Sent wrong car part and can't get refund

PurvesGrundy

I ordered a set of drop links from <SNIP> about two months ago as part of a big job I was planning to get done (as a nixer) on my car. I entered the registration of my specific model into their website and they listed all the options available for my exact model and I chose the brand what I thought to be most reputable. To cut a long story short, when my mechanic finally had the time to do the job on my car, it was more than 30 days later and when he fitted the drop links to the car they were found to be too short. He turned the wheels and the intrusion from the poor fitment managed to destroy the freshly installed anti roll bar bushes that were the result of hours intensive labour. Anyway, that's a separate matter......

I contacted <SNIP> by e-mail initially, stating that the drop links were too short and not suitable for purpose, which was either through a manufacturing defect or the fact that they were simply incorrect for my model. Since my initial contact then and until now they have only offered me a 'goodwill' exchange for other drop links, even though that is now useless to me seeing as I have long since sourced another set. Their excuses have varied also, informing me at first that I should not rely on what their website tells me and to send a message to make sure when ordering part that it is correct. Their latest is that the drop links I ordered were for an older model, even though their website sold me them as being suitable for my exact car.

The communication with their customer service staff is extremely poor and each response is as if it is written by default in line with guidelines and with no discretion whatsoever used by the individual you are in contact with. They have now resorted to copying and sending me the exact same message twice in succession.

What I am wondering basically is do I have any right in expecting a refund on this occasion? I could acknowledge their exchange offer as being reasonable if I had ordered them as an error by my own fault, but in this instance they sold me a good that was advertised to me incorrectly from the outset and I feel that the 30 day return limit does not fully apply in this circumstance.

Thanks.

slimjimmc

You could take them to the Small Claims Court but the fact you waited more than 30 days before checking the parts were correct is going to be a stumbling block for you. It could be argued that you had reasonable opportunity to check the goods (Sect 34 below) and the fact you hadn't rejected them with the first week or two was an indication that you had accepted the goods as delivered (Sect 35 below).

The below is Irish law but I'd expect English law to be comparable.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1980/en/act/pub/0016/sec0020.html

Buyer's right of examining the goods.

34.—(1) Where goods are delivered to the buyer, which he has not previously examined, he is not deemed to have accepted them unless and until he has had a reasonable opportunity of examining them for the purpose of ascertaining whether they are in conformity with the contract.

(2) Unless otherwise agreed, when the seller tenders delivery of goods to the buyer, he is bound, on request, to afford the buyer a reasonable opportunity of examining the goods for the purpose of ascertaining whether they are in conformity with the contract.

Acceptance.

35.—The buyer is deemed to have accepted the goods when he intimates to the seller that he has accepted them, or, subject to section 34 of this Act, when the goods have been delivered to him and he does any act in relation to them which is inconsistent with the ownership of the seller or when, without good and sufficient reason, he retains the goods without intimitating to the seller that he has rejected them.

JimsAlterEgo

you also turned down their offer of a replacement which was the most appropriate remedy

PurvesGrundy

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

you also turned down their offer of a replacement which was the most appropriate remedy

So you reckon I should have left my car off the road for another two weeks while they sent replacement parts from the UK?

NIMAN

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Only posting here as I had the same issue with the same company. Entered my car details into their eBay website, it said "this is the part you need", I ordered it and when it arrived it was wrong.

However, I got on to them straight away and posted it back. They were a little slow to refund, taking 1 week, but I just got a full refund yesterday.

davo10

PurvesGrundy wrote: »

So you reckon I should have left my car off the road for another two weeks while they sent replacement parts from the UK?

But a factor here is that you left the car off the road for nearly 5 weeks before checking the part, what's another two weeks?

PurvesGrundy

davo10 wrote: »

But a factor here is that you left the car off the road for nearly 5 weeks before checking the part, what's another two weeks?

You obviously have misunderstood my post.

I had ordered the part '5 weeks' in advance of the date when my mechanic was able to undertake the job as a nixer. It was '5 weeks' after that he did the job in its entirety and he hit a stumbling block when the drop links supplied by <SNIP> were found to be incorrect for the car. My point was that if I was to allow <SNIP> to rectify the situation with replacement drop links, that would have meant a two weeks waiting for them to arrive in the post. That simply was not an option as my mechanic was on the job and the car was on his property. I therefore had to quite swiftly order a set of drop links from a local motor factors instead and then planned to recoup the cost of the incorrect parts <SNIP> sent me, which as you can see is proving to be a battle.

I do not know what gave you the impression that the car was off the road for 5 weeks beforehand at my own leisure. I merely had ordered the parts well in advance to have them ready for when my mechanic was ready to do the job.

timetogo

I'd say 30 days is too long to be expecting a refund too.
The law says you have 14 days to return items with no questions. I know that they sent you the wrong item but 14 days would have been sufficient to make sure it was the correct part. What if it was 2 months or 3 months before your mechanic was ready. The law seems to have drawn the line at 2 weeks. The company has rights too.

But no point arguing with guys on the internet. Take them to the small claims court and let them adjudicate.
Or maybe ask the company to take the items back for a refund and charge a restocking fee. The average is about 15%. I know it's a pain in the hole but it's better than getting nothing back.

davo10

PurvesGrundy wrote: »

You obviously have misunderstood my post.

I do not know what gave you the impression that the car was off the road for 5 weeks beforehand at my own leisure.

I didn't misunderstand, I read your opening post and that is what it suggests.

It was your decision to order 5 weeks in advance and your decision to buy somewhere else rather than wait another two weeks for the exchange part.

PurvesGrundy

davo10 wrote: »

I didn't misunderstand, I read your opening post and that is what it suggests.

It was your decision to order 5 weeks in advance and your decision to buy somewhere else rather than wait another two weeks for the exchange part.

This is typical boards all over. Devil's advocate no matter what.....

bucketybuck

PurvesGrundy wrote: »

He turned the wheels and the intrusion from the poor fitment managed to destroy the freshly installed anti roll bar bushes that were the result of hours intensive labour.

Is this what he told you?

PurvesGrundy

bucketybuck wrote: »

Is this what he told you?

Yes. I still have the damaged parts as well.

davo10

PurvesGrundy wrote: »

This is typical boards all over. Devil's advocate no matter what.....

This is a discussion forum where views are expressed. We are not required to agree with you. It is fair to say that you had 5 weeks to check the part, you didn't and then rushed to buy a new one instead of waiting for the company to exchange it which is very fair of them.

No need to be hissy.

PurvesGrundy

davo10 wrote: »

This is a discussion forum where views are expressed. We are not required to agree with you. It is fair to say that you had 5 weeks to check the part, you didn't and then rushed to buy a new one instead of waiting for the company to exchange it which is very fair of them.

No need to be hissy.

In this circumstance, it was not a reasonable expectation for me to check the part. How could I tell it was right for the car without fitting it?

I started this thread already knowing that I was over 30 days outside the returns period. All you're doing is telling me something I already know instead of giving advice in a polite and non-condescending manner. To be honest, I should have known better.

I posted this thread to find out whether the fact I was falsely advertised and sold the wrong part remove them from their absolution under the 30 day rule.

davo10

PurvesGrundy wrote: »

In this circumstance, it was not a reasonable expectation for me to check the part. How could I tell it was right for the car without fitting it?

I started this thread already knowing that I was over 30 days outside the returns period. All you're doing is telling me something I already know instead of giving advice in a polite and non-condescending manner. To be honest, I should have known better.

I posted this thread to find out whether the fact I was falsely advertised and sold the wrong part remove them from their absolution under the 30 day rule.

You see, it's all about your circumstances, not theirs. They gave you 30 days to check it which is very reasonable as people usually order car parts to fit immediately if their car needs them. You could have got the mechanic to check if they were the right parts without fitting them. They offered you a remedy which you refused. There is no need to spit the dummy because you are not reading what you want

easygoing1982

PurvesGrundy wrote: »

In this circumstance, it was not a reasonable expectation for me to check the part. How could I tell it was right for the car without fitting it?

I started this thread already knowing that I was over 30 days outside the returns period. All you're doing is telling me something I already know instead of giving advice in a polite and non-condescending manner. To be honest, I should have known better.

I posted this thread to find out whether the fact I was falsely advertised and sold the wrong part remove them from their absolution under the 30 day rule.

14 days is a very reasonable expectation to check the part. Its not the companies fault that your circumstances didn't allow.

You started this thread looking for an answer that you already knew

You may have been sold something in error but you had an adequate amount of time to rectify this and you didn't.Where in your opinion should a time line end for the company

bucketybuck

easygoing1982 wrote: »

Where in your opinion should a time line end for the company

Whenever suits the customer of course.

pleasant Co.

Op why not try the SCC? It's inexpensive and you'll find out for sure just how much your tardiness effected any possible redress or that that's irrelevant because you were advised by the store to buy the wrong part.

PurvesGrundy

pleasant Co. wrote: »

Op why not try the SCC? It's inexpensive and you'll find out for sure just how much your tardiness effected any possible redress or that that's irrelevant because you were advised by the store to buy the wrong part.

I appreciate the suggestion but there's no point. There are in the UK.

Anyway, I've already accepted the advice of other 'experts' here and returned the parts for store credit.

slimjimmc

PurvesGrundy wrote: »

I appreciate the suggestion but there's no point. There are in the UK.

Anyway, I've already accepted the advice of other 'experts' here and returned the parts for store credit.

As an FYI you can take a SCC case against a business no matter where in the EU they're located and the SCC ruling is enforceable in the other EU state. So, if you decided to take a UK business to the Irish SCC and won you can apply for a UK enforcement order and the ruling will be enforced by the UK court.

PurvesGrundy

slimjimmc wrote: »

As an FYI you can take a SCC case against a business no matter where in the EU they're located and the SCC ruling is enforceable in the other EU state. So, if you did decide to take the UK business to the Irish SCC and won you can apply for a UK enforcement order and the ruling will be enforced by the UK court.

That's good information to know.

Thanks.

slimjimmc

Thread locked and a handbagging exchange between easygoing1982 and PurvesGrundy deleted.