Too expect a replacement jacket after 1 month and very little wear ?

[route666]

My dd was given a jacket from my sister for christmas, it cost just under £50. Dd has worn it at the very most 8 times, Today she was back at school and when I collected her I noticed it wouldnt zip up , 3 of the teeth are missing. I phoned the shop earlier to be told that they cant replace as dd probably broke it , I am vey annoyed dds last jacket was a cheap £10 tesco one which lasted for well over a year this one has lasted one day of her using it. Surely a childs jacket should be made to withstand a child using it ? I dont imagine she would have been forceful with it she is tiny 5 year old.

Im not sure if iabu should I just accept it and buy her another jacket even though we really cant afford it I have finances calculated too the last penny until the end of the month, even the bus fair to go to the store will leave me short.

Apologies for any spelling mistakes.

SillyTilly - under the sale of goods act, it is necessary to ascertain whether it was a fault at point of sale (e.g. was the zip weakened / was the sole improperly applied etc?) I would think if the boots have been worn every day for 4 months and were cheap (Primarni?) you don't have much of a case. It depends on the shop / quality / cost / amount of wear / where they were worn etc

They were £40 from littlewoods, so I am actually still paying for them which pees me off a bit. £40 is a lot to me (which is why I used a catalogue) and cant really afford new ones at the minute (so only have trainers or wellies to wear til I can :( )

Ok, your rights under the sale of goods act are that goods should be fit for purpose, durable, as described amongst other things. A lot of the time it is about whether it was fit for purpose at the point of sale. If it wasn't then you are entitled to repair, replacement or refund.

With regard to whether your dd broke the coat there are 2 points

1. the reverse burden of proof. The act states that any item found to be faulty within the first 6 months is automatically deemed to have been fault at the point of sale unless the seller can prove otherwise. After 6 months the onus is on the consumer to prove it was not fit for purpose at the point of sale.

2. durability. If your daughter has managed to remove some of the teeth from the zip it must have been pretty easy to do so, therefore I would question the durability of the product. However, point one is your main one.

From memory I think these rights are all covered in section 48 of the sale of goods act.

I once had a shop tell me no receipt nothing they could do. That changed when I reeled off my rights. A lot of places get their policy and your statutory rights confused.

Good luck

I once got chucked out of a clothes shop, (small independent ethnic shop) as I took back a pair of shoes DD bought because the heel came off as she was going out of the door on the first wearing,
The manager didnt want to know and was very rude, I came home and phoned my local trading standards who were very helpful and told me what to say, they wanted to know the name of the shop and I had to report back to them,
After quoting sale of goods act and trading standards, the manger threw the refund at me! (£45) and told me never to enter his shop again!
I still had the shoes in their bag as he threw me out so we repaired the heel and had a refund
The shop has now gone bust!
I was very impressed with trading standards so if you don't get a result may be worth a try

Thanks for all the help,very glad to say it worked :) . Went in ready to argue my case but the lovely man on the till had a quick look at the jacket and asked if i wanted a refund or exchange , was very impressed. The new jacket dd choose cost £10 less so he gave me the remaining £10 in cash, cant believe how easy it was. Think I am just lucky I didnt see the lady or the manager I had spoke to on the phone. So glad I went now I wasnt going to bother as I didnt see the point .

Sillytilly- as you are buying the boots via a credit agreement you have extra rights. Basically (if I understood it right) the boots aren't technically yours till you finish paying for them, therefore Littlewoods are the legal owner and need to sort things out.

(This is based on an experience we had with a car on HP, the retailer went bust so we took it up with the creditor as they legally owned the car, but think it applies to all credit agreements)

route666 - YAY!

SillyTilly - it's definitely worth having a go. Can't guarantee it but go and argue your rights and you should get somewhere (fingers crossed)

Hi, I returned the boots this morning (after ringing and asking) so good news and hopefully be a quick refund so i can get some new ones.

And good to hear you had an easy time of it op. I hate having to return stuff, I usually get my nan to do it as she's a pro! lol.

Good news, I started a thread recently about a chain shop where one manger said no, so emailed the main customer services and they apologised and said of course they would change my purchase even though it was out of the month reception date. Always worth at least asking and taking it further.

I think the store manger was fuming though as she was just too chatty and nice to us when we were back in.