L
longdogs
the box was opened and the plastic tape removed
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the box was opened and the plastic tape removed
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When you buy goods you are entitled to try them to make sure they work correctly and are fit for purpose. As long as you do it reasonably quickly, and you have reasonable grounds, you can reject the item and claim a full refund. It matters not whether you plug it in or not and B&Q can't just make up their own rules. Faulty goods are slightly different depending on how long you have had and used the goods.
To quote Martin Lewis...
This should be taught at school. Everyone should know their basic statutory rights for shopping - in other words, the rights you have by law which a shop can't change.
Know these and you can enforce fair treatment. It's so crucial you should actually memorise it. To help, our mnemonic is to call them your Sad Fart rights, as when you buy goods they must be...
Satisfactory quality
As
Described
Fit for purpose
And last a
Reasonable length of
Time
This applies even if you buy things in a sale or with a discount voucher. Frankly, every customer-facing member of staff should be taught these rules before they're allowed to work. Yet as they're not, we need to be polite and persistent in quoting the rights.
Form what I have seen of late, I am not sure how many of B&Q's products would pass the S
This should be taught at school. Everyone should know their basic statutory rights for shopping - in other words, the rights you have by law which a shop can't change.
Know these and you can enforce fair treatment. It's so crucial you should actually memorise it. To help, our mnemonic is to call them your Sad Fart rights, as when you buy goods they must be...
Satisfactory quality
As
Described
Fit for purpose
And last a
Reasonable length of
Time
This applies even if you buy things in a sale or with a discount voucher. Frankly, every customer-facing member of staff should be taught these rules before they're allowed to work. Yet as they're not, we need to be polite and persistent in quoting the rights.
Form what I have seen of late, I am not sure how many of B&Q's products would pass the S
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I couldn't agree more. However, when you are actually in-store and the staff (including their Managers) are in the "computer says no" mode, there is not much you can do.
I was lucky, probably because I had raised my voice a little whilst I educated them with my rights, and other Customers started to become interested in what was happening. Someone with less confidence in their rights would probably have walked away.
S
Sombrero
I bought 2 lots of solar powered twinkly garden lights from B&Q a couple of weeks ago. Wouldn't normally, but they were thirty five quid EACH (it was to impress a lady - don't ask!).
I put the solar panels on top of my garage during that last bit of summer we had a couple of weeks ago, for the 2 days the instructions said.
Put them up the day after and they were very nice... came on at 8pm and were still going strong when I went to bed..
However, over the next couple of days they weren't so good. After 3 days, one of them was flashing rapidly, but really dull, and the other one flash brightly and then wait 12 to 16 seconds before flashing again. Not impressed.
So I took them back - last weekend - and the woman checked the boxes had some wire things in, and gave me my seventy quid back without question.
I put the solar panels on top of my garage during that last bit of summer we had a couple of weeks ago, for the 2 days the instructions said.
Put them up the day after and they were very nice... came on at 8pm and were still going strong when I went to bed..
However, over the next couple of days they weren't so good. After 3 days, one of them was flashing rapidly, but really dull, and the other one flash brightly and then wait 12 to 16 seconds before flashing again. Not impressed.
So I took them back - last weekend - and the woman checked the boxes had some wire things in, and gave me my seventy quid back without question.
1100w is quite a low powered radiator so not surprised its heat output was low
would keep the chill off and not much else
your lucky they took it back as its a used item
My argument to them was that if it was working properly, it was not fit for purpose. The box said it was suitable to warm an area that was smaller than my box room. Whilst I accept "warm an area" is subjective, it didn't feel very warm in there to me despite leaving it on the max settings.
Quite frankly trev, you made a bad choice by buying oil filled radiator, and I would not say 1100watts is not sufficient to warm a medium size room, like the one I spend most of my time in is about 13 foot by 10 foot by 9 foot high keeps well warmed by using a 1Kw fan heater.
the problem with oil filled rads is they are slow, as they have large thermal inertia, and after you switch them off they will continue to provide heat for some time as the oil cools off, but the major disadvantage of them is that they work through convection, which means the heat goes straight up to ceiling and they radiate little heat sideways, hence you did not feel room warm up, this is why fan heaters are very effective, and you can direct heat towards where it is most needed.
However, if you look at your quote about the room size, you actually seemed to imply that the box said it was suitable to warm an area that was smaller than your box room. so that means you tried to heat a bigger room than a box sized room, so you cannot say it was not fit for the purpose.
May be they should have taken off between 10 to 20% off for restocking and rechecking all items sold correctly but returned as bought in error, as in your case it was your error of judgement about its power rating.
but thats my opinion.
Wahay, you need to start a new thread, something along the lines of...
Sombrero's twinkly lights and the Babes
It may just be a bit of a lottery based on who is behind the counter on the day, but is shouldn't work like that.
Trev, some people needs twinkly lights to impress others! at the expense of B&Q.
1100w is quite a low powered radiator so not surprised its heat output was low
would keep the chill off and not much else
your lucky they took it back as its a used item
My argument to them was that if it was working properly, it was not fit for purpose. The box said it was suitable to warm an area that was smaller than my box room. Whilst I accept "warm an area" is subjective, it didn't feel very warm in there to me despite leaving it on the max settings.
Quite frankly trev, you made a bad choice by buying oil filled radiator, and I would not say 1100watts is not sufficient to warm a medium size room, like the one I spend most of my time in is about 13 foot by 10 foot by 9 foot high keeps well warmed by using a 1Kw fan heater.
the problem with oil filled rads is they are slow, as they have large thermal inertia, and after you switch them off they will continue to provide heat for some time as the oil cools off, but the major disadvantage of them is that they work through convection, which means the heat goes straight up to ceiling and they radiate little heat sideways, hence you did not feel room warm up, this is why fan heaters are very effective, and you can direct heat towards where it is most needed.
However, if you look at your quote about the room size, you actually seemed to imply that the box said it was suitable to warm an area that was smaller than your box room. so that means you tried to heat a bigger room than a box sized room, so you cannot say it was not fit for the purpose.
May be they should have taken off between 10 to 20% off for restocking and rechecking all items sold correctly but returned as bought in error, as in your case it was your error of judgement about its power rating.
but thats my opinion.
In retrospect I have to agree that it was a bad choice, although there is some confusion with what you have written as the box specification was to heat a larger room than my box room. It was based on this point that I returned it them (i.e. the claim on the box was incorrect).
This thread is not really about my crap choice of radiator, it's to do with a new policy that they have introduced regarding testing anything electrical you return for whatever reason. As I have said in earlier postings, they were unable to tell me how the results of any test would affect me.
Let's say you buy a SDS drill from them. A week later whilst you are working on a job it keeps cutting out. You return the drill to them and they plug it in but it doesn't cut-out. What is the outcome, do they refuse to give you a refund?
Hopefully you can see the point I am trying to make.
S
Sombrero
Surely this is clear cut... you have the law, and then a shop's "policy". For example shops can't sell alcohol to under 18's, but they can say they only sell 2 boxes of paracetamol.
A shop could say they only sell baked beans on a Wednesday and if that's their policy you'd struggle to argue with that (unless you invoked your human rights !!).
As for returns, a simple google will give you your rights (you've done this, but this is for other readers). And as you say, a degree of confidence is also required, but you should get a decent outcome. Consumer law is there to protect you, not the shop.
A letter (or email) to head office with a bit of legal jargon should do the trick.
A lot depends on the amount of money being argued over.
A shop could say they only sell baked beans on a Wednesday and if that's their policy you'd struggle to argue with that (unless you invoked your human rights !!).
As for returns, a simple google will give you your rights (you've done this, but this is for other readers). And as you say, a degree of confidence is also required, but you should get a decent outcome. Consumer law is there to protect you, not the shop.
A letter (or email) to head office with a bit of legal jargon should do the trick.
A lot depends on the amount of money being argued over.
Have i got this right? the heater works, but the customer wishes he'd bought a more powerful one?
So we aren't talking "return of faulty goods," we're talking "customer bought the wrong thing"
What right do I have to take back my blue suit, after I've worn it, if I decide I'd prerfer a grey one?
So we aren't talking "return of faulty goods," we're talking "customer bought the wrong thing"
What right do I have to take back my blue suit, after I've worn it, if I decide I'd prerfer a grey one?
Yes you can. Tell them you intend to speak to Trading Standards...
...then do it, don't just say it.
Using your analogy, the packaging on the shirt would have read "shirt that is suitable for for those whom prefer a grey tone". On opening it, it looks blue to me so I return it. Yes, it's subjective but as far as the Customer is concerned, it is not fit for purpose and the store does not have any device that can definitively (in law) stated that the shirt is grey or blue.
And if the packaging states "this is an 1100Watt heater" and it is?
In unusually cold weather, I use such a heater to supplant the CH in the bedroom at night when the radiators are off, and find it quite adequate. It does have to left switched on, and controlled by its thermostat, all night to do the job.
In unusually cold weather, I use such a heater to supplant the CH in the bedroom at night when the radiators are off, and find it quite adequate. It does have to left switched on, and controlled by its thermostat, all night to do the job.
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