Another refund question?

lamaq

I know there has just been a big long thread about refunds but I really need to know where I stand in relation to my problem.

Yesterday I bought 100 CD-Rs from Dawn computers in Goatstown, Dundrum. I have bought CDs from there before but they had a new brand (Bulkpaq) in this time.

When I tried them at home 2 of them burnt and nero said it was fine but when I tried to find the files nothing came up (tried this in 2 cd-rom drives and a cd player). The other 2 I burnt failed to burn properly.

When I brought them back the owner agreed to try them out (while constantly telling mew how good they were and how noone had ever had a problem). The first one failed to burn right to which he said the source disk must have been scratched. The second one he tried (on another burner) did work.

I asked for a refund and said I would take store credit even saying I would pay for the first 25 pack that was opened. He told me that there was a 20% handling fee for returned goods even though there still in their wrapper.

Just before I left he told me that as far as he was concerned they were fine (even though they had a 50% success ratio in his shop!) and I would have to get them independently checked.


Just wondering where I stand with rights? Certainly won't be doing any business there again anyway.

maxheadroom

The Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act is your friend

If the goods are either "not of merchantable quality" or "not fit for the purpose sold" you are entitled to a full refund or replacement. You don't have to accept a replacement if the replacement itself is not of merchantable quality or not fit for the purpose the original goods were sold for.

In these circumstances, "restocking fees" are illegal (under Irish, and possibly EU law).

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/consumer_affairs/consumer_rights_and_cross_border_shopping_in_the_european_union.html is a good place to start gathering information. If the retailer refuses to back down, threaten to go to the ODCA (Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs). If he still won't back down, actually complain to them. Ask him for the reason he is refusing to provide a full refund in writing, this will strenghten your case (and make you seem likeyoure serious about the complaint)

You don't have to, and shouldn't, accept store credit, and you are entitled to a refund on the entire purchace, not just the unused portions of it.

lamaq

Thanks for the advice.

Still not sure about what constitutes 'goods of merchantable quality'. The shopkeeper is saying that the CDs are of merchantable quality while I'm saying they're not.

I think I will contact consumer affairs on the principle of the thing. I'm sure the shop would have got their money back off the manufacturer for a bad batch but instead they tried to rip me off.

Not only have they lost my future business but I'll also be telling all my friends not to shop there too. All because he wouldn't do the decent thing!

RicardoSmith

All the CD's should burn correctly. If they fail regularly for an unknown reason, and another brand burns ok, then you have to assume that the problem is with the CD's. I'd assume that they only burn at very slow speeds and will fail at higher speeds. If they fail to burn at slow speeds and with burn proof then the CD's are faulty.

I would also say that you are returning the goods because they are not of merchantable quality so a restocking fee does not apply. I'd just tell him your not happy, you can take it to the ODCA or the small claims court at no cost to yourself, most retailers will avoid the bad publicity this will give them.

I don't think its up to you to get them checked. Burning 4 CD's and 3 of them failing is a good enough to return them as faulty, I reckon. In the small court the judge wouldn't need to hear anymore than that, expecially when a restocking fee is mentioned.

lamaq

Actually all 4 burnt cds didn't work! Nero finished the burning and it said it was alright but when I went to check it the cd wouldn't read at all.

I've tried other cds and they all work fine. I have a Toshiba DVD-RW/CD-RW and have found it to be a very good writer and reader of media.

The owner tried to infer that there was something wrong with my writer even though I told him that I had tried other media that worked fine.

Absolam

If ANY of the CDs fail to burn, through their own fault, then they are not of merchantable quality and must be replaced or refunded. They're not entitled to charge you anything for doing either, and you could require them to demonstrate that the replacements are or merchantable quality before you accept them, given that they have the facility on-site. Otherwise, straight to the small claims court with you!

lamaq

As I mentioned before he did try them out in the shop. On the first machine he copied directly from a cd-rom to a seperate cd-writer. It failed about have way through to which the owner blamed in on the source cd and took it out to show be how scratched it was. I didn't really see any scratches on it and if I had to guess what happened I would say it was the cd-r that caused the problem.

He then took another cd-r and copied directly from a different cd-rom on a different machine. This worked and he then told me there was nothing wrong with the cd-rs and when I reminded him that he had only shown a 50% success ratio he just kept on saying that they were fine.

The more I think about it the more pissed off I get. I tried to be reasonable but from the moment I came into the shop he was unwilling to help. How do I go to small claims court then?

Sarsfield

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/justice/small_claims_court/

It costs €9 to make a claim. I'd say its worth it just on a point of principle. But its not my claim and not my €9.

If you go for it, Good luck! Let us know how it works out, and also your impression of the process.

lamaq

Will do! Thanks to everyone for all the advice.

lamaq

Just to let everyone know that I won't be going down the legal route. I considered it and asked some people who knew a bit about the small claims court process and they said it would take time to get it all organised. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time at the moment so it looks like I'm stuck with the dodgy merchandise.

On the positive side I now know never to shop there again and thankfully it wasn't too expensive a thing to be caught out on. Its good to know exactly what my rights are as well so thanks again to everyone for the advice

Our man in Havana

By not doing anything you are letting him away with it. Typical Irish attitude, no wonder they are ripping us off.

Genghis

As you have named him, perhaps you could e-mail him a link to this thread / have someone else forward it to him. At least that way he will know you are not pleased with his refund policy, and have publicly stated it so.

Syth

Just to let everyone know that I won't be going down the legal route

Have you gone back to the shop and told them that they have to refund you under the law? Sometimes if you bring it up to them and maybe threaten them, they might just fold and give you a refund.

lamaq

I have not gone to shop to threathen legal action or tell him that I know my rights, ect, because I work full time so that only leaves a small slot on Saturdays. At the moment I also have other work on so I don't think I'll have a free Saturday until the end of the month. This is also why I'm not going to take any legal action either.

As for my "typical Irish attitude" all I can say is I will never be shopping there again and I will tell anyone I know not to shop their either, I would guess this will will probably do more damage to the shop's future business than the cost of 100 cds. Principle is one thing but I'm afraid work has to come first at the moment.

Typedef

Make a scene in front of other customers.... watch the shopkeeper wilt.


Simple really.

maxheadroom

Or ring the ODCA and get them to investigate on your behalf - they do the work, you don't have to worry about it...