Costco lifetime shed

kokolino23

Hello,

We bought a lifetime shed from Costco in March this year and the gas struts have failed, seems to be a common problem with this product.

Costco said it's nothing to do with them and advised us to contact the manufacturer. The're a US company, we sent an email to their customer service department but nobody replied.

Any idea what else can we do, please?

Thanks

eskbanker

As the retailer, it's Costco who are legally responsible here, so reject their assertion that it's nothing to do with them and advise them of their obligations under the Consumer Rights Act (repair/replace/refund) - within six months of purchase a fault is deemed to have been present at the time of sale unless they can show otherwise…

marlot

Costco normally have an excellent after sales reputation. When I had a problem with a costco lifetime shed, they flew a spare part in from the USA for me (it was a model not sold by Lifetime in the UK/Europe).

I spoke with their central customer services team rather than in store, if that helps.

THis was ~4 years ago. I guess their policy could have changed.

Alderbank

Did you make it clear that this was a consumer purchase? Many of Costco's sales are to traders.

What outcome are you seeking? Costco are usually very good at taking goods back for a refund, but I assume that's not what you want. Having erected and filled your shed I assume you are just seeking replacement gas struts and that is why they have referred you to the US manufacturer.

In your position I would see if I could buy the same or close enough struts here in the UK (Amazon is usually my first port of call). If you can, then ask Costco for a partial refund. In my experience they will do that.

The Consumer Rights Act says that you can ask them to send someone round to carry out the repair but I don't think they will be willing to do that. I think they will just offer a refund, discounted for use, when you return the entire shed.

Edited to add:

You would be looking for something like this:

kokolino23

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82106785#Comment_82106785

Thanks for your reply. We're not looking for a refund, we need the shed and we like it as well, it's very useful to us. The gas struts came out on both sides, other customers reported the same issue on the product reviews on their website. The end is built of plastic and there's a metal clip to keep them in place when pushed against the ball. I've had a look on Amazon (and other places) but I can't find the right size. According to the stores selling gas struts, we need to measure them centre-to-centre of the end of the end fittings when fully extended. I've this and they're 435mm. I need to know the force as well, on the original part it's printed 47# which is the equivalent of 209N. I just can't find a replacement to match these. TBH, I'd rather buy a good replacement with metal ends than getting the same ones from lifetime because it will be just a matter of time until they'll fail again.

kokolino23

I've attached a picture of the faulty ones.

kokolino23

Oops, I don't know how I can figure out what size should be the end as well because if I buy the wrong ones, won't fit into the existing ball socket, I presume they're 10mm but I don't have a tool to measure them.

kokolino23

As an example, I found these

https://amzn.eu/d/0gYxQLB0

but they don't have any 435mm and I'm not sure if 450mm are too big. Same for the ball socket, they have to be compatible with the existing ball joints already fitted on the shed.

Grumpy_chap

Those struts in the photo look as though they'd pop back on.

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82107176#Comment_82107176

OP have you tried to pop them back into the ball joint (not sure of terminology) ?

The 1st pic of them one of the parts looks a twisted or not straight.

Is it or is it just the look in the photo?

tedted

Sgs engineering make struts among other things and are very good at that