Purchased online, collected in store, box opened at home.

DullGreyGuy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

littlemoney said:

Jenni_D said:

Did you pay online or pay on collection?

I paid online.

Thanks OP, does Currys have 2 in store collection services? Terms seem to state:

I've aways assumed so as the "reserve and collect" says you pay in store whereas if you try to buy something on their website to be collected from a store it asks for payment online. 

Did once before ask their live chat agents but they were none the wiser and claimed not to know of the "reserve and collect" service as laid out in their terms and said the website is "click and reserve" only where you pay online before going to the store to collect. 

littlemoney

Thank you all for your comments. I had naively thought I could open the box and inspect as I had purchased it unseen. I hadn't understood my right to reject only existed if I looked at the box and didn't like it.

My understanding of the headline rights regarding online purchases was wrong and when you buy online you are buying "a pig in a poke" with no opportunity to access if is suitable for my needs. I now appreciate how online retailers can increase sales by customers having to buy more than once to get the product they actually need. A con.

Expensive lesson learnt.

DullGreyGuy

littlemoney said:

Thank you all for your comments. I had naively thought I could open the box and inspect as I had purchased it unseen. I hadn't understood my right to reject only existed if I looked at the box and didn't like it.

My understanding of the headline rights regarding online purchases was wrong and when you buy online you are buying "a pig in a poke" with no opportunity to access if is suitable for my needs. I now appreciate how online retailers can increase sales by customers having to buy more than once to get the product they actually need. A con.

Expensive lesson learnt.

If you had been in the shop and they didnt have one on display would you have opened the box in the same way? Certainly my expectation would be that if I broke the seals of a box without their permission in store that they would likely demand that I pay for it if they caught me. It would certainly be preferable to it being considered criminal damage which is the normal consequence of damaging someone else's property intentionally. 

Buying online gives you more rights than buying in store. Had you bought it in store you'd have no statutory rights to return it even if you hadn't opened it whereas online you do.

It being a "con" in most cases is a fairly baseless claim, I'd argue there are likely many more consumers out there using the additional rights to con businesses than the other way around... seen many posts on here suggesting switching faulty items for newly ordered replacements, wearing garments for an event then returning them as unwanted etc. In my first job in telesales had many customers who asked if the 6 pack that are mixed white and black come in black (or white) only, which we tell them no, and oddly they order 2 packs, then return one as faulty as they only had white items. 

The general principle, allegedly as never read Hansards to see the discussions in Parliament, around laws on distance selling is to give consumers the same right of inspection as if they had been in store to purchase. Most implementations go much further than this because companies do accept returns that have been "inspected" much more thoroughly than would be possible in a shop. 

Grumpy_chap

DullGreyGuy said:

If you had been in the shop and they didnt have one on display would you have opened the box in the same way? 

A very pertinent question as this is backed up by the rules:
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-contracts-regulations-ajWHC8m21cAk

"A deduction can be made if the value of the goods has been reduced as a result of you handling the goods more than was necessary.

The extent to which you can handle the goods is the same as it would be if you were assessing them in a shop."

I suppose the difference is, in a shop, there may well be one display model available to touch and feel...

Ergates

Grumpy_chap said:

DullGreyGuy said:

If you had been in the shop and they didnt have one on display would you have opened the box in the same way? 

I suppose the difference is, in a shop, there may well be one display model available to touch and feel...

And if there isn't, you can ask a staff member to open a box for you