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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

RIPPED OFF AT NCT SALE!!!

45 replies

hoke74 · 21/03/2009 18:59

I went to an NCT sale today and paid £15 for a secondhand Tomy Babysling - sealed in it's box, with a label that said complete and nothing that said 'sold as seen'.

When I got home, the lumbar support was missing.

I checked my consumer rights and emailed the organisers straight away.

The organiser says that I need to tell them what colour label was on the box so that they can trace the seller. But I bought several items and I can't remember what colour ticket was on the babysling!

I am so annoyed - because the label didn't say parts were missing and it didn't say 'sold as seen'. I do have rights but don't seem to be having any help from the NCT organiser.

Has anyone had similar problems?

OP posts:

Lulumama · 21/03/2009 19:21

agree with the last two posts.

Original poster

hoke74 · 21/03/2009 19:23

No, I'm not getting arsey... but I'm sure you can all sympathise in times like these.... I can't afford to throw away £15. (Hence why I'm buying seconhand!)

OP posts:

MayorNaze · 21/03/2009 19:25

a longshot - but ebay or freecycle for a replacement bit? maybe even try emailing the sling manufacturer?

am trying to be helpful

Original poster

hoke74 · 21/03/2009 19:25

No, I'm not getting arsey, but I'm sure you can all sympathise in times like these, I can't afford to throw £15 away... hence why I'm buying secondhand in the first place.

OP posts:

Original poster

hoke74 · 21/03/2009 19:27

Yes, I will try to find a replacement bit. A friend suggested that I contact Tomy to see if they still do them.

OP posts:

BitOfFun · 21/03/2009 19:40

I think you are perfectly entitled to ask for your money back, as the label was misleading. Just because many people see the NCT as a good cause doesn't mean you should be mis-sold something. Fifteen quid is a lot of money.

totalconfusion · 21/03/2009 19:40

As a member of the committee of an NCT NNS if this happened to us (and there was no ticket), we would ask for any information you have on the other items that you bought. Then we could trace back through the tills, look for the list of items you have bought (as long as you have information on your other tickets) and help you from there. Our tills are also numbered, so perhaps you can even remember which till you went through? We often have some small problems after each sale and try as much as we can to resolve these issues. It helps a HUGE amount if the person is polite and calm and does not get shirty. We all are volunteers and spend a very long day (7am-3pm) plus the evening before setting up and then clearing away. I am sorry that you have had a bad experience at the NNS, but would urge you to try again at your next sale. Hope this helps.

piscesmoon · 21/03/2009 19:40

I think you stand a good chance if you contact Tomy. It wasn't the fault of the NCT, they are volunteers and take people on trust.

Lulumama · 21/03/2009 20:01

the NCT per se have not sold it BoF, it is individuals selling via the NCT, so really it is the seller's responsibility. not the volunteers to check every item. at any other second hand or jumble or car boot sale etc you would presume that goods were second hand and sold as seen and it is caveat emptor.

BitOfFun · 21/03/2009 20:20

The NCT have got her wedge though, haven't they?

DumbledoresGirl · 21/03/2009 20:31

I wouldn't have thought there were that many slings sold for £15 in one sale. You could ask the organisers to go through their labels and see if they can identify the seller from that information.

littlebellsmum · 21/03/2009 20:53

Ask nicely ( really nicely as the organizer will be an exhausted volunteer), it's probably on the computer and shouldn't be too hard to trace a £15 label. Having said that, if they do trace the seller, what then? Are you going to contact the seller and demand your money back or would you expect the NCT to?

Having spent most of this morning on an NCT "till", we didn't see many tags for the that price or over.

It's also not really the NCT's fault imo, it's the seller who described it like that. With the amount of items for sale, the volunteers can't check all the items ( there are hundreds) and so it's up to the seller.

I've always had some great bargains at the NCT - if this had happened to me , I'd be pretty hacked off but would probably put it down to experience and try and get the xtra part elsewhere

Northernlurker · 21/03/2009 20:57

You've had a lucky escape - I used to have a TOMY sling and even with lumbar support it was crap!

AitchTwoOh · 21/03/2009 21:08

i think it's reasonable to expect that someone can call up all the £15 sales on the spreadsheet and maybe group email the people to say 'did any of you sell a tomy thingybob?'

then when the person says yes, ask them to have a root round the house for the extra bit.

standanddeliver · 21/03/2009 21:17

Agree you've had a lucky escape.

Tomy slings are shite.

Go to this website and print off instructions or making a sling yourself. It'll only take you half an hour and won't cost you hardly anything. I've made slings from old t-shirts in the past that have worked fine.

freeslingpattersns

Grendle · 21/03/2009 21:25

You have learned 2 lessons. 1. nearly new sales can be a minefield. 2. Tomy slings aren't the best ones available. I'd suggest joining the UKBabywearingswap yahoo group and seeing if you can pick up a decent 2nd hand proper sling there. You might even find someone who has the part of your tomy carrier you're looking for.

Personally, I'm of the view that if something has been misdescribed then the event organiser should take some responsibility for trying to help resolve the problem.

mistlethrush · 21/03/2009 21:35

Our NCT sale doesn't have a spreadsheet of what was sold - or is able to identify what item went through which 'till'. In order to help, all the tickets from the sale would probably need to be sorted through to find the one selling a sling for £15 - which is probably why they asked which colour as it would make sorting out a lot easier.

However, we've just got a new system which will mean that only 1/2 of each ticket is removed so that the buyer will still have all the details of the seller and the price that they paid for the item - this would help in situations like this.

I regularly help out - and we do have the odd problem which we try to sort out as quickly as possible. I hope that you can sort something out similarly.

fruitbeard · 21/03/2009 21:51

We have the 'half ticket only removed' system at our NCT NNS and also any individual item over £10 has to be written down on a separate sheet (with buyers and sellers' details) in case of problems like this. I'm surprised that the organisers couldn't offer you more help.

Tomy slings are shite, though. I was given one for DD and I used it once - never again!

rolledhedgehog · 22/03/2009 18:51

At our branch's sale we would refund you even if we could not track down the seller. Shocked that anyone thinks the NCT is not a charity - it costs loads to train antenatal teachers, breastfeeding counsellors and postnatal supporters. I know that the antenatal classes cost a lot but they do offer subsidised classes for those that cannot afford it and the breastfeeding support is free.

In our branch the nearly new sales are our only source of income.

islandofsodor · 22/03/2009 22:45

Out of the £15 you paid most of that would be paid back to the seller, with the NCT keeping maybe £3-£5 of it.

I'm sure they are doing all they can to trace the seller, it is quite reasonable to ask if you can remember the ticket colour.

The organiser has probebly had a couple of very busy days, she will after all have given up her time for nothing in order to help raise some money for charity. I guess she wants to spend Mother's Day with her own childrne not sorting through hunderds of coloured tickets.

Give them a chance.

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