Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
I purchased some fitness equipment off the internet last week, which i paid express delivery to receive next day.
When assembled product was found to be faulty,
I contacted their CS department, who said we can take it away, have a look at it, check that it is faulty and then send you a new one once we confirm its faulty !!! (Duh it doesnt work !), but wouldnt confirm any timescales.
I replied with 2 options, one to give me a full refund, or 2 , for a swap in/out situation where they deliver a new/ take the old on the same day !
In their wisdom the company concerned, (who will only remain nameless until i get my money back !), said they couldnt replace on the spot as it was against company policy, and they needed to check the old one first, or give me a full refund.
As they cant replace, and by now the CS department getting somewhat sarcastic, they tell me they will give me a full refund, but wont committ to how long it will take.
So my question is this how long do they have to refund my money for supplying product that was not fit for purpose/ faulty ??? My concern is that this was quite a costly purchase, certainly my biggest internet purchase by a country mile !! , and i need the money to go buy an alternative.
Also it is worth bearing in mind that i had to take a day off work to receive delivery, and now im going to have to take another day off to wait for them to collect it !
You are rejecting the goods as faulty, which is your statutory right. The sad reality is that they have your money and that they could muck you around for a while if they really wanted to. If you want to go on the offensive, you would have to give them a month before initiating court proceedings, so realistically, you are at their mercy for now.
I would e-mail them back and ask that goods be collected within 7 days and refund initiated ASAP, but tbh, if they do it more slowly, nothing much you can do.
Apologies to people who I was in the process of helping, I may be gone some time.
darn cowboys, well once i get my money im going to be posting a few reviews about all their internet companies around the web !
Their policy says upto 30 days for a refund, and they are coming to collect tomorrow. Jumped up jack&$$ in CS, after asking me where i kept my diary cos i couldnt make an instant decision about the collection, said its doesnt normally take that long, but quickly backtracked after i had arranged the collection.
Im more p`d off about my time, day off to recieve it/ day off to send it back, etc....
Still l will let you all know just which group of companies are involved once i have my money ! In the meantime my advice (harsh lesson) is to look up any company (and in particular its parent company), thata you are going to proceed with an internet purchase from, and do some proper research.
Having now read the things i have about one of their companies i wouldnt have bothered !
One more thing though, on their site all they show is great reviews for their products. Now i have sent a poor review, and i know of others that have, but none of these are shown. Surely if they ask for reviews, they have to show a true cross section, not just the good ones, or it is false advertising ?
Well known ploy. On review sites such as Ciao, any negative review often gets very quickly countermanded by glowing mouthpiece review. :-|
It's their site, no, they don't have to post the negative reviews if they don't want to. It's like when you read the back of a book, with glorious quotes, or a movie, they're not going to post the likes of "complete turkey" "I fell asleep at page 23" and others, are they?
Apologies to people who I was in the process of helping, I may be gone some time.
You could of course cancel under the distance selling regs which does not even require an excuse, and because the return is due to breach of implied terms, they cannot charge you for the return. Report this seller to consumer direct - they obviously not au fai (spellcheck please!) with legislation.
Still, the timescale for a refund for something returned under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations is "as soon as possible", or in any event, "within 30 days" as well, if I remember correctly.
Hopefully i have reached a conclusion, and refund will be paid pretty quick.
That said afer seeking advice yesterday i was advised that it actually illegal for a company to demand goods received as faulty, or for that matter orders cancelled under the distance regulations, be returned before a refund is instigated.
Or in other words the company must start refund proceedings regardless of whether the product has been returned. They can then seek to charge if the product isnt returned ! This is a point that i had not found anywhere, but when i mentioned it to the company concerned they backtracked, and agreed that it was illegal to make refund conditional !
Quite right - the refund isn't tied to the return of the goods.
You have a duty to restore them to the supplier/retailer - depending on exactly what was specified in the T&C, that may mean you have to package them up and send them back, or may just mean you have to make them available for collection.
I went through exactly this with a big retailer. I received my refund (well outside the 30 days), but due to their total uselessness (and me sticking to my guns) they still don't have their product back, almost 9 months after it was delivered to me. As I made every effort to restore it to them (in good faith) they ended up losing legal title to it, and have now backed off...
As to the last two posts, it is worth mentioning that the effort must be made in all earnest. Where the contract permits it, a charge may be made but IF the return is due to breach of contract those conditions do not apply.
I ahve been in the same situation with marked goods that I rejected (and got refund for) and the seller simply could not be bothered picking the items up despite my doing everything except taking it myself. Three months later they ended up in a charity shop. Guilt free!
Ah you see my company were trying the return it , and then we will sort out the refund once its boooked back in line.
In fact even the email i have from them now suggests the same thing....
"Contact me once the item has been collected, and ill try to speed up our accounts dept"
Having looked through many company polocies they all list this as polcy, how come if its not allowed !!?
If you think of the normal transaction timeline... you PAY for the goods before you RECEIVE them... so the retailer simply reverse this. You RETURN the goods and they issue a REFUND.
In fairness, most people are happy with this situation, and in the majority of circumstances, so am I.
But when faced with (and it is usually gadgets, computers etc) a company who likes to openly flout the rules, and tries to charge restocking fees for cancelled orders (even those cancelled under the CP (DS) Regs) or otherwise drags its feet, directs you to the manufacturer, or shirks its responsibilities - I will try and make them stick closer to the way the law requires them to act.
The SOGA rules which apply to normal transactions, or those where the product has been accepted and kept beyond 7 days are different - but within 7 days of an internet order arriving, you are absolutely safeguarded, subject to certain limitations and exceptions.
Why do they do it? Because normally they can get away with it, and in fairness if everyone played silly buggers and cancelled orders left right and centre, prices would rise and retailers would have all sorts of problems... but as it stands, the law favours the consumer and retailers will get a swift kick up the backside if they choose not to comply.
Internet purchase - faulty goods !
, and i need the money to go buy an alternative.
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Originally Posted by patdavies
