damaged goods/shoes..money back ?

[tatu]

i dont know what my consumer rights are but i bought a pair of shoes 3 weeks ago,,the sole is coming off,,,the girl in shoe shop says to leave them and they will fix them ,,,am i not entitled to change them for ones the same price ? or get my money back ?..it says on reciept that goods returned within 28 days and in a good re saleable order will get refund

[Richard1966]

If goods are not fit for purpose or don't match the description then yes you have rights under the sale and supply of goods and services act for a full refund of your money.

An EU ruling a couple of years ago effectively said that if anything goes wrong during the first 6 months it is assumed the goods were sold with the fault unless the trader can show otherwise, after 6 months the onus is on the buyer to how that the items were faulty when sold. Obviously if you use something in a way it wasnt intended you cant expect the shop to refund you.

[dot.hawkes]

If you had brought them into my shop with the sole coming off the first thing I would have done would be to offer you a repair, if you had accepted that then the repair would have been carried out free of charge and your shoes would have likely been fine. If you had wanted an exchange then you could have asked for one and you would still have been offered a repair but if you had insisted on an exchange you would have got one. if you had brought them in and asked for a refund and continued to ask for a refund at ever offer of a repair or exchange then you would have been given a refund as ling as I thought that the sole coming away had been a genuine fault.

It does sound as though the assistant/manager, offered you a repair based on their insepction of the shoe and the decision that perhaps you had tripped and caught it and caused the damage accidentally, or perhaps you had driven in them and caught the sole on the car pedals.

In any case, with business how it is all retail stores will be doing everything they can to keep refunds down to a minmum.

the 28 day returns policy on goods fit for resale applies to items you but that you do not use, keep the recipt for and do not remove the labels on, this is not a right in law it is simply a custoner service policy, which of course varies from stoe to store, some allow 14 days some 28. You cannot demand that anything is returned under that policy if you deem it to be faulty or fit for purpose.

How that you have accepted the repair i am not 100% sure that you can change your mind as noone has ever changed their mind after agreeing to the repair, i know it is a section in the sale of goods act but neve3r had to refer to it.

[dot.hawkes]

If you feel the shoes were genuinely faulty then it is probably too late to prove this independantely. In my companies case, we would usually send the pair away to our quality control and they would examine them and usually we get a decision in our favour as we are all very experienced in spotting accudental damage.

You have to remember that shoes are worn on a variety of surfaces, from carpet to concrete and any type of material impacting with concrete every few seconds whilst walking, or coming into contact with metal whilst driving, is likely to suffer wear and tear or accidental damage from the first step. Whether the damage occurs in the first hour or the first year it is irrelevent. Your shoes were sold fit for purpose, which would have been for general wear, if you had asked if they were toughened reinforced shoes that could withstand heavy use and had been told yes they are, then you would have some come back.