How to get a Refund

[Oliver]

If you’ve bought cheaply made parts that have failed: you could write it off to experience, or you could get your money back. You might even prompt the retailer to buy better quality in future. Here’s how.

 

I bought a door switch and an enamelled badge from UK supplier (well known parts supplier). They both failed just before they were two years old. I thought this was not reasonable, so I emailed (well known parts supplier). They refused to do anything on the grounds that their one-year warranty had expired.

 

I live in New Zealand and our local law applies. (well known parts supplier) bluntly denied this, misleading me about my consumer rights. However, UK law requires that goods have to be satisfactory quality, although after six months the onus is on the purchaser to prove that a fault was present at the time of supply. I made my case to (well known parts supplier), but they continued to harp on about their arbitrary and self-imposed one-year warranty.

 

The UK Consumer advocate organisation Which? provided an official-sounding letter template https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/letter/letter-to-ask-for-a-faulty-item-to-be-repaired-or-replaced-adL425f1TlgZ which I filled in and sent via email.

 

Still no result other than the now-familiar broken record about their non-statutory warranty. Which? also gave me the next step: a more serious letter threatening Small Claims Court action https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/letter/letter-before-small-claims-court-claim-aSFAC8Q6Jqan

 

Suddenly (well known parts supplier) refunded the full purchase amount, and also refunded the fee for the Small Claims Court. In fact I had not yet filed a court action, so I’m ahead of the game when the next thing breaks. These were small stakes and another dispute or another supplier might have gone further. In this case the whole thing cost me nothing except my time.

 

It’s unfortunate to be confrontational, but Which? makes it clinical and clean. (well known parts supplier) were also polite, if affronted, and now they’ve rather huffily asked me not to communicate further. If we challenge retailers they might choose their products more carefully. Some car clubs liaise with suppliers to commission hard-to-find parts, and offer them members’ commitments to purchase in numbers. What do you think?

 

I wish you luck,

Ollie

[Clive]

I have edited the post to remove the name of the supplier. As a Club we have no desire to get involved with such public disputes.

We fully understand Olivers frustration with the quality of supplied parts. We have all been in similar situations where stuff is not as good as original. And we are no doubt being fed up with being told "nobody else has complained" even when we know others who have.

There are 2 possible outcomes if we all took similar action. The one we would like is that the quality of supplied parts would improve. The second is that suppliers would give up altogether.

This is not a new issue. Sadly people are often buying on price. I know of one supplier who had a better quality product made, and sold at a rather higher price. The first half sold quickly to those who wanted teh best available, but the rest of the stock sat around for years. Suppliers cannot afford that. They need turnover to be viable. 

Can a happier medium be found? Probably not as so many people are still buying on price, and it will always be possible to make something cheaper. 

This is not just Triumph, or classic car, issue. It is a problem with new cars too. 

I have now locked this thread.