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Consumer Rights Act
myke pocock - 14/5/21 at 02:40 PM

Knowing the depth of knowledge on here I wonder if anyone can answer this question. My son bought a bed and mattress in February 2019 for £450. At the turn of this year he reported that the mattress was showing some damage on the underside but due to Covid and that he is in supported living we couldnt go and view it. The photograph he sent showed slight damage so we werent that bothered and decied to wait until we could get there. Yesterday he said the damage had worsened considerably so we finally got access and found that the bed frame is made of rectangual steel box with cross rails and an open wire mesh welded to the frame. The welds on the cross rails had broken and the resultant sharp edges had badly damaged the mattress and in addition welds around the edge between the mesh and box had also broken, some 13 welds in total had failed. He reports not having abused the bed in any way eg; using it as a trampoline.
We contacted the supplier who was not sympathetic in any way, suggesting he could be overweight until we told him he is ten and a half stone! They then alleged incorrect usage and were off hand and quite confrontational. They offered no solution.
I have now written and asked them to come up with a solution under the Consumer Rights Act. My question eventually is; if they alledge misuse is the onus on them to prove it and if they cannot are they liable to come to a solutiuon to our satisfaction? Have to say if they had offered a reasonable discount at the time for new bed and mattress we would have accepted but as they were so confrontational and totally unhelpful I will go for as much as I can get for my son.

[Edited on 14/5/21 by myke pocock]


johnH20 - 14/5/21 at 04:11 PM

I hope he paid with a credit card as that gives him additional cover via the credit card company. Some useful advice offered by' Which' on line, should come up if you put' consumer rights act' into Google.


jacko - 14/5/21 at 05:27 PM

It must of been made very poorly to break up like that
Graham


tegwin - 15/5/21 at 04:56 PM

Feel your frustration. You’d expect a reasonable life from items like that but what ‘reasonable’ is in the eye of the law is open to interpretation.

Sadly if the supplier doesn’t want to know then I suspect the time, cost and stress involved in getting any recompense will far outweigh the £450 spent.


steve m - 15/5/21 at 05:58 PM

The modern world is a thro away society, nothing is meant to last much longer that the given warranty covers

To the extent, on the Dish washer, and Washing Machine that i bought last Jan/Feb now have 5 years full guarantee , that cost another £130 each

As both of the old Bosch units broke halfway within a week of each other, and both not even 17 months old

I cant tell you the words i said!


Mr Whippy - 16/5/21 at 08:09 AM

God that bed sounds like junk and their attitude no better than their product. As above nothing these days is made to last, it's all garbage, I doubt it would be possible to get your money back tbh, just a case of buyer beware. Could try sagging them off on reviews or post a detailed in depth review on YouTube about their product and why not send them a link for them to enjoy too.


Schrodinger - 16/5/21 at 08:21 AM

Take some photos copy the receipt and take/send them to trading standards and ask for their help/guidance.


myke pocock - 16/5/21 at 09:05 AM

Thanks for the replies. He paid by Visa Debit so dont know if he is covered as much as if he had paid by credit card.


johnH20 - 16/5/21 at 12:27 PM

Credit cards provide more protection than debit cards. I would not give up though, after issuing a final warning to the vendor you can go to the Financial Services Ombudsman. Its free and easy to do online.


craig1410 - 16/5/21 at 11:56 PM

From this site: https://thegrumpygit.com/the-consumer-rights-act-2015-what-you-need-to-know/

quote:

If 6 months has elapsed, the onus is on you to evidence that the fault was there at the time of purchase and this can be evidenced by an expert opinion or evidence that this is a common fault with this product.



So given it was purchased in 2019 the onus falls to you to prove that it was sub-standard. This is probably not worth the time and money involved so I’d suggest just move on and put it down to experience. Honestly, however frustrating it may be, it’s not worth your time and energy to seek remedies.