Undersold Electric Heaters

Rob2kewl

eskbanker said:

Rob2kewl said:

I did say "I need 2x 3m square for the bedrooms and 1x 5m square for the Living Room  (2x500w and 1x 2000w)" in an email to customer service pre-purchase.

But I thought your case was that they'd told you which ones you needed for your requirement?

Yes, the site says "500w, suitable for rooms up to 5m square" etc

I went by that guide.

Rob2kewl

Alderbank said:

If that is all they have told you and you want to return the radiators, tell them that you are cancelling the contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and see what they have to say.

It sounds like this online heating specialist site is aimed at the trade and does not expect retail customers. That does not affect your statutory rights though.

They have one site for trade, one for retail. I'll give that a go, thanks.

eskbanker

Rob2kewl said:

eskbanker said:

Rob2kewl said:

I did say "I need 2x 3m square for the bedrooms and 1x 5m square for the Living Room  (2x500w and 1x 2000w)" in an email to customer service pre-purchase.

But I thought your case was that they'd told you which ones you needed for your requirement?

The website said 500w is suitable for up to 5m square, which is why I mentioned that to them.

Which product did you buy?  They seem to use 'up to 5m2' (usually expressed as 5 square metres) rather than 'up to 5 metres square' (aka 25 square metres) in their filtering options....

Rob2kewl

eskbanker said:

Rob2kewl said:

eskbanker said:

Rob2kewl said:

I did say "I need 2x 3m square for the bedrooms and 1x 5m square for the Living Room  (2x500w and 1x 2000w)" in an email to customer service pre-purchase.

But I thought your case was that they'd told you which ones you needed for your requirement?

The website said 500w is suitable for up to 5m square, which is why I mentioned that to them.

Which product did you buy?  They seem to use 'up to 5m2' (usually expressed as 5 square metres) rather than 'up to 5 metres square' (aka 25 square metres) in their filtering options....

https://www.electricradiatorsdirect.co.uk/ecostrad-iq-plus-electric-panel-heater-500w/

user1977

Rob2kewl said:

eskbanker said:

Rob2kewl said:

eskbanker said:

Rob2kewl said:

I bought 4 electric heaters from an online heating specialist site. I bought them based on the wattage for the suggested room sizes they listed for the heaters I purchased on the website.

My bedrooms are roughly 3m square and they said they (500w) are said to be suitable for up to 5m square.

They are not suitable and I've been very cold. An email from them today said I should have bought 1000w at least and they "recommend sourcing supplementary heating for these spaces.".

To what extent can you demonstrate that their advice differs pre- and post-sale?  Is there a website that we can look at?

Last time I posted a link I got banned for advertising

It's hardly advertising to name the company in this scenario - you're not forced to but it obviously compromises anyone's ability to offer specific guidance, beyond 'you need to be able to demonstrate that their advice differs pre- and post-sale', if you're asking for advice about how to construct a misselling claim.

I did say "I need 2x 3m square for the bedrooms and 1x 5m square for the Living Room  (2x500w and 1x 2000w)" in an email to customer service pre-purchase.

I think you need somebody else to check your sums before you buy anything else. Their website is talking about square metres, not "metres squared". 3 square metres is about the size of a double bed. 3 metres squared (i.e. 3 metres on each side of the room) would be 9 square metres in area.

Rob2kewl

user1977 said:

Rob2kewl said:

eskbanker said:

Rob2kewl said:

eskbanker said:

Rob2kewl said:

I bought 4 electric heaters from an online heating specialist site. I bought them based on the wattage for the suggested room sizes they listed for the heaters I purchased on the website.

My bedrooms are roughly 3m square and they said they (500w) are said to be suitable for up to 5m square.

They are not suitable and I've been very cold. An email from them today said I should have bought 1000w at least and they "recommend sourcing supplementary heating for these spaces.".

To what extent can you demonstrate that their advice differs pre- and post-sale?  Is there a website that we can look at?

Last time I posted a link I got banned for advertising

It's hardly advertising to name the company in this scenario - you're not forced to but it obviously compromises anyone's ability to offer specific guidance, beyond 'you need to be able to demonstrate that their advice differs pre- and post-sale', if you're asking for advice about how to construct a misselling claim.

I did say "I need 2x 3m square for the bedrooms and 1x 5m square for the Living Room  (2x500w and 1x 2000w)" in an email to customer service pre-purchase.

I think you need somebody else to check your sums before you buy anything else. Their website is talking about square metres, not "metres squared". 3 square metres is about the size of a double bed. 3 metres squared (i.e. 3 metres on each side of the room) would be 9 square metres in area.

Please drop the sarcasm

Okell

@Rob2kewl -  before going back to the seller can you answer a few questions...

1.  Is the website linked to by @littleboo the correct one?

2.  How did you arrive at 500W?   That website allows you to respond to different questions to determine what size radiator you want.  eg room length; room width; north or south facing; level of insulation; geographical location.  Did you answer the questions correctly?

3.  If you answered the questions correctly, why are the sellers now saying it should have been 1000W?

4.  Have you incurred instalation costs?  Will there be costs incurred to remove them


In my opinion, if the website allows you to work out what wattage radiator you need, and you put the correct information in, but the website produces the wrong wattage answer, then the seller is in breach of s10 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015  -  basically, where a consumer makes it known to the seller before entering into a contract that the goods are for a particular pupose (ie to heat up a room with particular characteristics) then the goods must be fit for that purpose.

If you are within 30 days of purchase you can reject for a full refund of all costs.  If after 30 days the seller must repair or replace.


[Edit:  Are you sure your rooms are only 3m square?  Admittedly I live in an old house but 3m x 3m sounds like a rabbit hutch..]

Alderbank

Thanks for sharing the name of the company.

Their T&Cs in section 10 (If you are a consumer, you have the right to cancel your order...) regarding cancelling the contract under the CCR regs all seem compliant (I note they allow 30 days after delivery to cancel) except for the clause they have added in s10.2 (you can notify us of your decision to cancel your order and receive a refund, provided the Product has not been used or damaged by you and is in pristine condition) which seems to attempt to limit or remove your statutory rights.

https://www.electricradiatorsdirect.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/

Just for clarity, how many days have elapsed since you received the heaters and what would you like the final outcome to be?

Rob2kewl

Okell said:

[Edit:  Are you sure your rooms are only 3m square?  Admittedly I live in an old house but 3m x 3m sounds like a rabbit hutch..]

Yeah, that's the problem. I didn't know meters square and square metres, I'll just have to fork out the £700 and hope I can offload these I have in the second-hand market somehow.

Thanks

Still think their refund policy is awful. 

savergrant

Rob2kewl said:

Okell said:

[Edit:  Are you sure your rooms are only 3m square?  Admittedly I live in an old house but 3m x 3m sounds like a rabbit hutch..]

Yeah, that's the problem. I didn't know meters square and square metres, I'll just have to fork out the £700 and hope I can offload these I have in the second-hand market somehow.

Thanks

Still think their refund policy is awful. 

3 square metres means a room 3m x 1m or 2m x 1.5m. The implication is that the rooms you want to heat are 3m x 3m, which is 9 square metres, written as 9m2. What are the actual dimensions of the rooms (and what information did you provide to them for them to recommend these heaters?)