I’ve won back £111,000 complaining about everything from cars to phones – five phrases to avoid getting fobbed off
ONLINE shopping and missing parcels affect most of us, but you’re in for better success by knowing your rights.
Scott Dixon – the UK’s self-declared biggest complainer – won back more than £111,0000 for households in 2023 by helping to complain about everything from cars to phones and kitchens.
Here he reveals the critical phrases companies tend to use and how to tackle them to avoid getting fobbed off.
1. You need to contact the courier firm for goods not arrived
If your goods haven’t arrived, you may be told by the retailer to contact the courier firm.
However, you should know your contract is with the retailer, not the courier firm.
In fact, it is the retailer’s responsibility to ensure that the goods are safely delivered to you.
S29 (2) Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that the goods remain at the trader’s risk until they come into the physical possession of:
- the consumer, or
- a person identified by the consumer to take possession of the goods
It is the retailer’s responsibility to resolve this, not yours.
The only exception is if you have instructed the courier firm to leave the goods in a “safe place”, they have followed your instructions and have gone missing or been stolen.
Nobody can be held liable in that sort of scenario.
If you are having problems getting a refund, simply raise a chargeback with your bank / credit card provider and cite “breach of contract” under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and dispute the transaction as an unfulfilled order.
You have up to 120 days to do so.
As an example, someone contacted me for help with a pair of Footlocker trainers costing £233 he returned that went missing.
He used their generated DHL return label and dropped it off at a DHL service point in a Premier Stores shop where he saw it scanned in.
DHL said they did not collect it and the store said that DHL did.
He asked for a receipt at the store but was told that he would receive it via email, so he had no proof that he dropped it off.
DHL and Footlocker both said they couldn’t do anything and he contacted Premier Stores twice with no response.
However, the retailer engaged the courier firm to deliver and return the goods, so it is up to them to resolve the issue.
The customer pressed hard citing the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to Footlocker, who eventually gave him a full refund.
It’s important to always take photos at the point of handover at a collection point for returns. These disputes can be incredibly difficult to resolve.
2. It was ‘SOLD AS SEEN’ – you have no comeback
If you’re told that a faulty item was “sold as seen”, you should know this is irrelevant.
S31 Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that a term of a contract to supply goods is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude or restrict the trader’s liability.
In other words, your right to redress remains the same under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
This states that goods sold are to be:
- Fit for purpose
- As described
- Satisfactory quality
- Last a reasonable length of time
Just remember this only applies to purchases from retailers. Private sales only need to be “as described”.
Car dealerships often cite a second-hand car was “sold as seen” when issues arise after you have taken delivery of a vehicle to stonewall any complaints.
Always get any promises in writing to evidence what was verbally confirmed.
Any adverts that say “sold as seen” are illegal and you should report the retailer to Trading Standards.
You are always entitled to a remedy under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
S22 (3) Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you a short-term right to reject faulty goods within 30 days, although the onus is on you to prove the goods are faulty.
You have to press hard on this and cite “breach of contract” under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
To protect yourself further, never pay by bank transfer.
Car dealerships often insist on this as it restricts your right to a remedy if problems arise afterwards.
Instead, always pay at least a deposit by credit card for goods over £100.
This gives you additional free cover and joint liability with the credit card provider under S75 Consumer Credit Act 1974.
3. You need to contact the manufacturer
Being told to contact the manufacturer for a faulty item is a catch-all fob off that is used by staff who are either trained to say this or don’t know any better.
Again, it is up to the retailer to resolve any issues and faults under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
As noted, S22 (3) Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you a short-term right to reject faulty goods within 30 days, although the onus is on you to prove the goods are faulty.
This could be obvious, but evidence is crucial.
Once you are past 30 days up to the first six months, any faults are considered to be there when the goods were purchased. This is known as the reverse burden of proof.
The onus is on the retailer to prove otherwise. You are entitled to a refund / replacement / repair (you cannot elect which option, although you can ask what you prefer).
Once you are past six months, you need to prove that the goods were faulty when you bought them.
This can be done by an independent report or a Google search which may reveal common faults evidenced in the public domain on forums.
Being told to contact the manufacturer is fob off generally used by high street retailers on faulty electrical goods, although I see it with kitchens and cars too.
As an example, a customer asked me for help with a £9,000 Nissan X-Trail he bought from a well-known UK-wide dealership that only lasted nine weeks.
The turbo had failed and destroyed the engine. He was facing a bill of up to £10,000, rendering the car a write off.
The dealership said the warranty only covers up to £500.
However, I argued that this was not a warranty issue and that he was entitled to a free repair, even though it was unlikely a catastrophic engine failure could be fixed.
In these circumstances, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that traders have an obligation to provide a free repair and must do so “within a reasonable time”, without causing inconvenience to the consumer.
The customer ended up receiving a full refund within two working days. This was my fastest ever result.
Separately, a disabled couple bought two air conditioning units and one broke down a few months later. They were going around in circles and told to contact the manufacturer.
The retailer eventually gave them an e-voucher for the wrong unit.
They were at the end of their tether and came across my website, where their experience mirrored all the fob-offs they found with clear-cut answers.
They ended up securing a full refund of about £650.
Remember you are entitled to a refund by the same payment method. You do not have to accept a voucher.
4. The warranty does not cover this fault / you did not take out a warranty or care plan – there is nothing we can do
Sales staff will try and sell commission-based warranties which are generally worthless and unnecessary.
A warranty is simply an insurance product and doesn’t provide you with better cover than the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which is free.
Your statutory rights are enshrined in law and override any warranties and store terms and conditions. You are always entitled to a remedy.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you an implied statutory warranty for free for up to six years in England and Wales and five years in Scotland.
As an example, someone came to me for help with a nearly new Ford Puma he bought which had various reoccurring faults that the garage couldn’t fix.
He estimated the car spent roughly 25% of its time in the garage.
This man was being given the runaround by staff for months who couldn’t get to the root of the problems.
They offered to extend the warranty and gave him various promises to try and prevent him from rejecting the vehicle.
Instead, I helped him secure a refund of nearly £30,000 within five working days.
Nobody is going to make it easy for you to reject a big-ticket item.
Unwinding finance agreements and restoring a customer to their original position before they entered the contract is costly.
Car dealerships will often insist that they need to look at the vehicle again (and again) to fix the faults, often at your expense.
5. We need to try and repair the fault again
Endless repairing is a popular ruse with faulty cars.
As noted, once you are past 30 days up to the first six months, any faults are considered to be there when the goods were purchased.
This is known as the reverse burden of proof. The onus is on the retailer to prove otherwise.
You are entitled to a refund / replacement / repair (you cannot elect which option, although you can ask what you prefer).
You are entitled to one free repair – retailers only get one crack at the same fault.
S49 Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill.
If that fails, you are entitled to a refund within 14 days by the same payment method (you do not have to accept a voucher).
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