My partner ordered some branded USB drives (credit card style) from a reputable printing company. She has used them before for other products, and to be honest, the quality has always been reasonable. However, the quality of these USB drives is terrible. The 'printing' bit is ok, but the base product is awful. They look really cheap and nasty. The material has a poor finish and there is a small gap where the USB section swivels around. Also the USB section doesn't fit snugly into the rest of the card when closed, which means the printed image is not lined up correctly. We would like a refund if possible. A replacement would be ok if the quality were right, but I suspect this is a standard base product that they use and that any replacement would have the same defects. I spoke with them on the phone, and they have requested photos, which I am sending now. But I didn't get the impression a refund would be a likely option. And as mentioned, I'm not sure a replacement would be adequate. I'm not sure what our rights are here. The goods were ordered online (which would normally allow a return period after inspection). But I have read that normal rights are not applicable when ordering 'customised' goods. Nevertheless, the Sale of Goods Act does state that the quality of any goods must be satisfactory. Can anybody offer some advice as to the best way to proceed?

I put a £900 deposit down on a dress in October 2016 with a small wedding dress shop. I signed a contract that said that it is not possible to have a refund of the deposit. It was ordered and when the dress arrived in March, I went into store to try it on. It had loose threads and rows of beading falling off the front of the dress (costing £1700 in total). The store assistant apologized and said that it was not good. I left the store and the dress in their care and said that we would try and sort something out. I had to leave and I did not take photos. A family member and the store assistant witnessed the poor quality. I decided afterwards that it was not good enough and I just wanted a refund as time was ticking on the wedding and I was worried that it would fall apart on the day. They offered to sort it out which I rejected due to inconvenience. I sent them an email and then an official letter quoting the consumer goods act, how they had breached the contract and that the store assistant had already agreed that it was unsatisfactory quality. The owner is continuously saying that it is satisfactory quality and the manufacturer has offered to have a professional adjudicator prove this. They have said that I am not entitled to have my deposit back. I am concerned that they have fixed the dress since I went and that this adjudicator would not be impartial. What can I do next? I feel that the matter has been handled unprofessionally but we are arguing about what is satisfactory quality. For the price of the dress, I would have expected it to be perfect but it really was not good enough and I am a reasonable person. I work away so its really hard for me to get back to the shop to sort anything out. What can I do?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/16/scrap-diesel-cars-for-cash-says-influential-committee-chairman This looks interesting. It looks like it might be means tested, but Theresa May has taken into consideration that Tony Blair's government pushed diesel vehicles -

Hi all, This is on behalf of a friend who got married just over a year ago and has had really bad experience from her photographer. The photographer himself / company was a recommendation and all the usual steps were taken in vetting him and his team, seeing is work, talking to a few others etc before the contracts were signed. On the day, he was really unprofessional demanding extra money or his departure nearing the end due to the wedding getting a little delayed - not something a bride wants to hear on the her big day. In contrast, my own wedding with another photographer stayed almost 5 hours after the event for free! It was later found out he was also very loud and shouting to guests in trying to get photographs etc. Fast forward to last Jan, the bride received her first draft of pictures. According to the contract, she had a year to vet them and so in November 2015, they were vetted only to find a huge section of the event was missing. This included all the lunch/dinner photos but more importantly, all the group shots with the bride and groom (50+ images minimum here). What was more distressing is her father in law had passed away soon after the wedding and these images would have been the last ones to have been captured. Despite it being within a year, the photographer tried to use this as an excuse that he no longer has the originals and would not be able to get them back - Something just not done by a good photographer - most keep all their photos as part of their portfolio! He then offered a £100 refund out of "goodwill" His actual response was as follows: I have managed to locate the master back up images in finalised JPG format and I have reviewed and taken on board your comments in respect of the missing group shots. Having looked through everything I hold, I have come to the realisation that there are approx 50-60 group images missing. Unfortunately I am unsure why/when or how these are missing, whether they have been deleted after the completion or when original transferring the images from my camera onto desktop. "Due to the above and complying with my terms of contract, I can agree that I am happy to compensate you the pro-rata fee for the missing images as you have requested. In accordance to the fees paid, the pro-rated compensation is £42.63 however I am happy to round this up to £100.00 as a gesture of goodwill. Breakdown of the £42.65 is £4450.00 fees paid for 5219 pictures handed over x 50 missing images = £42.63" A letter was sent back demanding an explanation on 1. how so many images were "lost" 2. As a professional photographer, surely he would have noticed in the 6 months+ of vetting/sorting, that such as major part of the wedding was missed out? 3. Apparently "some" images mysteriously re-appeared during the back and forth of emails and messages - how? With a concluding line that a part so called goodwill gesture refund is not enough if anything - it does not reflect his integrity at all. His response was simply: We were surprised by the complaint raised considering the images were provided to you approximately 10 months ago and to date you had given no indication of your dissatisfaction. As a result of our services over 5000 images were provided to you which covered the entire occasion. We have looked into and considered your various points raised and I must advise our original offer of £100.00 in respect of the missing images remains. For the reasons set out above we feel that we have performed our contract with you in the terms set out therein and we therefore consider this matter finalised. To enable us to make payment to you please arrange for supporting bank account to be forwarded so that we can arrange an immediate bank transfer to you. So where do they stand? I think they've accepted the photos and memories are lost forever and it was never about the money itself. But now that he has accepted that the photos are lost - why should they not go for a higher amount? Or are they contractually bound by the amount stated? I see two parts - the service was not delivered as per what was discussed and signed off despite the clause that missing images would = x * £x.xx Thanks in advance!

Friends have been raving about Lidl for ages, but I've yet to bite the bullet. What is the quality of the meat and fish like? I know it's cheap, but is it cheap for a reason? Not sure where they source stuff from. Any thoughts anyone?

Hi all, We bought a Homebase Kitchen in 2011, which comes with a ten year warranty. We had it fitted professionally while having other building work done, and it quickly began to deteriorate. The kitchen was a shaker style with (what appears to be) doors wrapped in vinyl and a plate rack with painted components. The paint on the plate rack was the first to cause problems - flaking off in large chunks until the whole wooden section was exposed. We also noticed on a few of the doors had started to split across the top edging causing the vinyl to crack, and on an open-fronted unit the paint had started to chip off in large quantities. After much toing and froing (including escalating the complaint to Homebase's director department), we had an assessor visit to check our complaint and they agreed to replace the faulty components (this was then a two year old kitchen). Several items were out of stock and it took approximately two months for the units to be delivered. However, we eventually got the parts and had them replaced, and closed the complaint (with a minor compensation from Homebase). 18 months later, we're now seeing some of the same components fail - particularly the plate rack. I realise I can start a new complaint, have the same component replaced again as I am within my ten year warranty, but at what point can I say this kitchen (or at least several components of it), are not fit for purpose and take the complaint higher? I shouldn't have to replace parts on a bi-annual basis, and I am well aware that as soon as my ten year warranty is over, Homebase are entitled to wash their hands of my problem leaving me with a tatty kitchen I'll have to replace immediately. Thanks for any advice

I have read other posts here regarding DFS and we have problems on our DFS sofa and armchair also, they were under 12 months when this was first noted and we reported it to DFS who sent their surveyor around and he told us it needs to go via a insurance claim with the policy we took out with DFS and that we needed to do it ourselves as he could not get involved under the data protection act, he also said the cause should be explained to the insurance company as human bodily fluids. I spoke with a girl in the DFS office who said that the peeling would be dealt with by the insurance company and the sofa repair would be rejected as a defect but not to worry as DFS will address that but in the meantime to add both to the insurance claim, obviously I am not happy with something that is clearly not up to standard, I purchased this model as it was sold as a thicker better quality leather (Supreme model) and was shown the difference on swatches in the store so did not mind paying the extra as my previous sofa lasted 16 years including shipping it to Turkey for our villa and having sweat etc from the heat and not a single problem with peeling or colour fading, so why after several months this is being put down to bodily fluid and not a manufacturing defect is a joke. I have informed the insurance company I am not happy with the claim and they are sending their own assesor to double check. No doubt this will rumble on but interested to hear you are having the same issues and by the looks of photo exact same quality and colour issue! Will update when I know what is going on but will take it to court if need to as these are not cheap sofas and never heard of pigment colouring before nor was it mentioned of course when selling the item, purely about the superiour quality leather!

We have recently purchased 2 bathroom suites from Bathstore for our house. Afterlooking at other suppliers, we opted to choose Bathstore because of the qualityof products on show in their showroom and the Bathstore "promises"they have posted around the store and on their website (a selection of whichcan be seen below). Both the main bathroom and the en-suite bathrooms were fitted by professional tradesmen who had previously worked on other projectsaround our home. The shower screen in the en-suite bathroom was fitted with a new bi-folddoor but it will not open or close correctly without an unreasonable amount offorce. The door closes with a loud bang, not the sort of noise one likes tohear from large panels of glass. Once inside the shower unit, the door needs tobe opened, again with excessive force using the fitted handle which is already becoming loose after just 3weeks of use. We contacted Bathstore to inform them of this issue and we wereimmediately told that people from the store were not insured to come and assessthe situation. Eventually, they did send out a senior member of staff (a guycalled John who incidentally designed and created the order for the bathrooms) and anewly promoted store manager. We arranged the tradesman who fitted thebathrooms to attend this inspection so that he could answer any questions thatBathstore may have regarding the installation. John said at the time of the inspection that there didn't appear to beany issues regarding the installation and he had no questions for the fitter. He alsochecked, several times that the enclosure opening where the screen is fitted waswide enough to meet the technical specification of 850mm. He thoroughlyinspected the door from the outside and from within the shower enclosure anddid agree with us that the door was very tight and he hadn’t seen one operate like thatbefore. It was suggested to him that he had opened and closed the doors morethan 40 times during this inspection and that the bi-fold door was not becomingany easier to open/close during use. John said he would contact the technicalteam to discuss this issue and get back to us. The response from Bathstore Technical was that the door was “within the technical specification”,which we strongly dispute. We were told that we had two choices neither ofwhich are acceptable in the circumstances: 1, Replacement of exactly the same panel but, WE WOULD HAVE TO TAKE THERISK of it not fitting correctly again and no further remediation would beoffered by Bathstore if this was the case. 2.An alternative fully hinged opening door, however, this is not anoption. A large opening door isn't feasible in such a small room. Atlas Bi-Fold Door Bathstore Technical Spec: Adjustment range (mm) 850-900 recess ActualShower enclosure opening 851mm - This is within the technical specification We are obviously very disappointed not just with the bathroom beingincomplete but Bathstore seemingly going against all the 'Promises' they makein store and on their websites about wanting the customer to be happy and satisfied. A full refundof £369.27 has been requested by email to the store manager and this has now been refused. We paid for all the Bathstore products with Credit Card Can anyone please advise next steps in achieving our objective of a fullrefund from Bathstore for the shower screen. Quotes from Bathstore Showroom and/orWebsite: · "With172 stores nationwide, we are on your doorstep and ready to help you achieveyour dream bathroom. We offer a personalised, face-to-face service which meanswe are with you every step of the way, from inspiration to installation andbeyond." · "Wewill only be happy if you’re happy" · "Serviceby design is our promise to help make your dream bathroom easy, from design toinstallation and beyond". · "Ourstore teams are trained to offer the best service possible and we follow up onevery installation to make sure you're completely satisfied." · "Wewant you to have complete peace of mind before, during, and long after you’vechosen Bathstore." · "Bathroomsthat stay perfect, guaranteed." · "AllBathstore products are engineered & manufactured to exactingstandards" · "Relax.You're in expert hands."

Hi All I wanted to get some feedback from people as i feel like i want to take action against Volkswagen. My mum purchased an ex demo car from Shepherds Volkswagen in Bishops Stortford (now managed by the Vindis franchise). It came with a three your warranty and the car has literally just passed it's warranty by about eight months. In the last few months the car paintwork is bubbling. Back panels, side panels, roof etc. VW have acknowledged this is a problem and offered to contribute half of the repair bill. They have also acknowledged through their dealers that "something was done to the car" (ie it was resprayed) before they sold it to my mum. They have even offered to discount a new car in acknowledgement that it is poorly done. My question is that if the work is that poor and job was done by a dealer then surely they should put this right fully? Who buys a car where the paint bubbles, fractures and peels away within four years? No one! And why do people buy Volkwwagens - because they are allegedly well built and manufactured. I've done a lot of reading online and this seems to be a known poor quality area for VW. I am so angry that my mum has purchased a car from a reputable manufacturer, thinking it will last her and now they know it's a problem, only want to cover half of it. Please can you let me know any thoughts on how i can get this sorted or take it further. Nick

hi I have a front door fix by safe style they call it composite door , the quality and fitted not very good, can any one can help me , who can I ask to certified the quality of the door please when I order I have asked for a good strong, safety composite door, I have been supply with they call it guard door with bare wood show on top and bottom door, a 3 point standard lock and a very thin upvc frame

I bought a new set of hairextensions at the weekend which are labelled as 100% human hair, I’d got themhome and opened them ready to put in my hair but my fingers kept getting caughtin them and they felt very non-human hair like. I held them up next to my 2year old, washed, heat styled and dyed hair extensions and the new ones seemedto really not feel like human hair. I was already on my third set of extensionsso I’ve had experience with quality sets and these are the worst I’ve ever had.I called the next day after I had spotted on the receipt that it says norefunds or exchanges to explain that I really wasn’t happy about the quality andwanted to have my money back as there was no chance I would put these in myhair as I didn’t trust them not to singe if I tried to style them. I wasadvised to bring them in but it’s not likely they would do anything. While I was in the store I wastold if they’re opened I could not return them and she would straighten them toprove that they are 100% human hair. She then took a more expensive set off ofthe shelf to compare and I said that they were nicer but if the original setthat I had bought were human hair, then they would both feel the same and shejust said they were treated differently. I continued to explain that I stillwasn’t happy, I wouldn’t wear them as the quality is not right and I’d alreadypaid twice what I normally do. She then called the manager who continued totell her she could not refund them as they were opened. She told me thatanother customer would not be happy to own them as they look pre-worn as theywere not tied into the packaging, and that basically I should bear that inmind. I said that I am still a customer whether I have paid or would beconsidering paying and should I still leave unhappy because they are worriedabout a future customer, and then I was told to sell them on e-bay. I was not told at the point ofpurchase that they were non-refundable or exchangeable which is something Ithought was supposed to happen anyway which is why I had planned to take themback, when I said this to her she said it does say it on the receipt...whichshe had put in the bag and not in my hand. Am I within my rights to return theseextensions and get a full refund? I will never wear them; they are still in theoriginal packaging (the purchase and call were within 24 hours of each other)and there is no way I will get the full amount back selling them on e-baywithout someone else making me liable for selling hair which I don’t believe isthe correct standard!

If I had any luck it would be bad! Here we go again. I have just taken delivery of a brand new Aquarium from an online retailer. Upon delivery i removed the outer packaging to ensure there was no glass breakage before allowing the driver to leave and signing for the package as being received 'in good condition' Now the package itself was too very large boxes upon a pallet, which the driver removed from said pallet in order to remove the boxes individually from the wagon. My colleague from work had to help me to lift the boxes off the wagon and into my house. My first question is with regard to the delivery and/or collection of a faulty item. Is it my responsibility to help load/unload when the packaging is clearly labelled as "over 25kg 2 man lift"? Secondly, upon further unpacking and inspection, a number of quality issues became apparent. 1) The black vinyl backing on the rear glass has a piece of white backing paper left on it meaning there is a white 'patch' showing inside the tank. 2) The underside of the tank surround which overhangs the cabinet has paint scuffed off. 3) The bottom left corner of this overhang has a paint run. 4) There is evidence of filler in the mitred joint of the top pelmet which has not been sufficiently covered with paint. 5) There is a small gap/split in the face of the mitred joint in same corner. 6) There is a small chip in the cabinet door PRIOR to painting. 7) There is evidence of masking tape glue all round the adjustable feet as a result they are a dirty cream colour instead of white. I have emailed the store to tell them the quality is shocking and I want a full refund and for them to collect the faulty goods. QUESTIONS: Am I right to claim under Section 14 of SOGA subsection 2 and 2A? Is it up to them to ensure 2 guys come to collect it as my friend and I might not be available and what if we dropped it! Surely they should send 2 guys for a large package? Its even too heavy for my girlfriend to help me lift back into the conservatory where we left the packaging after my friend and I placed it in the living room before fully inspecting it! Any advice appreciated please? Trying to upload pics from PC but keep getting message "this is not a valid image file" despite the thumbnails showing in my image folder??? How do I upload from photobucket??

hi all, beware of ikeas gloss kitchens. we brought one six months ago and all the door and draw fronts can be easily scratched with a lightly applied finger nail! it seems to effect all their gloss range sometimes the scratches can be difficult to see they can look like cobwebs across the surface. if you have one take a front off some where it wont matter and lightly move your finger nail across the surface and if its anything like ours it will easily scratch. our friends have a grey gloss kitchen that they brought from ikea 3 years ago and it is as hard as nails. the quality has certainly dropped since then, theirs has a finish that wraps around the surface and has an orange peel type effect to all the doors, draws, plinths and side panels and is brilliant quality. we only have this orange peel effect on the plinths and side panels which do not scratch and very much fit for purpose. we have complained and complained and we have been made to feel its our fault! we believe they know the qaulity has slipped and are trying to cover it up so it does not become a hugh issue for them!