Faulty goods - ** REFUND OBTAINED **

[wendy-su loi]

Hi everyone,

 

I have this week bought a matress, reduced price. It was a memeory foam one.

The sticker on the box said 'non returnable' and 'sold as seen' and 'factory fault'.

It did not specify what the factory fault was...Well without being able to unroll the compacted matress take it out of its box and inspect it in the store - I bought it.

 

Then when I got it home, first it was not kingsize as stated, but worse than that it had a huge hump across the middle of it,

it had not gone down in two days, have had a weight on it to try it, and looks like it will not do either,

obviously there is no way on earth that a person can sleep on it, so it is not fit for purpose I would have thought?

 

I contacted my local council trading standards who have said 'you bought it knowing it had a fault it was marked as such

and you don't have a leg to stand on, and the local cab who have now partnered up with them have said the same,

adding a helpful "sorry"...oh and paying 50p per minute for the privilege of speaking to them too, each ...

 

Matress - surely this cannot be right?

what I have been told?

that i am stuck with it?

 

to my mind,

 

1. it is not fit for purpose,

2. sold as seen - but you are unable to inspect it as it is compressed into a box and rolled up tightly.

 

How do I stand on this one it doesn't seem right what I have been told here at all.... and can ill afford to lose this money...

[steampowered]

The relevant section of SOGA provides that, for the defect to be taken into account, it must be specifically drawn to the buyer's attention. See s14 (2C) (a) at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54/section/14. Therefore the question is whether the notice adequately disclosed the fault.

 

If the mattress was boxed and you were not allowed to examine then the defect was not "specifically" drawn to your attention. However, if you were allowed to examine it, then the notice should have prompted you to take a look. Did you ask the store whether you could unroll the mattress?

 

Why don't you try speaking to the manager or writing to the store. A fair resolution would be to return the mattress in exchange for credit against another item.

[raydetinu]

Speak to the store and find out what they say; As SOGA states the fault must be made known to you! so you can make an informed decision. ( perhaps you should of asked! )

[wendy-su loi]

Thanks for replies,

I had assumed it must have been a minor fault like a flaw in the material pattern or suchlike, not something that it is

- (a huge hump preventing it being used,) but thanks for replies and I will go and ask them on monday,

 

and state SOGA relevant section because it was not made clear 'specifically' what the fault was.

 

I would have a credit note to the value - that wouldnt be a problem at all...

[wendy-su loi]

Oh by the way it was one of them stack em high sell em cheap stores with no room to get it out, and inspect it, then also not in its compressed state it would not have gone in the car - probably why they are compressed to get them home easier...a bit tricky isnt it...

[wendy-su loi]

Aha! - I'm pleased to say that with help, today, I managed to roll it up into a large bag it came in, and its box, get it back to the shop, with the receipt, I politely and calmly told them exactly what the fault was and at first the young assistant said "no you can't fetch it back -it says on the sticker", then I said "yes, but it is not fit for its purpose," told her of the large hump in it, i showed her a printout of the SOGA section 14 - (many thanks to steampowered for this very helpful info)- then she called the manager, who shouted at her to move it immediately out of the gangway as he was sick of them all coming back and said that the store should never have accepted them to sell in the first place in his opinion, I showed him the printout of the SOGA as well and he agreed, I said that I didn't even mind a credit note as I shop there rather a lot, but he said "no you can have a refund., not a problem" So, I was pleasantly suprised. I will be shopping there again and was pleased with their service. However I was disappointed at the unhelpful response from the trading standards dept who should have known about section 14 of SOGA and so should have CAB - then again I have never had any meaningful/helpful response from either in the past come to think of it...I shall continue to come on here as it is far superior advice, many thanks for the invaluable help., am really happy with the result.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

That does sound like a result, well done you and well done to SP. Thank you for updating us, I'll change your thread title.

 

My best, HB

[steampowered]

Well done!!!

 

Thank you for updating us. Bringing a print-out of the relevant bit of SOGA into the store is a brilliant idea, I will suggest this to other people with similar problems.