Ongoing dispute with Collectible Company

Needadviceplez

My son bought a gift for himself of a Transformer collectible it was expensive, £214.90 as a treat after a difficult year. The item arrived and he carefully took it out it's packaging to reveal it was broken, the head should light up and it didn't. He then upon examination realised that he couldn't access the batteries as the actual compartment that stored them was broken. He got back in touch with the 3rd party provider/seller, Kapow Toys and was told they could do nothing for him even though it was well within the first 28 days of sale. They said he had to contact Three Zero the manufacturer. He did this but they kept telling him to post the head of the figure back to them in China. My son checked the shipping legislation and you can't ship batteries abroad unless in their original packaging. He told them this and that he would have to significantly damage the item to remove it's head. They just kept telling him to ship it back. At this point he tried going back to Kapow Toys who said they would now try and contact Three Zero themselves, on his behalf, something they had previously said they wouldn't do. Again he waited and after two weeks of hearing nothing he approached Paypal to help. They have ruled in Kapow Toy's favour as they said it was over the initial 28 days. Needless to say, after over 3 months of trying to sort this out, my son has had enough. What can we do? Any help would be really appreciated.

Woodstok2000

Kapow state this on their website:

"Threezero

 offers a great warranty service: any replacements/parts will need to be handled directly with Threezero. As such we are unable to offer refunds or replacements on Threezero products."

However that does not comply with UK consumers rights legislation - his contract is with kapow and so legally they are responsible.

Therefore your son needs to deal with Kapow as the retailer. He had 14 days to reject the item outright regardless of reason for an online sale, but as it was broken on arrival they must either repair/replace or refund the item.

Regardless of the time that has passed now, he informed them of the issue within 28 days and so the clock has effectively stopped.

Get Your son to contact Kapow and state that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, his contract is with them and they must remedy the damaged item. He must state he is rejecting the item and that he wants a replacement or refund as appropriate.

Get their response in writing. If they won't comply, advise them you will be contacting trading standards and initiating a small claims track.

Then escalate to your bank/card provider (they're unlikely to help if its PayPal but its worth a try). Also go to trading standards and report the company, and prepare a letter before action for small claims.

EDIT TO ADD:

They do seem to respond on trustpilot, so if they won't help you, also try leaving negative reviews on there, Google, yelp etc.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81920311#Comment_81920311

Technically, rejecting the goods gives him a refund. You can obviously choose to buy another one with the refund but the vendor could chose to refuse to sell you one. Parties can always agree to do things outside of your strict rights but it's always worth understanding the situation properly.

Personally would go back to them and try to unmuddy the water and remind them that you exercised your short term right of rejection with them as the merchant under the Consumer Rights Act. That you will return it to wherever they want at their expense and are awaiting the full refund due.

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6659322/ongoing-dispute-with-collectible-company

Is the seller the one based at Dereham in Norfolk?

And how did your son pay? Hopefully by credit card or debit card.

Your son needs to go back to Kapow and tell them that he was exercising his short term 30 day right to reject for a full refund under s22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

He should also point out to Kapow that he is not required to go to the manufacturer for a remedy but that they (Kapow) are legally obliged to pay him a full refund.

Kapow also need to pay the return costs.

It's all in the legislation linked to above. He needs to quote it to Kapow