returning dud goods (uk) - not apple stuff

[dale.albiston]

having fun and games at present with a certain uk retailer refusing to refund a sat nav thats 'quirky' at best...

apparently according to one store "its got software in it, so you can't return it". which made trading standards laugh. another store said it could take upto 8 weeks for the manufacturer to 'verfiy' it has a defect before they will refund it. Head office say upto six weeks.

soooo..

tonight I'll video the damn thing not working just in case they 'find no fault' during a bench test.

working in an industry where equipment can be found 'NFF' several times before its actually diagnosed correctly, and that this has an intermittent fault I can see where this will end up.

amazing. its less than two weeks old, has never worked right, and the retailer is giving the run around.

Well i figure if I can prove it doesn't work as advertised I should be ok, eventually.

as for the manufacturer..

"Its based on pocket PC, so it will crash, you have to accept this"
"the radio data function isn't fully supported yet"
"you need to update the firmware online" (no home internet link)

basically excuse after excuse as to why this little box doesn't do what its meant to.

faults to date:

1, power switch failing to turn unit on, requiring hard reset with a paperclip (around 50% of the time) - its doen this in the shop, which got the response "they are all like that"

2, RDS traffic information - unit will not lock onto a signal, except for about 1 mile of my trip - rendering it pointless

3, Bluetooth link to my phone very poor often dropping calls

4, data link to server frequently results in "could not connect to ***-***-plus sever" errors and a nice red screen.

essentially its a leamon, I've heard good things about the unit generally, but the customer service from the manufacturer is terrible and the retailer is basically washing their hands of it.

never had this trouble with pure software, or anything computer related before.

Its the attitude that "its like that just accept it" thats irked me.

can see this ending up with trading standards, on the plus side I've recorded most of the calls, and will soon have video of the unit not working.

ggrrrrrr.

 

[SpookTheHamster]

I'm assuming you're talking about Halfords. I used to work there, our store would offer refunds on dead sat nav units if they were under two weeks old, but the general company policy is to send it to TomTom/Garmin/Mio/whoever and do what they say.

Anway, go to a store and complain. If they don't do anything, keep calling customer services repeatedly about the store, eventually the people there will get so fed up with you that they'll tell the store to refund you.

 

[eluk]

You should have thrown it back at them and told them to put it in the shade.

 

[Markleshark]

I always find writing to Ann Robinson and having them on the tele helps.

If its faulty your right as a consumer is to either have a replacement or a refund, but it is up to the store which one they give you.

 

[dale.albiston]

I always find writing to Ann Robinson and having them on the tele helps.

If its faulty your right as a consumer is to either have a replacement or a refund, but it is up to the store which one they give you.

actually a customer can reject goods for a refund or can instead request a repair or replacement, the store can offer any, but its up to the customer with defective goods.

for a repair or replacement the store has the liability to prove the item *wasn't* faulty and worked as it should, for a refund the customer has to show a defect.

note that for defective items the store may also be liable for consequential losses as a result of using the defective item.

specifically the goods must:
- corrispond with the description (i.e. it must be what the box says it is)
- be of satisfactory quality - this is part of my complaint
- be fit for the purpose - this is the rest of my complaint.

I specifically informed a certain store, you guessed right btw. that i required a bluetooth link to my phone for handsfree and the rds traffic features, neither of which work correctly.

interestingly reading various forums i find i'm not alone with the rds problem, and not alone with the manufacturers less than helpful attitude.

hence my attempts to reject as not fit for purpose and obtain a refund.

I think badgering the head office may help, or going back when they are busy in the store and making a fuss (has worked before). I'll be taking a copy of the sale of goods act with me.

 

[RedTomato]

Yes, deffo go at a busy time, make a big fuss, and make sure other customers hear you. Also bringing the sales act with you will help.

I think the BBC website has a short description of your rights under the law when returning stuff. I'd print that out and bring it too, as shop assistants may struggle to understand the wording of the law, but may be more willing to accept what the BBC 'says'.

I had a similar experience when I tried to return some clothes that didn't fit my partner. They had big signs up saying 'no refunds'.

I just stood there (after reading up on the BBC website) saying "I'm returning these item, I have the receipt here, please return my money, no I don't want a replacement or voucher, please give me my money back. "

This shop had only one counter, so a line of about 20 shoppers quickly built up behind me. They pointed to the sign, I told them it was illegal. They asked me to leave or they'd ring the police. I said fine, and offered them my phone to ring the police with.

Eventually I got my money back but it took a bit of guts.

Always be polite but insistent. If you swear, you've lost instantly - they can use that as a reason to chuck you out or get you arrested.

 

[dale.albiston]

Yes, deffo go at a busy time, make a big fuss, and make sure other customers hear you. Also bringing the sales act with you will help.

I think the BBC website has a short description of your rights under the law when returning stuff. I'd print that out and bring it too, as shop assistants may struggle to understand the wording of the law, but may be more willing to accept what the BBC 'says'.

I had a similar experience when I tried to return some clothes that didn't fit my partner. They had big signs up saying 'no refunds'.

I just stood there (after reading up on the BBC website) saying "I'm returning these item, I have the receipt here, please return my money, no I don't want a replacement or voucher, please give me my money back. "

This shop had only one counter, so a line of about 20 shoppers quickly built up behind me. They pointed to the sign, I told them it was illegal. They asked me to leave or they'd ring the police. I said fine, and offered them my phone to ring the police with.

Eventually I got my money back but it took a bit of guts.

Always be polite but insistent. If you swear, you've lost instantly - they can use that as a reason to chuck you out or get you arrested.

oh i know about being polite, its not the actual fault of the drone usually, its company policy. basically if you accept 'no refunds' and walk out.. well they haven't lost.

busy is awkward at the mo, since i can't get to the shop before half 6. but it won't be too hard to try the abingdon store on a saturday afternoon in a week or so

amazing how you can have all the 'rights' be no one appears to have a duty to make sure you actually get them, its getting daft when you need a copy of the law just to go shopping.

*sigh*

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Update

Managed to get a full refund, I get the feeling they were not too happy over this, but credit where credit is due, they *did* refund it. nice to see defective products can actually be replaced. Still not too sure why this had to involve a call to the manufacturer though, since my contract isn't with them. but problem solved.