Paying to return faulty item

[Mama3737]

Hello, looking for some legal advice please regarding consumer rights.

I recently bought a shed from an online shed retailer, and paid £80 extra for floor supports (in which to lie our own flooring on top). The shed itself is poor quality and I am in touch with the manufacturer regarding this as it's already assembled now. The floor supports are also of poor quality and don't actually fit as they are supposed to. The retailer I ordered from is refusing to accept them back unless I pay £36 postage for a courier to collect them. I am unhappy with this as I am only returning them because they are unfit for purpose? Is this fair/doable of them?

TIA

No, it is not fair or doable. You ordered this online. The goods are not of satisfactory quality, which is an implied term under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. They could charge you the cost of returning the goods if your reason for doing so was that you have changed your mind. However, as the goods are not of satisfactory quality, they must cover that cost so that you don't have any financial loss due to their poor quality.

@prh47bridge this is exactly what I said but the lady I spoke to is adamant that they will not be accepting them back unless I pay that money. A manager is calling me back in the morning but it's the same manager who told the lady I spoke to the above!

Be clear and insist. Mention the Consumer Rights Act. If they persist, you might want to use the Which? template letter. If they still refuse, you may need to start considering legal action to make them do what the law requires.

The online retailer will have to reimburse you the extra you paid to return the poor quality item back to them and if they refuse, threaten to take them to a small claims court.

Just keep all correspondance with the company civil, Keep a papertrail.

Thank you both. I have emailed over that completed template, for the company to look over before calling me.

@prh47bridge @Irridescantshimmmer

Well I received a reply this morning...

Thank you for your email.

We can collect the floor support kit for you but there will be a collection charge. The collection charge is £36.
Please let us know how you would like to proceed.

They've literally ignored the content of the template. What now? Thanks!

I presume that they are refusing to refund the original payment until the floor supports are returned, so your next step is to send them a letter before action. That is a letter setting out the facts (you bought the floor support kit from them for £80, it is not of satisfactory quality, they are refusing to provide a refund unless you pay £36 for them to collect the kit and that, as you are rejecting the kit due to its poor quality, they are liable for any collection costs as per the Consumer Rights Act 2015 Section 20(8)), stating what you want from them (your £80 returned), giving them a reasonable deadline to respond and stating that, if they fail to respond satisfactorily, you will take legal action. Which? have a useful template. If using the Which? template, I would leave out the bit about how you have calculated the amount you want as you are simply asking for your money back. One thing missing from the Which? template that I would throw in is a reminder that they will be liable for your court costs and interest as well as the original amount if you take it to court and they lose.

It looks like you ordered this along with the shed, so the total bill must have been over £100. You therefore also have the option of taking this up with your credit card provider and getting a refund from them. However, if you ordered the shed separately, the credit card provider is not liable, although they may still help if you contact them.

@prh47bridge thank you. I can't quite believe I'm going to be sending a letter before action. It seems so silly, why don't they just pay for the return?
I bought the shed too in the same order, but it was paid with our debit card rather than credit..

@prh47bridge a manager called, and unless I supply photographs showing how the item is faulty, they're not budging. I can't really see how I can provide these as it's a case of the screws & holes not matching up properly, but I suspect it won't be clear in photographs and they'll just dispute it again! Argh...

At least that is a step in the right direction on their part.

Would it be worth calling Trading Standards? I would think they will be able to offer advice. Companies seem to pull their finger out if they know you've contacted TS & got a case number ready to proceed.

It worked when I had issues with a faulty brand new washing machine from Tesco Direct.

First phone call they were very unhelpful. I was insisting they had to refund or replace & they were only offering a repair.
I rang back after contacting TS & quoted consumer rights act & offered the case number I'd been given. They were full of apologies, got the washing machine collected & a full refund within a week.

I'm fine in showing the item is faulty of course, but I don't feel like it's going to be as clear in photographs as it will be in person, I did ask if they could have someone come and see it but they can't. I suspect any photographs won't be good enough and they'll decline, not sure how else to prove it though.

Would a video be clearer than photos? Showing obvious misalignment when screws can't go through properly?