Child car seat bought from John Lewis in August 2022

mazzg48

Hello,

I bought a £300 John Lewis car seat for my grandchild in August 2022 with a 2 year guarantee. This car seat is for a child for up to 12 years old.

Just before Christmas 2024, I took the covers off to clean to notice that the headrest behind ( made of polystyrene) had split where the bolts are and the seat belts at the top had frayed vertically downwards.

I contacted JL by email and sent pictures.

The email said they had contacted the manufacturer who are John Lewis and they have advised they cannot assist nor do they have any parts they can send out to resolve this matter.

I escalated my complaint to a manager.

A manager emailed yesterday evening saying that they had reviewed my case thoroughly but I was out of warranty and they are unable to take this matter any further. As a side note I bought this particular car seat as my daughter in law recommended it.  However, they also had problems with the straps but their seat was in warranty and were offered a refund. This does make me wonder if there is a particular issue with this car seat as it has now been discontinued.

I will be responding to this email quoting my consumer rights once again.  I would like to end my email that if I do not hear from them within 24 hours with a satisfactory resolution that I would like the name and address to whom I should address my small claims to.

Would this be the right steps to take? Should I wait for a reply and then dependent on what their response is then send a letter before Action?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

After 6 months from delivery burden of proof does shift to yourself, if you can find someone who has knowledge in car seats who will put something on paper to say the seat isn't sufficiently durable you can push JL for a replacement (or a repair but that probably doesn't apply to a product like this), if they refuse you'd be exercising the final right to reject, again as longer than 6 months they can reduce the refund to account for use, typically JL seem to use 6 years for lifespan based on posts here, you might be able to argue for longer depending upon the age range the seat is suitable for (I'm not sure what age an up to 12 would start at). 

mazzg48

Just an update on this issue. We sent a Letter before Action to the Secretary at JL head office. This was not acknowledged. Out of courtesy, I emailed to say that I had sent this letter to Head Office and just got what I assume is a standard response.... if pursuing a legal route please contact the following....... 

We took out a small claims summons costing £35. 

Result - I got a call yesterday from JL to say that they would issue me a refund of the seat as well as the cost of the summons.:)

ripplyuk

Excellent news, OP. Well done for following through on it. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Good result, and helpful for others to see that sometimes the threat of court action is enough to generate a fair response.

Grumpy_chap

But is it a good result?
Or were JL just paying "go away" money because the cost for them is higher to defend than to pay £335?

Aylesbury_Duck

Grumpy_chap said:

But is it a good result?
Or were JL just paying "go away" money because the cost for them is higher to defend than to pay £335?

I'd say getting a full refund for something used for over two years is a good outcome.  Does it matter what JL's motivation was?

Okell

Grumpy_chap said:

But is it a good result?
Or were JL just paying "go away" money because the cost for them is higher to defend than to pay £335?

But the OP's claim was presumably for £335 (£300 original cost plus £35 fee) in the first place?

I'd hardly call settling for the full amount of the claim a "go away" gesture...

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I think it's both, good result for OP, go away money from JL.

Perhaps too much to defend, perhaps avoiding a media report about JL being sued for a dodgy car seat is priceless, who knows? 

Thanks for updating us OP  

mazzg48

JL customer services said they were refunding the cost of the car seat and the court fee in good faith! They wanted to see proof that I had cancelled the claim which I sent them. Back and forth emails ensued as the Finance department did not know how to refund me the court fee if it was not in gift vouchers which I refused. I emailed today saying that I had cancelled the claim in good faith even though I had not received the money back yet. I asked if they wanted me to take out another claim for the £35 or whether I should write to the CEO. Shortly after this the Finance department called and refunded the monies to another card.

Now to find somewhere other than JL to buy a new car seat for the grandchild.