Faulty Tent - Reatailer Rufusing Refund - Advice Please

[Steve Mac]

Today I rang the local Citizens Advice branch, and after a conversation with one of their advisers, I have drafted this letter, which I intend to send tomorrow morning. I have gone over the details of the problem again in the letter, as the owner is probably unaware of what is going on. Please let me know what you think.

 

Dear Mr XXXXX,

 

I am writing regarding the Outwell Wolf Lake 7 tent package and Awning Conversion that was sold to me on 8th June. Unfortunately when I used the tent for the first time in August there were a number of faults with the tent, including a carpet that did not fit, a bedroom inner tent that had already had a repair, a rip in a window vent, a broken fixing point on the groundsheet and a broken pegging point on the Awning Conversion.

 

 

I phoned your XXXXXXX branch and spoke to XXXXXXX who informed me that XXXXXXX XXXXX were aware of the manufacturing fault with the carpet when it was sold to me, as he had suffered the same problem with the display tent, but that no replacement would be available until February next year. He arranged for a courier to pick up the tent and return it to your premises on 27th August. I have since been in conversation and email correspondence with XXXX at the XXXXXXX branch who has informed me that the Awning Conversion is out of stock, and that it also will not be available until February next year. I have since had this confirmed by Outwell themselves.

 

 

When I heard this I asked XXXX for a refund of the £1500 purchase price, as six months is an unreasonable and unfair amount of time to wait for replacement parts. He refused to give me a refund, saying that I had to wait while he got in touch with the manufacturer. I disagreed with this, and was waiting for a further phone call from him today (Tuesday), which never came. When I phoned the XXXXXXX branch to speak to him at the end of the day, I was told that he was not there as it was his day off.

 

 

In light of this, I contacted Citizens Advice in XXXXXXX who informed me that the terms of the contract between us have been broken under the Sale of Goods Act, as the tent and the associated items are not of satisfactory quality. They also said that as the replacement parts are unavailable, and especially as it was known that the carpet was faulty when it was sold to me, then I was entitled to a full refund of the £1500 that I paid. They also advised me of what other course of action to take if this did not happen.

 

 

I am therefore rejecting the tent package and Awning Conversion under the aforementioned Sale of Goods Act and expect a full refund of the purchase price. If this is not forthcoming within seven days, I will have no other choice than to issue legal proceedings through the small claims court, with no further correspondence from myself .

Is this OK, or should I have included or omitted anything?

[renegadeimp]

Change " If this is not forthcoming within seven days, I will have no other choice than to issue legal proceedings through the small claims court, with no further correspondence from myself ." to something like

 

" If a full refund is not forthcoming within 7 calendar days, then legal action will be commenced immediately and without further notice to recover monies owed."

 

You need to play hardball with them and leave them in no doubt. Not play it soft and use if's/but's, maybe's etc, if you understand what i mean.

[Steve Mac]

Thanks reneadeimp. I've changed the wording now. Hopefully this will do the trick. I've looked up the firm at Companies House, so I know who to address it to (the very chap who sold us the tent, as it turns out).

 

I haven't got in touch with the credit card company yet, as I'm hoping this letter will be the end of it.

 

Fingers crossed.

[steampowered]

Looks like a great letter.

 

Technically speaking, the period of time stated in the formal Pre-Action Protocol under the court Civil Procedure Rules is 14 days not 7 days ... though in reality this doesn't really matter.

[Steve Mac]

Steampowered - thanks for the info, but the letter has already gone out! I'll give them 14 days instead of seven, just to be on the safe side though.

 

As it happens, the manager who was meant to phone me on the Tuesday rang Wednesday morning whilst I was at the post office sending the letter. He still refused to give the refund, and started trying to tell me that I might as well wait until February as I'm hardly likely to go camping between now and then! Cheeky s*d! I just told him I'll wait for a response from the owner to my letter.

[Surfer01]

Goods are not fit for purpose especially as the goods had a repaired rip. In this case they cannot offer a repair or replacement so refund it is! As it had a rip I am wondering if they sold you a "second hand" new unit that had already been out the store and returned. If they did this it is a criminal offence. Obviously the rip had been repaired at some point and whether by Outwell or the retailer is unknown.