Company refusing to refund - what can I do now ?

[nursie]

Hope there are some mumsnetters out there who might know what I can do now about this.
We bought a pushchair for ds when I was 7 months pregnant. It turned up in time, but when we came to use it when he was 10 days old we found it was broken. We immediately contacted the company to ask for a free repair asap but they took so long to reply to us that in the end we were forced to buy a second pushchair.
We contacted them again and said that as they had not replied to our original requests for a repair and were clearly not interested in helping us we wanted to return the pushchair and get a refund.
Again, no reply until we threatened to sue them. They then said they would accept the pushchair back if we paid for the return - cheek!! We did, just to get the darn thing out of the house.
We are still chasing our money back. We have photographic proof of the faults but they still refuse to even answer our e-mails and phone calls, never mind say when we will get our money back.
A long rant, I know, but what can we do now? Who can we report them to that could help us get our money back?
Any help would be much appreciated!!

I fear that as you accepted the repair (you could have rejected the faulty pushchair) you may have compromised your consumer rights. However did you buy it direct from the manufacturer or through a separate retailer, as the latter is liable for the complaint if used. Also did you buy it on credit card as they may provide some cover within a certain period.

Which or Citizens Advice should be able to tell you exactly what you rights are.

Good luck

We didn't accept the repair. We bought a new pushchair and sent the damaged one back.
Hadn't thought of Citizens Advice - thanks.

where is this awful company? Name and shame

It's an Internet based company called Two Left Feet. Being a dummy, I didn't buy the pushchair on my credit card .
I've since heard that other customers have had a similar experience and am kicking myself for not researching properly before buying!

Try trading standards office. Number in the phone book. Who are they??

Oh god, Two Left Feet, I fell foul of them about a year ago (I think there's a post on here from me about it). I ordered a car seat and it never arrived. Luckily I had the law on my side there as I cancelled within 14 days, I think you will find it more difficult, but you could go for the 'selling something not fit for purpose' line.

I wrote to their local trading standards (I think it's Bedford, I found the address on the internet) - worth doing to keep up the complaints.

In the end what worked for me was to email one of the sites that index them - UKshop or something along those lines? Their logo is on Two Left Feet's site. I explained their bad service and asked for them to remove the link. They hassled Two Left Feet on my behalf and eventually I got my money back. Incidentally I also asked mumsnet to remove their recommendation for the company - I must check if they did.

Basically, kick up a fuss with other people and they seem to pay attention. Give up emailing/phoning them, it doesn't work.

Here's the info:

previous thread

This is a great site for explaining the trading standards law - Wirral Trading Standards .

Type in your postcode here to get the address of your local trading standards, who can tell you what to do. Bedford's is:

Tel 01234 228280
Email [email protected]

They can probably go and hassle Two Left Feet for you.

If you're anywhere near Bedford you could to their shop - let dd run around without a nappy on until they give you your money back!

Also go around all the parenting sites and tell people not to buy from them... (or just threaten to do so).

When I was pregnant there was loads of stuff I almost bought off Two Left Feet but I rang them first and their attitude really put me off!! Glad I didn't order now.

There's another site that I found while looking for alternatives that has just as good a range, is really cheap and IME gives brilliant service. Most people on here probably know it already but am I allowed to say the name or would that be advertising? (Not connected to the site at all, just love it!)

Oh go on, tell us the name!

I had problem with two left feet about 12 months ago. I ordered pushchair and it never turned up! had to hassle them for ages before they sent another one, apparently the first one had been dispatched but had just "disappeared"!

wobblymum - think it's ok for you to name the other site that you like.

Two Left Feet went bust and they are now "Two Right Feet T/A (trading as )Two Left Feet" perfectly legit, leave all the debts from the first company and start again. Except they still give the same C**p service.

Two Left Feet went bust and they are now "Two Right Feet T/A (trading as )Two Left Feet" perfectly legit, leave all the debts from the first company and start again. Except they still give the same C**p service.

Ok, but I'm sure loads of people on here know it so it's hardly my secret tip!! The site's kiddicare.com

The service is great, the prices are brill and they've got loads of different stuff!

thanks everyone for the advice. I am contacting Trading Standards today, so we'll see what happens.
Grr...

wow, this is interesting, two left feet come up on every search you do about pushchairs etc (I've just bought one and their site was the most heavily plugged on other sites IYKWIM). Also noticed the "two right feet trading as two left feet" and vaguely wondered what that was about. They sound terrible - glad I used my nice independent retailer in the end. Agree with everyone else - hassle trading standards and also hassle the shop TELLING them you are talking to trading standards - they'll probably give you your money back just to keep TS off their tail. Otherwise there is the small claims court - if they agreed to refund the money if you sent the goods back, then you have a straight debt claim against them. good luck!

HELLO EVERYONE! i AM GETTING MORE AND MORE CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT PRAM/PUSHCHAIR TO GET! THE INTERNET IS GREAT, BUT SOMETIMES TOO MUCH CHOICE MAKES THINGS DIFFICULT. I AM QUITE KEEN ON THAT MUTSY PRAM/PUSHCHAIR, I HAVE SEEN A FEW AROUND, BUT I CAN'T FIND ANY REVIEWS ON IT, SO BEFORE I STOP A STRANGER IN THE STREET TO ASK HER ABOUT IT, I THOUGHT MAYBE ONE OF YOU KNOWS SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT MUTSY.
THANKS A LOT!

Not much to add apart from that the subject of two left feet has come up several times on another parenting website. They managed by threats of legal action for libel to get the thread removed so you can see what sort of company they are!

I have a Mothercare buggy which has the unfortunate habit of spontaneously braking. This recently happened 7 times during a mile walk, it is so frequent now that the buggy is unusable. Mothercare have been no help at all it's way past the guarantee. Can I do anything at all or do I have to get a new one?