Advice needed re "Sold as Seen"

[rudekid48]

To the tune of Runaround Sue.....

Here's my story, sad but true,
about some jeans, coloured blue,
got a bargain, or so i thought,
now a lesson, I've been taught....

Ahem, sorry about that, can anyone offer any advice on the following...

My partner bought a brand new pair of jeans from Jane Norman. They were ofered with a 10% discount as there was a slight stain on the leg which the assistant said should wash off. So in a sense they were "sold as seen". However, when the jeans were washed, the stain got worse/bigger. Further investigation (turning them inside out) revealed that it was not in fact a stain at all, but a red ink stamp on the inside of the leg that had ben applied by the manufacturers. My partner took the jeans back and pointed this out, she saw thw same assistant who had sold her them. The assistant agred that had they known that the stamp was there, they would not have offered them for sale, but because we had accepted the 10% discount it was tough! After a bit of debate, she agreed to send the jeans off to their customer service people to see if they would allow a refund. Guess what? No joy.

Do we have (pardon the pun) a leg to stand on here or are we doomed because we accepted the 10% discount?

Please help.....

[blitz]

You are not entitled to claim for any fault you knew was there. However if the sales assistant did say it would wash out then you would be entitled to a refund.
Just plainly accepting money off doesn't limit rights or mean you accepted it "sold as seen", unless it was marked up as such or made clear before purchasing.

[gyzmo]

Any fault with an item must be pointed out - it is not enough simply to say "seconds" or "slight damage". where something is pointed out, you have no right to return the item for that actual fault.
the assistant did point out the fault to you, but did not state what the fault actually was. You are not returning it because of a stain - you are returning it because of something else that was not pointed out to you. As such, you will be entitled to a refund.

as blitz said, the discount means bugger all.

I would call consumer direct for this to be reported - could be a Trade description offence (or possibly an offence under the Fraud Act) (be warned though that if there is no criminal offence, Trading Standards will only advise - they do not usually take action on civil cases).

[rudekid48]

Thanks for the advice folks......

[blitz]

I swear I had a longer reply then that, anyways gyzmo said most of it.
Take "Sold as Seen" literally you have brought it in the condition you can clearly see, however this doesn't mean you waver any rights in returning it for any hidden faults not seen or pointed out.