Appliances Direct sold our air conditioner instead of sending it back to us

[Iyamnotayam]

We bought a portable Air Conditioner from Appliances Direct last year. It worked for the entire summer, and in the winter we used it's dehumidifier function.

In this years heat wave, the air cooling function kept cutting off, and it would only work on fan function. My husband emailed them as it was under warranty, they asked for a photo of it installed. We sent one of it installed as per the instructions. Appliances Direct then claimed it was incorrectly installed and that we'd blown the compressor so the warranty was void.

DH pointed out that they can't make that judgement without opening it up as the compressor is internal, so they eventually agreed to take it back and have their engineer look at it to establish whether the fault met the warranty conditions.

My husband chased Appliances Direct after they'd had air conditioner a week, and Appliances Direct said that their engineer tested the air conditioner and it was in working order, however they were willing to refund, or pay £600 for the model they had in stock as all their air cons are out of stock.

DH emailed back asking if we can just have our air con back if it's apparently in working order. And they emailed back saying "apologies, we can't send your air conditioner back as we've sold it".

All correspondence has been via email, so we have a paper trail showing that it was definitely in for inspection and potentially repair. They never asked if they could sell it, we never mentioned it being sold.

DH wants to ask them to replace with one of the ones they tried to upsell us, at no extra cost.

I'm absolutely raging, and want to escalate this, because imo it amounts to theft.

AIBU for wanting to escalate now instead of asking for a replacement?

Well it’s a bit weird that they’ve sold it, but if they’re willing to replace or refund then it’s not really theft. The original one wasn’t working to your standards anyway- take a new working one or the money back and run!

Check out your consumer rights. You may be able to hit them with the correct terminology from the appropriate act. (Sale of goods)??

Escalate to what? What do you want to happen?

What have the offered due to selling it? Just the refund?

I don't know. All I know is that we sent them our property for inspection to see if the fault met the warranty conditions and to see if it could be repaired. They've clearly repaired it and sold it on behind our backs and without our consent.

They didn't admit they sold our air conditioner to someone else until my husband queried why we can't have it back if it's apparently working.

It just feels really wrong. It wasn't theirs to sell, and it shouldn't have been put up for sale when it was clearly in for repair.

Before they admitted they sold it They offered a refund or to sell us a model they have in stock if we paid the £600 difference. They only admitted they sold it after my husband queried why we can't just have ours back if it's apparently working now. They just sent an email with "apologies, we can't send it back we've sold it"

It wasn't a case of not working to my standards. The air cooling function kept cutting out, hence why we sent it back to see if it either met the warranty criteria or could be repaired.

They didn't admit they'd sold the unit to someone else until my husband asked if they can send it back instead of issuing a refund if it's working now.

I agree with your DH - request the upgraded one for free. The £600 isn't acceptable, you need air conditioning in this heatwave

Okay well either way you have the chance to get a refund/new one. Why wouldn’t you take that?

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the retailer remains responsible for an item that is returned to them for repair. They have effectively lost your item which means they are legally responsible to replace or refund. If I were you I would insist on a replacement rather than a refund. If they refuse you could try the Retail Alternative Dispute Resolution or the small claims court, but they may decide that given your unit was a year old that a full refund of the original retail price is fair (they could legitimately reduce the amount they refund you based on the condition of the item and it's current market value)

I think it’s a little confusing in the op, as it says ‘they are willing to refund, or pay the £600 extra for a new one’

do you mean they are willing to pay the extra, or that you need to pay the extra as they don’t have any available at the price you’d be refunded, meaning your choice is either no air conditioner (but cash refund) or pay £600?

in which case I can see why this is very annoying!

if I understand correctly, it’s because the refund won’t cover the cost of a new one (at current prices) and they are only willing to send a replacement if op pays an additional £600

I'm assuming that if the OPer pays £600 she can have an upgrade as the one they returned for mending is now no longer available.

They aren’t just offering a refund or replacement. It’s a refund or pay £600 to have a newer model replacement

Some retailers sell on returned stock to suppliers who refurbish and then resell
or I’m not sure if AD have a refurb section for returned and graded appliances

I would if thought there isn’t grounds for them to force a refund
email Back saying your happy with the equivalent or high spec but you will not be paying more

Sorry, I didn't catch that typo! Yes they wanted us to pay £600 to upgrade

There has been discussions relating to a car left in someone's garage about the legal responsibilities you have for someone else's property.

I would argue that they need to put you back in the situation you were in before you sent it in and that means sending you a air con unit

I would be so annoyed! You wanted it repaired under the warranty and they repaired it, but now you have to pay £600 due to their mistake! (Or accept a refund but I don’t think that’s fair compensation because units are probably more expensive now and you could’ve had yours back anyway). I would make a formal complaint and push for the better one at no cost as they’ve sold your property without warning

Tell them you are taking what happened to the Consumer Champions column in The Guardian or similar..copy your emails to their CEO, Chairman or Director of Sales etc..make it clear you want a resolution that takes account of their error, the waste of time and leaves you with air conditioning.

Send them the link to this thread 🤷‍♀️Good Luck 🍀

What model was it op? Ive been having huge problems with them for the past 6 weeks getting a replacement for the portable ac they sold us too! Curious if its the same one?

They need to send you an air con unit that’s equal in age and condition to the one you sent them; or better, or they need to refund you. They could push for a partial refund instead to account for the time you’ve had it but a year wouldn’t knock a lot off and I’d push back on that and want a full refund; given they’ve failed their duty of care.

Theres not much else you can claim for, though. This isn’t a situation where damages or compensation would be legally likely if Appliances Direct don’t offer them as a goodwill gesture.

I would be putting in a formal complaint and telling them you want an air con unit of at least the same ability as the last one without additional charge or you will be taking matters further. They cant sell your property, it was sent to be repaired, not given to them.

I would also get in touch with trading standards via citizens advice to find out what happens if they dont provide you with one.

Air conditioning has gone up in price so much in the last year and especially while its a heatwave and stock is low everywhere, you would never be able to get another even if they refund so I dont think thats reasonable as they would have likely profited in these circumstances. I would want to know how much it was sold for as I am guessing they are hoping they can get away with refunding you so they would have profited from this.

Their customer service is shockingly bad though - theyve literally told me they dont have a complaints procedure. And everytime i speak to them im told something different, they clearly just want to fob people off long enough that they just give up.

Appliances Direct are an absolute nightmare to deal with. Part of their business model seems to prey on the vulnerable and hard of understanding, as it is a post-sale hard sell of their “additional insurance.” Our dealings with them over the past few months were so awful that it’s now become funny, as we have been able to claim fully on our home insurance, while our home insurers now seem to be suing them.

Because she would have to pay £600