Do the Distance Selling Regs Apply? Restocking Charge.

Kev1958

I order a plumbing part via the phone quoting the Boiler make and year. The company got the part from the boiler manufacturer and I picked it up in person from their outlet. The part was a new version that did not fit without an additional plug. The engineer fitted an old part thus we did not need the new part. The supplier has deducted a 25% restocking charge as the manufacturer charges the supplier this.

So.. can I rely on the distance selling regs? Can I argue that the part for not fit for purpose in the alternative? TIA for any info.

DullGreyGuy

DSR was replaced with the Consumer Contracts Regulations. 

When did you pay? When you ordered it on the phone or when you went to collect it? That will determine if it's a distant contract or not. If you paid in store then CCR doesn't apply as you had the chance to inspect it before paying. 

Assuming CCR does apply a simple "restocking fee" isn't allowed however, as long as they have followed all the rules they can charge for "excessive handling" effectively if you've inspected it in a way you wouldn't have been able to in store and now they cannot resell it as brand new. 

What their supplier charges them is between them and their supplier and nothing to do with you. 

Kev1958

DullGreyGuy said:

DSR was replaced with the Consumer Contracts Regulations. 

When did you pay? When you ordered it on the phone or when you went to collect it? That will determine if it's a distant contract or not. If you paid in store then CCR doesn't apply as you had the chance to inspect it before paying. 

Assuming CCR does apply a simple "restocking fee" isn't allowed however, as long as they have followed all the rules they can charge for "excessive handling" effectively if you've inspected it in a way you wouldn't have been able to in store and now they cannot resell it as brand new. 

What their supplier charges them is between them and their supplier and nothing to do with you. 

I paid over the phone when ordering.My daughter picked it up for me. It wasn't until the Good Friday that we realised we needed an different lead/plug for it to fit. The firm was shut as where most others. We had no water or heating so the engineer came to the rescue with the old version. Not sure what the excessive handling charges are other than Firebird boilers are charging them the 25% fee and the'yre passing it on to me. I found the CCR but appears it's not up to date. I'll phone tomorrow then email a letter relying on CCR. The boiler is nothing but greif and I resent letting them have £60. Thanks

Okell

Kev1958 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

DSR was replaced with the Consumer Contracts Regulations. 

When did you pay? When you ordered it on the phone or when you went to collect it? That will determine if it's a distant contract or not. If you paid in store then CCR doesn't apply as you had the chance to inspect it before paying. 

Assuming CCR does apply a simple "restocking fee" isn't allowed however, as long as they have followed all the rules they can charge for "excessive handling" effectively if you've inspected it in a way you wouldn't have been able to in store and now they cannot resell it as brand new. 

What their supplier charges them is between them and their supplier and nothing to do with you. 

 ... I found the CCR but appears it's not up to date...

What do you mean not up to date?  It's here:  The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (legislation.gov.uk)

Assuming you are a consumer and you bought and paid for it over the 'phone, you can cancel the purchase within 14 of delivery and you then have 14 more days to return it.

What did you actually tell them when you said you wanted to return it for a refund?  Did you say you were cancelling under the CCRs?

Is it possible that you bought from a company that usually only sells to the trade and they are not aware you are a consumer?  Have you explained that you are a consumer?

And no, they can't charge a restocking fee.

DullGreyGuy

Kev1958 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

DSR was replaced with the Consumer Contracts Regulations. 

When did you pay? When you ordered it on the phone or when you went to collect it? That will determine if it's a distant contract or not. If you paid in store then CCR doesn't apply as you had the chance to inspect it before paying. 

Assuming CCR does apply a simple "restocking fee" isn't allowed however, as long as they have followed all the rules they can charge for "excessive handling" effectively if you've inspected it in a way you wouldn't have been able to in store and now they cannot resell it as brand new. 

What their supplier charges them is between them and their supplier and nothing to do with you. 

I paid over the phone when ordering.My daughter picked it up for me. It wasn't until the Good Friday that we realised we needed a different lead/plug for it to fit. The firm was shut as where most others. We had no water or heating so the engineer came to the rescue with the old version. Not sure what the excessive handling charges are other than Firebird boilers are charging them the 25% fee and the'yre passing it on to me. I found the CCR but appears it's not up to date. I'll phone tomorrow then email a letter relying on CCR. The boiler is nothing but greif and I resent letting them have £60. Thanks

Accidentally pasted the Enacted version, just delete the /enacted from the end of the URL will give you the current version though from memory the quoted section hasn't changed since enactment. 

They aren't just passing on the 25% though are they... their supplier would have charged them 25% of the wholesale price so they aren't just trying to cover their costs but make a profit on it by charging you 25% of the retail price. 

Still isn't your problem though... excessive handling is like taking a computer out the box, creating user accounts on it etc and then returning it to the shop or ripping open the box, taking the shrink wrap off and then trying to return it, things you cannot do in a shop and which would prevent its resale at full price. Even then to be able to apply excess handling charges they need to have followed a series of steps to the letter and most dont.  

Kev1958

I returned the item in person today and got a partial refund on the basis I would speak to head office tomorrow. I was arguing with three of them. Mentioned the DSR and "the law" generally. Didn't make it clear I was buying as a consumer. I'll confirm it tomorrow. Good point re the 25% fee. The legislation looks like the latest version: address ends in "/contents". No indication that public can't buy and they never asked. Nothing on website. Thanks both for your help.

Okell

But when did you take delivery of the item? Was it no more than14 days before you told them you wanted to return the item, and when you told them that did you also explain you were exercising your right to cancel a distance contract under the CCRs?

Kev1958

Okell said:

But when did you take delivery of the item? Was it no more than14 days before you told them you wanted to return the item, and when you told them that did you also explain you were exercising your right to cancel a distance contract under the CCRs?

I'm within the 14 day period we picked it up Wednesday before last. Is it essential that I quote the CCRs? Is that a requirement set out in the legislation? I mentioned DSRs in general.

DullGreyGuy

The old legislation was the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 that were abbreviated to DSR in most cases. The new legislation that replaced it was The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 which gets abbreviated to CCR - we all love a TLA. The CCR contains the regulations specific to distance sales.

You never need to quote legislation, personally having done over a decade of customer service my view is split. Some argue that quoting legislation shows you know what your rights are and so shouldn't be taken as a fool. The counter argument, and one of the reason I hate the template letters from here, is that many dont know/understand what they are talking about and make mistakes etc so look a bit foolish and "demanding your rights" is rarely going to result in a gesture of goodwill if you are mistaken and actually you dont have rights. 

It does go both ways a bit though... as a customer service manager I had a fair amount of authority to make decisions and I'd like to think a reasonable grasp of the law so dont get intimidated by people quoting law and can point out, for example, the DSR ceased in 2013. A person in the first week of their first job etc may get more flustered by someone appearing to quote law. 

Kev1958

Does anyone know what this means or relates to?

"6 Limits of Application (2) These Regulations do not apply to contracts—

(c)concluded for the use of one single connection, by telephone, internet or fax, established by a consumer;"

DullGreyGuy

This would be like when buying a service over the phone were you pay for the service and receive the service all in the same phone call... like paying a tracing service to advise you who was on the electoral register at a certain property on a certain date where they can tell you the answer in the same call as you requested the information.