly what is what, smaller traders might over look the finer details meaning their offering is more than hoped, a look at the website itself would probably be best.  

twopenny

Reading the advert I wouldn't have gone near him.
We don't need reviews makes me suspicious. The word salivate shows ignorance of others opinion. And no advertising? Sounds reasonable but only if you have faith in your product, not financial.

Sounds like he's keeping his head down for some reason. I guess you found that reason.

I doubt he'd sue you. It would cost, it would be his word against yours.
Do you have a screenshot of the advert?
Any t&c, further description on his page?