Shop won't refund or exchange faulty toaster!

[AcorgicalledTiffany]

So about six weeks ago I went to DC's school as they were holding an autumn fair. I bought a book of raffle tickets, £5 in total, and later found out I had won a prize. All prizes had been donated by local businesses for free advertising I suppose, not sure how they got involved but there we are.

I won a brand new four slice toaster, it said on the label it was "worth" £49 and had been donated by a local hardware shop. All was ok until last week when one side of the toaster stopped holding the bread down. So I took it back to the shop where it had originally come from. Man in the shop said there was absolutely nothing he could do as it was a gift to the school, which I really wasn't happy about. He said I could try contacting the manufacturers, so I went home and called them and they said no way could they do anything as this toaster had been out of production for almost FIVE years!!!

So back I went to the hardware shop and told this to the man, I was really cross by now as it was obviously some old stock he'd given away which he admitted it was, he said it was something he'd had in the stockroom for sometime and that he hadn't had such expensive toasters for sale for a while as nobody seemed to buy them, all of this of course is not my problem. The only thing he said he would be prepared to do for me would be to order me a new toaster and sell it to me at the cost price, he showed me the suppliers catalogue and the cheapest one he could get that is anything like this was over £30, so obviously I told him no.

I am really peed off about this as he got free advertising for his shop only its backfired now! As I will be telling people to avoid the place. But why should I lose out?

Please don’t use the misogynistic term ‘Karen’. Dick, twat or arse will suffice.

Years back I won first prize in a school raffle. Brand new ipod. Ipods were rapidly becoming obsolete at the time. As I already had one anyway, I ended up throwing it away. (Probably should have sued the PTA )

I mean, the raffle could have been used as a means to get rid of unsaleable stock, but that, to my way of thinking, would be incredibly short-sighted.

The only way I could see this working is if the shopkeeper were a dab hand at repairs or had a like-for-like replacement available. That way he could a) attempt to sell the OP something else while she was in the store, and/or b) by demonstrating superlative aftercare support, improve his “brand” by word of mouth.

Someone will be along to tell you that four slices of toast is far too many (we've lost sight of what a normal toaster looks like) anyway.

But it's a bloody raffle prize, get a grip.

I can see why you are annoyed but it’s just something that has happened. He was being supportive of the school by donating a prize. He won’t be doing that again, that’s for sure.

I don’t think he had anything to ‘admit’.

I really think you will be making a bit of a fool of yourself if you start spreading this tale around.

“the cheapest one he could get that is anything like this was over £30, so obviously I told him no.”

Why obviously? You laid out a pound or two on raffle tickets. You won a prize that turned out to be faulty. The shop has no contract with you, so the shopkeeper offered to do a nice thing for you - to sell you an expensive toaster for cost, so he would incur the trouble of getting it with no benefit to him. I’m not quite sure why you “obviously” told him no - if you wanted a toaster, why not accept his offer? I know it’s disappointing that the toaster has given up, but it’s not actually anyone’s fault, and the shop owner tried to do you a good turn which you rudely rebuffed.

Not surprisingly if they routinely supply faulty and/or obsolete goods and then shrug their shoulders when people bring them back.

You can pick up a four slice toaster for less than £20. Get a bloody grip.

Wait ,what ? You threw it away 🙈

But they don’t do that.

Are you on the wrong thread? One about a business routinely selling faulty goods? 👀

About 15 years ago I won a big snow globe at the school Christmas fair. When I got home I noticed one of the little polar bears round the edge had a leg snapped off. I shrugged it off but I’m now wondering if it’s too late to sue the school

I'm amazed at the responses on here. I'm with you, OP. If it had been a genuine gift to you on the quiet, I'd say to leave it; but instead of the shop being paid for it with money from a customer, they were paid in valuable advertising within the community - which most certainly would not have been forthcoming if they'd given/advertised the prize as as 'faulty old toaster donated by Smith's Electrical Emporium of Anytown'.

And the price paid for the prizes including this one is not just OP's £1, but rather the total of every £1 that was spent on tickets, including all of the non-winning ones.

I bet nobody on here would decide to 'not make a fuss' if they'd bought a £2 ticket for the lottery and won a prize - even if only a tenner, let alone a big amount - if they were told that they couldn't have their prize because 'reasons' - but hey, at least it only cost them £2, so it's not like they've really lost any amount worth complaining about. It's the principle here, even though it's not a high value prize.

Not at all - read what I wrote: I said supply, not sell.

Obviously most of the goods they supply will be via normal sales to customers, but if they proudly put their name to goods that they supply, knowing (or having a very good idea) that they will be faulty, it's hardly going to be positive for their business, is it?

I think you should consider suing the school and contacting your MP!

Or just get a grip, jees! This can't be real 😳

Bahahaha, this is the silliest thing I've ever seen on mumsnet 🤣

That poor guy, leave him alone 🤣

Frankly, you sound like a loon.

Sounds like you went into the shop with an attitude.

You should have tried to butter him up! Poor man is only trying to make a crust!

(Gets coat….)

In this instance it’s the school you should seek recourse from as they are the ones who awarded the prize

bit you know that would be a total arsehole thing to do right

I'd hardly call him a 'poor guy' - dishonestly gaining publicity for his business by passing off faulty old stock as though it were a desirable prize that he was donating.

If, instead of asking sponsors for raffle prizes in exchange for publicity, the school had sold/given out a programme of the event and charged local businesses a price for their advert in it - and the shop owner had paid them for his advert with what he knew to be counterfeit banknotes... I wonder if people would be saying "leave the poor guy alone" then?!

Instead of supporting the school as a good cause, he's actually potentially harmed their profile. I'm guessing the toaster wasn't the top prize; but imagine if the business donating the proudly-advertised first prize (which had encouraged a lot more sales) had actually supplied something worthless instead. It's not really a good look if you have the PTA asking people at every opportunity to buy tickets on the strength of one particularly highly-enticing prize and, unknown to them, it turns out that they're actually promoting a scam.

He should have just politely declined their request when they asked if he would give them a prize - but then he would also have foregone the good PR for his business, of course.

Throw it out, buy a cheap one from a supermarket if you really want a new one, I feel my face flush just reading you went for a refund

I wouldn't demand that the school make good on the prize, as it wasn't their fault; but I would let them know and warn them not to accept any donations or requests for advertising from that business in future.

In a sense, OP was 'lucky' that the fault only prevented the toaster from working as it should; but what if, instead, it had caught fire - as ancient, faulty electrical goods frequently do? What if it had been a local bakery donating a beautiful-looking cake, but which had actually been made using very old ingredients and which left the 'lucky' winner violently ill?

It was old stock. That doesn't mean it was faulty or he knew it was faulty. It means it didn't sell and had been sitting in the back of the shop for a while.

The shop has no legal obligation to replace the toaster of refund you. Approach the school as they gave you a dodgy prize and ask for your raffle money back. But probably best just to drop it.