Faulty Goods - return postage issue

[Estoril-5]

Bought a central heating programmer online for under £100, paid by credit card as always for all online purchases.

10 days in programmer displays a fault, no problem, call up, ask them to send a replacement, once I've fitted the new one and removed the faulty one I'll pop it in the post. Apparently they couldn't do that incase I didn't send the faulty one back (never done business with this company before) so felt quite insulted.

The only option was to purchase another one from them and get that delivered and then send the faulty one back. Not doing that after the insult. I requested a refund and they emailed me a returns form.

They then said we will have to send it back to the OEM and once they confirm its faulty, we will refund you, I knew this wasn't right but fed up of talking to the customer service person.

I bought a new controller from Wickes and returned the faulty one.

Surprisingly I checked my credit card statement yesterday and they had refunded me the amount, I called today and said there's the small amount of £4 return postage. I would normally bother for that small amount but the fact they insinuated I may not return the faulty one and wouldn't send a replacement I thought I'm going to pursue this!

After being passed around several people they basically said I will only get my £4 postage refunded once the OEM has confirmed it is faulty and that will take up to 6 weeks. I told them they've refunded me the cost of the programmer and they said that was a goodwill gesture. I told them its faulty and they said they need proof it was.

So I have to call back in 6 weeks and see where they are at.

The money doesn't matter to me, but their poor customer service and insistence that I may be a fraud is really infuriating. Hence I'm going to keep going to make a nuisance of myself, I have the time.

I have a feeling after 6 weeks they're going to say they haven't heard from the OEM and string me along or they're going to say it isn't faulty (but I have proof it was).

Any angles on how I can approach this rather than just calling up in 6 weeks?

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[David_D]

Have a read of this:


https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/#buyingfromhome



How long do I have to cancel?

• Goods: 14 calendar days from the day after you receive all goods in an order (unless it's for regular delivery such as a magazine subscription, when the first delivery counts). Once you've cancelled an order you then have a further 14 days to send the goods back.

Point is that you can return for no reason within the time limits stated so fault or otherwise is irrelevant.

[adrianw]

you could have bought it from a shop,

People buy online and then want the same service they would receive from a shop or local supplier.

[David_D]

you could have bought it from a shop,

People buy online and then want the same service they would receive from a shop or local supplier.

The OP is entitled to whatever the law entitles him to. If you buy online you are entitled to "no questions" refund within the time limits prescribed. It sounds as though the online seller might not be complying.

[solwisesteve]

You have the right to claim the postage for the returned item if it IS faulty.

Whether orders are made via the website or by telephone customers are covered under the Consumer Contracts Regulations which implement the Consumer Rights Directive in UK law which came into effect 13th June 2014. This regulation replaces the Distance Selling Regulations. They are also covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which replaces The Sale Of Goods Act, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations and the Supply of Goods and Services Act.

In summary:

Consumer Contracts Regulations
Customers should get a refund within 14 days of cancellation or 14 days of returning items. If they provide proof of postage the 14 days starts from then rather than when we receive the goods.
They should be refunded their postage for the initial order but the seller is not liable for refunding if they chose a priority delivery service. The seller does not have to refund their return post if the goods are not faulty.
The seller can levy a restocking charge if the value of the goods has been reduced due to them being handle excessively by the customer. By excessive this means any more than they would handle them in a shop.
If the goods are actually faulty or do not match our description their rights are the same as the Consumer Rights Act. This means the seller has to cover the returns postage.

Consumer Rights Act 2015
They are allowed 30 days to get a refund on a faulty, unfit for purpose, unsatisfactory quality or not as described item.
Fit for purpose - the goods should be fit for the purpose they are supplied for, as well as any specific purpose the customer makes known to the seller before they agree to buy the goods.
After 30 days customers have to give us us one opportunity to repair replace and item.
From 30 days to six months if the repair replace fails the customer has the right to reject further repair or replace and get a full refund. No re-stocking charge can be made in this instance.


btw I can understand the seller refusing to do advance RMA. You're probably (okay certainly!) a very honest person BUT you will be amazed (or not) just how many not so honest people there are out there that would never send the other item back and the seller is out of pocket. Further, just how many products come back where the problem has been the user NOT the product so the seller ends up with a second hand product to dispose of.

[demonloop]

I recently bought a torch from olight and they sent the wrong one.

Asked me to send the other one back and they'd send the correct one.

No offer was made to cover the postage costs, but I wasn't arsed about making a fuss.

£4 in the bigger scheme of things (principle or not) really doesn't matter

[solwisesteve]

No offer was made to cover the postage costs, but I wasn't arsed about making a fuss.

£4 in the bigger scheme of things (principle or not) really doesn't matter

Often the way... life's too short.

[Mick P]

The OP is entitled to whatever the law entitles him to. If you buy online you are entitled to "no questions" refund within the time limits prescribed. It sounds as though the online seller might not be complying.

My son had a similar problem and after getting nowhere he threatened to issue a writ under the small claims procedure. They then stomped up immediately.

What you often find is that big companies are good and the smaller ones are more argumentative.

[broxie]

programmer displays a fault, no problem, call up, ask them to send a replacement, once I've fitted the new one and removed the faulty one I'll pop it in the post. Apparently they couldn't do that incase I didn't send the faulty one back (never done business with this company before) so felt quite insulted

I have been doing major renovations on houses for the last twenty years. Occasionally something is faulty/wrong and some companies are better than others but generally I end up ordering another part for next day delivery, swap them over then send the faulty one back. Sometimes I get a postage page returns label, sometimes I don't. Life is too short to spend hours worrying about some postage in the same way I don't spend hours looking who sells something online for the cheapest then suffer with an small/unknown supplier.

My time is too valuable to waste.

[Estoril-5]

Point to note - I bought from an online supplier which was actually more expensive than Wickes, I didn't purchase because of the price point.

The company name insinuated it was part of the regulatory body, I don't want to mention names, imagine the company being called IEE supplies ltd, a company that sold electrical goods, a person may assume it was linked to the official IEE. That's what I thought with this company - thought I was trading with a recognised official body supplier.

That's my fault for assuming though, although they didn't deny people would assume they were the commerce side of the regulatory body.

Anyway I'm still going to pursue it, all it will take me is a few emails and maybe a phonecall.

£4 is nothing to me, although I'd rather give it to a charity or something rather than them keep hold of it.

P.s. it was about £18 cheaper from Wickes.

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[cbh]

Have a read of this:


https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/#buyingfromhome



How long do I have to cancel?

• Goods: 14 calendar days from the day after you receive all goods in an order (unless it's for regular delivery such as a magazine subscription, when the first delivery counts). Once you've cancelled an order you then have a further 14 days to send the goods back.

Point is that you can return for no reason within the time limits stated so fault or otherwise is irrelevant.

You can indeed, but you won't get the postage paid, which is the issue here.

[solwisesteve]

You can indeed, but you won't get the postage paid, which is the issue here.

Consumer Contracts Regulations
If the goods are actually faulty or do not match the sellers description their rights are the same as the Consumer Rights Act. This means the seller has to cover the returns postage.

[hafle]

Consumer Contracts Regulations
If the goods are actually faulty or do not match the sellers description their rights are the same as the Consumer Rights Act. This means the seller has to cover the returns postage.

Isn't that why the postage has yet to be refunded. Because the seller is still waiting to learn if the goods are faulty, and they'd therefore be required to refund the postage.

[cbh]

Consumer Contracts Regulations
If the goods are actually faulty or do not match the sellers description their rights are the same as the Consumer Rights Act. This means the seller has to cover the returns postage.

Sure, but the link was about the right to cancel the sale which is not the case here.

[stefmcd]

What was the name of the company?

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[Templogin]

£4 is a very cheap way to get loads of bad publicity.

A URL to their website is always effective.

[Harry Smith]

£4 is a very cheap way to get loads of bad publicity.

A URL to their website is always effective.

Most businesses these days have social media accounts. They also have Google accounts. It can be amazing how much they will do to avoid bad reviews. But keep it truthful or you could get in trouble. Just saying

[SydR]

It’s £4 and life is short making, certainly for me, my own time precious.

As it’s Christmas add a 0 to the end and give £40 to your charity of choice.

[solwisesteve]

Isn't that why the postage has yet to be refunded. Because the seller is still waiting to learn if the goods are faulty, and they'd therefore be required to refund the postage.

Yes... I thought the goods had already been returned and refunded but not return postage. It's getting complicated ;-)