Query re rights when buying a refirbished appliance

banker75

Hi all

A couple of months ago we purchased a refurbished air conditioning unit from an online retailer.

Unfortunately there was a fault with the item, and we arranged for it to be collected for repair. After several (sometimes very hot!) weeks with no update we were eventually told that the fault had been identified and the unot would be repaired. We were offered the option of a full refund or to choose another unit from their existing stock, with any price difference to be paid by us/refunded by them.

We couldn't find anything else suitable and said that we would prefer to just receive the original item back once repaired. We have now been advised that that is not possible, as although the unit has now been repaired it has not been returned to stock, so they are unable to send it back to us.

This all feels a bit off to me - surely the item belongs to us so there shouldn't be any need for it to be returned into their stock at all before being sent back.

Is there anything we can do other than suck it up and take the refund? This isn't our preference as, as you can imagine, reasonably priced ac units aren't so readily available at the moment.

Thanks in advance!

Alderbank

First, who is the 'we' who did the purchasing?

If it's a business then they are entitled to whatever is stated in the B2B contract of sale with the seller.

If 'we' is actually an individual and was buying in a personal capacity then they have rights in consumer law. If, as here, the seller concludes that they can't complete the repair satisfactorily then the seller must offer a similar replacement, a contribution towards a more expensive unit or a refund.

Replacement of a refurbished unit is unlikely. The seller's monetary contribution to either of the other two options is a matter for negotiation between the two parties.

How much did the now failed unit cost?