First time rejecting faulty goods

Stuckupahill

Hi

I'm about to reject some faulty goods bought online but have a few quick queries if someone could help please:

Short version

If I took possession of an item on 16 March and found a part of it faulty am I still within the 30-day period to reject the goods today 14 April? I make it 30 days exactly.

Does it make any difference if I've emailed the retailer after 5pm today?

Who should pay to send the items back?

Long version

I bought a Formula 1 simulator set up for my son's birthday - which consists of a steering wheel, a base unit and pedals - total cost £715 including delivery - bought using a credit card.

The items were bought as a set from a UK retailer online on 10 March. They were delivered to the courier's depot on 13 March and I collected it from the depot on 16 March. I have an email confirming date of collection.

My son opened his present on 12 April (I'd bought it early because I was concerned about stock levels).

We've been unable to use it as there is some sort of software glitch and the base unit won't recognise the steering wheel - even though it's all made by the same manufacturer. I've since discovered it's a known fault with this particular wheel…some work, some don't.

The retailer has a "support" line which I called this morning and was advised to reinstall the software and then search online forums to find a fix. They didn't offer any other support saying. "We'll just look at forums too so you might as well cut out the middleman". Hardly inspiring.

They said if we couldn't get it working they would either send the wheel back to the manufacturer or replace if they had one in stock.

After spending hours browsing forums and trying various "fixes" mostly uninstalling and reinstalling software and trying different cables we've been unable to get it working.

It seems some wheels won't work with this base unit - even though they are advertised that the would - the retailer also told me it would work when I bought it.

I've also discovered that the wheel can still randomly fail during a race because of software issues. Having discovered this and talked to my son we'd rather just return the whole lot and try a different manufacturer.

I emailed the retailer this evening (after 5pm) telling them we were rejecting the goods as faulty as it's 30 days since I took possession of the items.

I suspect the retailer will simply tell me that only the wheel is faulty and offer repair/replacement.

As far as I can tell the base unit and pedals do work (though we've not been able to try them) but since the set up is useless without a wheel I haven't been able to confirm if they work or not.

Am I within my rights to reject all three items as faulty and have I left it too late to do so.

Any help appreciated

Thanks

Andy

A_Geordie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6664187/first-time-rejecting-faulty-goods

Day 1 of the 30 days starts from the later of the following:

(a) ownership or (in the case of a contract for the hire of goods, a hire-purchase agreement or a conditional sales contract) possession of the goods has been transferred to the consumer,

(b) the goods have been delivered, and

(c) where the contract requires the trader to install the goods or take other action to enable the consumer to use them, the trader has notified the consumer that the action has been taken.

In your case day 1 will be 17th March, not 16th and by my calculations makes it 15th April. The Consumer Rights Act simply says the "end of the 30 days" so there's no specific cut off time. I would treat that as meaning you have the right to reject by 23:59 on 16th April.

MattMattMattUK

Was it sold as a complete unit, or was it multiple separate items you purchased that can be used as a single unit? E.g. you bought pedals, wheel, frame and seat as separate components?

Stuckupahill

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81963377#Comment_81963377

Multiple separate items designed to be used as one unit.

All Fanatec products bought from same retailer at same time delivered in one box.

The Fanatec eco system is designed for users to customise the products they want.

In our case we chose the esports F1 wheel, ddpro base unit, ddpro pedals.

The wheel won't configure to the base unit - so it's impossible for me to know which bit is at fault - though I suspect it's the wheel looking at issues others have had.

Presumably the retailer will be able to confirm by trying a different wheel on the base.

But users report ongoing issues so I'd rather return the lot and go with a different manufacturer.

MattMattMattUK

What is the retailer's returns policy and did they send terms and conditions when you placed the order? The reason is you have 14 days for change of mind, if one item is faulty then that is a different process, they could reject the return of the other items as they are not faulty, only the wheel appears to be, so things are slightly complicated. Can you link to the retailer and the products, so we can see how they are listed (Id you added three items to the basket that is different to buying a listed package and "bundles" can be different again)?

Stuckupahill

Here's the retailers returns policy

https://simdemon.com/policies/refund-policy

This is the product website

https://simdemon.com/collections/fanatec

You can either buy the three items as a bundle or choose them individually and add to your basket. I chose the latter.

But I don't know which of the items is at fault. The retailer didn't specifically send terms and conditions when I ordered but they are on their website.

I'm way past the 14 day deadline but hoping I have some protection under the CRA 30-day rule.

The items are supposed to be used together as one entity - one cannot work without the other.

Can I reject all if I don't know what's at fault or am I at the mercy of the retailer to tell me?

Stuckupahill

Just to add to this...Sim Demon has just called and offered a full refund and paid for the return.

Full marks to Sim Demon - thank goodness for a decent retailer