Consumer rights superceeded by Delivery Terms

10-10-20

Hi all,

I want to see what you make of this. I think/hope I know the answer, but prove me wrong.

I had a compressed wood fuel product delivered to the house about two weeks ago. It arrived and was undamaged. I started to use the fuel this week but noticed that more than 50% of it was improperly compressed, meaning that the blocks were swollen and burned up quickly, while the other 50% was compressed OK and burned slower.
In my mind this is a quality problem and the product is defective.

I contacted the company who responded with the Terms of Delivery, referring to the section below, as follows:

Please note: should the goods delivered be either faulty, damaged or the wrong ones, we will either refund or re-send the (correct) goods. The complaint has to be lodged with us within 3 working days or we will deem damage to be caused after delivery. (Please allow 28 days for re-funds).

Now, I believe it's evident that the problem is due to a lack of quality at the time of manufacture as you can see that the wood is not properly shredded, hence did not compress. The affected bags are also 10% lighter than the specification as documented on their website - again - this points to a poorly compressed product.

Am I correct in thinking that my consumer rights are protected here despite the statement above and that three days is not enforceable with a defective product? Is it permissible for them to try limit my rights like this?

Welease

As far as I an aware, your statutory rights are your statutory rights and cannot be superceeded by T&C's, assuming the product was not knowingly purchased as a second/substandard item.

I would contact the first for replacement (the standard 3 R's should apply here, although I doubt they can repair as such).. If they refuse then take them to the small claims court.

I would however, check that their is no clause saying quality of items (or something similar) may vary due to it being a natural product. If this has been stated before purchase then it might muddy the claim somewhat.

jhegarty

Your rights are still in place.

Repair , replacment or refund. The suppliers choice of which one.

jor el

jhegarty wrote: »

The suppliers choice of which one.

Not their choice, but they must offer one, and if they do, you'd need a good reason to refuse it, but you can insist on one of your own choice. Doesn't mean you'll actually get it though.