Consuner Rights

The shop must repair or replace any faulty goods, they have failed to do so your friends are entitled to a refund. If they paid by credit card then the credit card company are jointly liable, they can ring the company and instigate a cash back claim. This is always a good resort. I would also post a bad review on local social media naming and shaming, the shop will lose more business in the long run.

 

@ricky101 You are correct. The retailer is responsible. A person has a right, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to a full refund if brought to their attention within the first 30 days. They have an option to allow them to effect a repair but if that is unsatisfactory they are still entitled to a full refund.

It is best to try and get a refund from the shop before using any other method. Write quoting that according to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you are entitled to your money back as the product was 'Not of satisfactory quality', was 'Not fit for purpose' and 'Did not fit the description' (did not work as advertised, expected or explained). Any one of those three criteria is sufficient to reject the item.

They were being helpful in allowing the shop to try and effect a repair but as that was unsuccessful they now reject the product and want a full refund. They hope that the shop will now follow its legal obligation without it being necessary to take the matter further. At this stage I would not put in writing anything about social media although it could be mentioned, in passing, if they are chatting about things.

Other options are Trading Standards or Small Claims Court but both can take a while. Although the mention of it, at a later date, if they still refuse is likely to be enough.

As mentioned, if paid by credit card (and I would always advise paying for things by credit card and nor debit card) they can make a Section 75 claim on the credit card for any item that cost over £100. This is a legal liability that the credit card company has as they are equally liable. What they do is take the amount paid back from the shop and hold onto it until the shop have responded to the accusation of the infringement of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

If paid by debit card you can apply for a 'Chargeback' instead and although it is not enshrined in law most banks have it as an article of their Scheme Rules. Chargeback also applies to credit card payments below £100.

Hopefully none of these other things will be needed if they quote that according to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the retailer is always liable in this sort of situation and they are entitled to a full refund as is was reported within the first 30 days.

 

To try and be fair to the shop, I have found they are quite often ignorant of the law. They shouldn't be but it certainly happens.

 

One of the important things to remember when trying to resolve this type of thing is to always remain polite.