Dissatisfied With A Product or Service?

Don’t let them get away with it!

This blog was prompted by an A-frame user who was palmed off with a partially finished job, because the supplier didn’t have the skill or knowledge to complete it. Instead of wiring the vehicle in the proper manner, they were fobbed off with a trailer lighting board, rendering the user liable to possible prosecution for not complying with The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, and amendments.

The information provided is a direct transcript, provided by the Citizens Advice Consumer Service.

Only the trader’s name has been changed.

Your rights -

If your complaint is to do with the service - Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, any service should be carried out with reasonably care and skill; a standard expected from someone competent in a line of trade. For a breach of reasonable care and skill you may be able to seek redress. You could look to request a repeat performance from the trader; any repeat performance should be provided free of charge, within reasonable time, and not cause significant inconvenience. If a repeat performance is impossible, can’t be done within a reasonable time or without causing significant inconvenience you may be able to claim a price reduction; this could be up to 100%, depending on the severity of the breach. Any refund should be provided within 14 days of the refund being agreed and via the same payment method. The burden of proof is on yourself as the consumer, therefore you will need to provide evidence that the trader has not used reasonable care and skill whilst carrying out the service. The trader would not be liable for fair wear and tear, misuse, accidental damage or neglect. If your complaint is to do with the goods - Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods provided by a trader to a consumer should be of satisfactory quality, which means they should be free from fault, last a reasonable amount of time, do what they’re designed to do, and be safe. You may be able to seek redress from the trader if the goods are not of satisfactory quality. IF you’re within your first 30 days of purchase, you could look to reject the goods for a full refund. Any refund should be provided within 14 days of the refund being agreed and via the same payment method. Should you choose to exercise your short term right to reject, the burden of proof will fall on you as a consumer; you will need to provide evidence that the goods are not of satisfactory quality and the fault was not down to any fair wear and tear, misuse, neglect tor accidental damage.

You may be able to claim consequential losses; these would typically be any losses you have suffered as a direct result of the trader supplying faulty goods. You would need to provide evidence of any losses you have incurred and any losses would need to be kept as low as possible.

Your next steps -

Tell the trader you've got a problem. If you can't agree how to sort it out, ask them what their complaints process is. Make a note of you who speak to and keep a record of any messages.

Follow XYZ TRADER’s complaints process. If they don't have a complaints process then email or write to them. Explain what the problem is, how you'd like them to sort it out and set a date for them to reply to you.

You can get help writing an email or letter by using the templates on our website: http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/template-letters/letters

There are things you need to say in your email or letter to ”XYZ TRADER”

Make sure you tell them what you bought, when you bought it, what's gone wrong and when it happened. You should also say what you want them to do about it to sort the problem out. Give them a deadline of 14 days to get back to you.

If you complain by email, send it with a read receipt. This tells you when the email was received and read. If you use webchat, it's a good idea to save a transcript of the conversation. If you complain by post, send the letter using a recorded delivery service. This lets you track the letter, and prove it was sent and received.

There's also a way you can solve disagreements without going to court - it's known as 'alternative dispute resolution'.

Ask the trader if they're a member of an alternative dispute resolution scheme. This is also known as an 'ADR scheme'.

You must complain to trader first, before you make a complaint to the ADR scheme.

What we will do - If you contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service yourself, they will pass the details to Trading Standards so they can investigate, if they want more information they will contact you direct.