Faulty item after 30 days. Clearly not fit for purpose

[Outofideas79]

I have a pair of pretty costly wellies I bought 4 months ago that have come apart on a join in the boot. Very clearly a fault with the item. I have contacted the retailer who has said I will need to return them for inspection to see if they agree the item is faulty. If they decide there was a fault they will exchange or refund, no mention was made of repair. The item also needs to be returned clean, otherwise they cannot be accepted (cross contamination or some such excuse) they are wellies, how clean are they going to expect them to be!?

So now I will need to pay for the item to be returned, pay for another set of boots to use in the interim, because I need them particularly at the moment. I have sent images which clearly show a fault in the boot, rather than me having put a fork through the top etc and am happy to send more, a video etc and have offered this. Am I unreasonable to think that I shouldn't be financially detrimented? I was under the understanding that between 30 days and 6 months the onus is on them to prove the item wasn't faulty and not on me to prove it was.

Is there any way I can tackle this without having to send them back? Or do I just have to accept that I will need to buy a new pair.

• “Can I get a refund on a faulty product?
• You have 30 days from taking ownership of a product (this could be the date of purchase or the date it was delivered to you - whichever is later) to claim a refund if it is faulty
• After this time you have to give the retailer an opportunity to repair or replace it before you can claim a refund.

Just found this online. so the retailer has to have the chance to repair or replace the item, so you will need to send it back.

Why would you want them repaired if they bust within a month? Send them back, expect a refund of the sale price and the postage and buy different wellies. I'd expect them to be clean but not show room condition, as in not caked in dirt, scrub any mud off.

Of course you have to send them back for inspection!
How else can it be resolved?

And clean them....why should a member of their staff have to handle dirty goods?

@Hohofortherobbers I definitely don't want them back. And I'd rather not have a replacement as I'd not feel confident the same thing wouldn't happen. I'd rather a refund, but obviously I don't have a right any more to request this. In the interim I will now have to buy a new pair of boots to use whilst I'm waiting for a decision on those.

@HelloMiss. I wouldn't have sent them back dirty, but how clean is clean enough for them to not reject them.

In the past I had an issue with a coat I'd bought. I retailer was content with the images that i sent of the defect and I was sent a replacement.

Those 'images' could be a scam.