Problem with Retailer

thegrayson

I recently bought an AEG from an Irish retailer that has an online store only. There was a two week lead item on the item as it turned out not to be in stock and a couple of days after delivery when I had time to play with it I found a faulty part on the AEG. The response to my problem has been poor at best as I have only an email address to contact. I have asked the retailer to supply a replacement part, AEG, or issue a full refund. Their preference is to supply a replacement part but have yet to confirm if they can do so. I gave them until last Friday to confirm what they planned to do for me and when they would do it but I'm still waiting.

Any suggestions on how I might tackle this?

Decoy

How did you pay for item? If PayPal open a PayPal Dispute asap; if credit card you can call your credit card company & ask them to hold payment/open a dispute until the matter is resolved; I don't think you have many options if you paid with cash/PO/debit card.

If you gave them a reasonable amount of time to respond to the initial query next time you contact them insist on a replacement or refund.

Please let us know how you get on, retailers can only be judged on how they respond when things go wrong.

thegrayson

I payed by credit card so I can give the bank a call .I know that most of the Airsoft retailers in Ireland would deal with suppliers in Asia so I can appreciate that I might have to wait a while for a replacement part or AEG but I feel that two weeks is ample time to commit to a course of action. Sadly that hasn't happened yet.

Alan b.

thegrayson wrote: »

I payed by credit card so I can give the bank a call .I know that most of the Airsoft retailers in Ireland would deal with suppliers in Asia so I can appreciate that I might have to wait a while for a replacement part or AEG but I feel that two weeks is ample time to commit to a course of action. Sadly that hasn't happened yet.

It's not up to you to wait for an Asian supplier. You didn't buy from a supplier, you bought from the Irish retailer.
It's up to them to fix in resonable time. Contact the ombudsman.

mememo

Any chance you could post up the name of the shop as its always good to know who not to buy from

Alan b.

mememo wrote: »

Any chance you could post up the name of the shop as its always good to know who not to buy from

Boards won't allow naming and shaming in the open forum.

thegrayson

Thats a shame, I would like to make sure that nobody else falls foul of this. I have received more apologetic but ultimately unhelpful noises from this retailer.
Am starting to think I should just repair the part myself and report the issue to the Ombudsman. I get agitated every time I think about it.

mememo

Alan b. wrote: »

Boards won't allow naming and shaming in the open forum.

Quite a shame as it could save people a lot of trouble but i can understand why and it could lead t a lot of confrontations that the mods do not want

thegrayson wrote: »

Thats a shame, I would like to make sure that nobody else falls foul of this. I have received more apologetic but ultimately unhelpful noises from this retailer.
Am starting to think I should just repair the part myself and report the issue to the Ombudsman. I get agitated every time I think about it.

Any chance you could pm me he name as i was thinking of getting a new a.e.g for myself from a new online only shop . I always think you can really tell how good a store is by how helpful they are when something goes wrong and how quickly they get the problem sorted . Sorry to hear you have had such a bad time with this shop and hope you get get everything sorted

Private Snafu

Alan b. wrote: »

Boards won't allow naming and shaming in the open forum.

It's not naming and shaming if you post your experience:rolleyes:.... It's been done several times in the experiences with retailers thread:)

thegrayson

If things don't progress I'll end up repairing the part myself, adding to the retailers thread and reporting my experience to the Ombudsman.

Alan b.

lperrozzi wrote: »

Alan b. wrote: »

Boards won't allow naming and shaming in the open forum.

It's not naming and shaming if you post your experience:rolleyes:.... It's been done several times in the experiences with retailers thread:)

If the retailer takes exception to it then it is.
Hence it already been said not to do it.

Lifelong Habit

The OP also has the option of small claims court. It's cheap enough to take an action there now (somewhere around the 20 euro mark). If he has to pay for his AEG to be repaired or has to repair it himself he can claim those costs back in the court.

thegrayson

There is no cost for me to repair the part (drill a hole, tap M4 thread, fit new screw, original M3 threads completely stripped) however I shouldn't have to, the retailer should make good on this issue straight away. If I carry out the repair myself it will be immediately obvious that work of some sort has been carried out on the AEG and having bought it new that offends my sensibilities.

thegrayson

Have reported this problem to the National Consumer Agency and also asked for permission from the Mods to name the retailer on this forum. I last heard from the retailer on Sept. 13th and he cited difficulties with his suppliers. No sign of a replacement AEG or refund.

mememo

Have you added this to the Experiences/advice with Airsoft retailers tread i have seen some people asking about them over there and since it is for shop reviews you really should post your experience there too http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054978008&page=196

thegrayson

I'll add it now. I knew the thread existed but couldn't find it, even after searching

Anyway, I contacted the retailer again letting them know that I now had a case number from the NCA. Was immediately given an address and told that I would receive a refund in full when the AEG was returned. So I sent the AEG back with GLS today. Here's hoping all goes well.

thegrayson

AEG finally returned, refund received, but am bitter that I'm out of pocket for returning an item that was shipped to me in faulty condition.