@Plumbworlduk Compensation for damages due to extremely unreliable product and inflexible refund policy

[Positron74]

Hi,

Last year I purchased an expensive digital shower from an online retailer but this broke down 4 times in less than a year.

The manufacturer sent their engineer each time at no cost to me due to the warranty.

The replacement of individual parts and even the replacement of the entire unit didn't prevent the issue from reappearing just a few weeks after.

Tired of the poor quality of the product I requested a refund to the retailer which contacted the manufacturer to confirm my story.

The problem is that the retailer is proving unreasonable in that:

1) They are asking for the return of the entire unit, including the shower head, which is glued to the ceiling. Removing this will incur additional costs and will serve no practical purpose as I can't imagine them being able to resell it. The item is not sold separately.

2) I offered to pay for the shower head but this option is also being denied.

3) I offered to buy an even more expensive shower from their store, as long as they deliver it before collecting the old one. This is to avoid having to pay for the plumber call out twice and allow having the old one uninstalled and the new one fit in during the same visit. This was also denied as they are asking to return the old appliance first. Of course I could buy the new one when I want and get the refund later but that would mean an even higher exposure to the whims of a retailer that I no longer trust.

 

In short, the retailer is in my view making the return process as inconvenient and expensive as possible for me, perhaps hoping that I just give up.

 

Is there any legal tool that could be used in my favour in this scenario, e.g. claiming damages?

 

Thanks 

[BankFodder]

Please can you start telling us who the supplier is.

Secondly, was it supplied and installed by the same company or were they different matters?

 

Also, what is the value of the unit?

Also have you got anything in writing from the engineer that identifies what the fault was and what remedial action if any was taken?

[Positron74]

The supplier is Plumbworld, the product cost £440 and it was installed by my plumber. The engineer sent by the manufacturer (Triton) did not find any fault in the installation but I have nothing in writing. However, the manufacturer has confirmed the issues to the supplier as the latter contacted them to verify my refund claim.

[BankFodder]

Lots of poor reviews for Plumbworld here

https://www.reviews.io/company-reviews/store/plumbworld

 

But much better overall on trustpilot and although one is often suspicious of the positive reviews, it seems they've got over 21,000 reviews of which 89% are excellent – which suggested to me that generally they're not too bad - unless they've got a whole team of staff full-time putting up fake reviews – it seems pretty unlikely on that scale

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.plumbworld.co.uk

 

Of course it is no comfort to you now – but it's a shame that you didn't react within the first six months – assuming that it developed a fault then – because you would have then been able to have insisted on a single repair and then after that a complete replacement or refund.

You still retain these rights but isn't quite so clear-cut.

Of course they are entirely reasonable to ask for their equipment back once they either give you a refund or a replacement but if the problem is caused by a faulty unit then you are absolutely entitled to claim not only the replacement value of the unit but also all the reasonable costs associated with removing the old one and installing the new one.

It's a shame that you don't have anything in writing confirming the fault. I suggest that you send Plumbworld an SAR. Do immediately. Also send one to the manufacturer. Make sure you got any callout reference numbers et cetera. Do that immediately as well.

Is the shower currently functioning – in that are you able to take showers? If you aren't then maybe it will make your social distancing a bit easier because people won't want to come close to you – which is an unforeseen advantage, I suppose.

 

 

[Positron74]

The replacement value has now been refunded. Is there a template to get me started in claiming the costs associated with removing the old shower and installing the new one?

[BankFodder]

How much money are you talking about here?

Please could you itemise these costs. Did you have it done St John the basis of one quotation? Or did you get independent quotations before instructing the work