Supplier will not accpet reurns of circuit boards

Alderbank

Okell said:

Wizzlon said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Wizzlon said:

I use a Champion milling machine supplied by Chester Machine Tools. When this failed I was advised that I needed to order a replacement controller board. I fitted this and it did not work. On contacting the company i was told to contact one of their engineers who suggested that it was not the circuit board but the motor at fault. On inspecting the motor, this does indeed appear to be the issue(broken brush). I then contacted the company to order a brush and arrange return of the controller, my position being that I had been incorrectly advised. I was told that they were not allowed under UK law to accept the return as it was an electronic component. There was no mention of this caveat on the proforma invoice I was sent and there is no mention in their published terms and conditions.  Are they correct in refusing the return?

The reference to "not allowed under UK law" seems to be made up.  You ask them to clarify exactly which legislation applies.

Is this a business purchase?  If so, consumer rights do not apply.

Typical exemptions to right of return for consumer rights would be bespoke item, hygiene reasons, copyright (CDs etc).

You can also see why a manufacturer might not want to accept a return of the PCB.  Firstly, they have no way of knowing whether the board was "fried" during the installation / test, particularly if it needed soldering into place, or pins bent, or shorted somewhere because of greasy hands and poor handling, etc.  Lots of ways to invisibly damage a PCB.  Secondly (largely because of the "invisible damage" aspect), it would be easy for the unscrupulous to return the original failed board instead of the new board.

Thanks for the input- it was a private purchase. Also, the board is a plug in rather than solder.  As you suggested, I will ask them to clarify what legislation they are workig with

Okell said:

If it's these people you might want to point out to them that their T&Cs are not compliant with the law.

Terms & Conditions | Chester Machine Tools

1.  They seem to be unaware of the existence of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and keep referring to the Sale of Goods Act 1979.

2.  They also fail to mention your cancellation rights under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

3.  I suppose they are also in breach of The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

 Remember that SoGA does still apply to B2B contracts. 

MyRealNameToo said:

Looking at their website it seems they are setup for B2B, not sure how many people have CNC machines for hobbies etc. Similarly all prices are listed excluding VAT

I think it's those people but not that particular website. That website deals with B2B sales of large expensive tools to the manufacturing trade.

The OP says they bought a Champion milling machine. Chester Machine Tools only sell those hobbyist tools from their hobby site https://www.chesterhobbystore.com/terms-conditions/ so it is much more likely that the OP used this consumer website.
Prices there include VAT as well as all the expected consumer T&Cs relating to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

Undervalued

MyRealNameToo said:

Okell said:

Wizzlon said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Wizzlon said:

I use a Champion milling machine supplied by Chester Machine Tools. When this failed I was advised that I needed to order a replacement controller board. I fitted this and it did not work. On contacting the company i was told to contact one of their engineers who suggested that it was not the circuit board but the motor at fault. On inspecting the motor, this does indeed appear to be the issue(broken brush). I then contacted the company to order a brush and arrange return of the controller, my position being that I had been incorrectly advised. I was told that they were not allowed under UK law to accept the return as it was an electronic component. There was no mention of this caveat on the proforma invoice I was sent and there is no mention in their published terms and conditions.  Are they correct in refusing the return?

The reference to "not allowed under UK law" seems to be made up.  You ask them to clarify exactly which legislation applies.

Is this a business purchase?  If so, consumer rights do not apply.

Typical exemptions to right of return for consumer rights would be bespoke item, hygiene reasons, copyright (CDs etc).

You can also see why a manufacturer might not want to accept a return of the PCB.  Firstly, they have no way of knowing whether the board was "fried" during the installation / test, particularly if it needed soldering into place, or pins bent, or shorted somewhere because of greasy hands and poor handling, etc.  Lots of ways to invisibly damage a PCB.  Secondly (largely because of the "invisible damage" aspect), it would be easy for the unscrupulous to return the original failed board instead of the new board.

Thanks for the input- it was a private purchase. Also, the board is a plug in rather than solder.  As you suggested, I will ask them to clarify what legislation they are workig with

If it's these people you might want to point out to them that their T&Cs are not compliant with the law.

Terms & Conditions | Chester Machine Tools

1.  They seem to be unaware of the existence of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and keep referring to the Sale of Goods Act 1979.

2.  They also fail to mention your cancellation rights under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

3.  I suppose they are also in breach of The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Remember that SoGA does still apply to B2B contracts. 

Looking at their website it seems they are setup for B2B, not sure how many people have CNC machines for hobbies etc. Similarly all prices are listed excluding VAT

Some certainly do.

It is a bit like very high end cameras etc. Years ago I remember the manager of a "professional" photographic dealer telling me that he sold at least three Hasselblad cameras to amateurs for every one he sold to a professional photographer. 

I think they advertised themselves as being a "professional only" dealer but in practice didn't actually police that. How much that would have helped them in court arguing that all sales were B to B I don't know.