Returning several items after one develops fault

[jgs01]

Hello, 

 

I was hoping someone here may be able to offer me a little advice (I've done a search and can't find anything related).

 

I purchased 4 identical outdoor lights which I wired up about 6 months ago - all was well until in the past couple of weeks one has stopped working. On further investigation, it has been letting in water and essentially short circuited itself, irreparable damaging it.

 

The only issue is that they are no longer stocked (or indeed manufactured, from what I can tell), so for them to match as they originally did I would need to replace all 4.

What are my rights with regard to returning all of them?

Obviously it shouldn't be an issue getting a refund for the broken one, but the others will be well outside of the returns period for the retailer and I can see them refusing to take them back, especially as they are used, not current stock, and without the box (although with receipt). 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks

[BankFodder]

Presumably you bought them all at the same time. Who was the retailer?

 

[jgs01]

It was B&Q - I think it was 2 lots of 2 actually, but within a day or so of each other, just because one store only had a couple of stock, as did another.

[BankFodder]

You say that you wired them up about six months ago. When did you buy them? Was it about six months ago? If it was then was it less than six months or over six months? This is very important.

Secondly, it's a bit complicating that you bought them  in two lots. I think certainly there's no doubt that when you bought one set of two lights that you are entitled to have them matching each other. Personally I think you got a very good argument for saying that all four should match – but it does give B&Q a little chink of leverage if they decide that they want to be silly about it.

The next thing of course is what is the expected lifespan of these lights? Have you done any research on this? Are there any makers claims? Are these LED lights or they normal old-fashioned lights? I suppose if there LED lights then you should expect them to last for some considerable time.

What is the value of the lights? Have they no longer make those ones, what is your preferred solution?

[jgs01]

Slightly longer ago than I thought - one set purchased 09/07/19 and the second the following day.

 

They are indeed LED lights, in fact with the LED built in so you can't change the bulb as it turns out, so I would expect them to last even longer.

 

The makers determined lifespan is 10,000 hours, which I have certainly not had out of them. They were £25 each, so £1000 for the set. There is a clear argument that the failed one falls well within the 6 years and that I could reasonably expect it to last longer than it did - it's the other's I'm not sure about. Thanks very much for your help with this!

[slick132]

Hi JGS,

 

Yes, as LED lights, they should last 10,000 hours or more normally, maybe up to 20,000+.

 

If you bought 2 lights one day and 2 more the next and one has failed, you have a good argument to have a replacement for the failed one (not available), or a new set of 4 similar lights

[jgs01]

Once they are open again I shall have to go and see what they say then, thanks both for your help