Question regarding return of unwanted goods

Hi,

We bought lose stone granite blocks etc to do a patio for our garden. Went to a certain established Dublin retailer, spoke with what appeared to be a decent salesman and explained what we wanted - giving measurements for the area we wanted covered (i.e. 7mts long by 4mts wide).

We put some trust in the salesman, admiting that we were not experienced in this type of work but had someone experienced to do the work, then left him to firm up on the final details of the order (ie how much sand would be required, grouting for the stone tiles, building in a margin for error in terms of extra stock in case of breakages etc). A couple of days later the salesman phoned, advised on the price and we confirmed the purchase - which was subsequently delivered.

The work was done by an unrelated party, job was completed and we found we had substantial amounts of the items purchased, left over. So we contacted the salesman, asking him to take back the goods and give us a credit note to spend on other products. He reluctantly agreed to sort it out, then played cat and mouse with us for a couple of weeks, until he ultimately returned indicating the stock would be taken back, subject to a restocking charge (amounting to approx 30% of the purchase price of the goods - amounting to a couple of hundred euro). The time between delivery of the goods and our request to have the surplus taken back, was approx 2-3 weeks.

Seperately, there was the cost of carraige, for returning the goods - which in isolation, I would not have a problem with.

The invoice provided refers to terms of business being on the reverse of the page, but the page is blank so we were never provided with a copy of the terms of business

We are confident we were open and accurate in terms of what we asked for, but we did permit him authority when we were at the store to use his experience, to include additional items to ensure we had all goods needed, for the tradesmen to do the job we wanted done.

We feel we are now being ripped off, with this "restocking charge" given the notably high percentage that the retailer is attempting to take from us - particularly keeping in mind that we have suggested using the credit against other goods in the retailers store, we did not ask for a refund etc.

Anyone got any advice or views (other than the obvious, which regretfully was that we were foolish to have trusted the sales person) ?

Many thanks

As it seems to be quite a complex purchase/return I would be inclined to contact www.consumerconnect.ie and ask their advice on your rights.

Not sure of your rights on this, but goods were fit for purpose. Salesman probably worked on commission so the more he sells you the more he makes, that may be the reason he sold you too much.

Or your measurements were incorrect, or maybe got lost in translation. Having dealt with builders providers etc they have always been very flexible on returning unwanted goods and indeed you were willing to accept a credit note so good faith on your side too.

It would be interesting if someone else went in with the same measurements and asked how many tiles were needed for that area and see if the same thing happened again.

Another reason for the discrepency is maybe you got a really good tradesman who had no waste. It's amazing the difference a careful tradesman can be, I noticed when the Polish lads started working in Ireland how they saved every bit of spare cuttings for later.

At the end of the day it was better the salesman sold you too much than too little, you cannot rectify too little if a particular item is out of stock.

Most builder stores do advertise a "restocking" fee for returned goods - usually it's displayed at the sales counter...

Ideally, you should have came with your requirements from the person doing the actual work on how much of each was required. I find that sales people (specifically with floor / walls tiles / flooring, in my experience ) do tend to over estimate what is needed.

I understand this has left a "bad taste", but I don't think you have much come back...

Bronte said:

At the end of the day it was better the salesman sold you too much than too little, you cannot rectify too little if a particular item is out of stock.

Click to expand...

Agree,

Just returned a filter for my car that turns out is one that never needs replacing, restocking charge charged,

Really from the shop point of view they have everyone over-ordering and then bringing unused items back. Personally I think your lucky to be able to bring back granite blocks at all.

I think the amount over that required, and what was put in writing will be critical here. If the amount delivered was significantly in excess of what was required, you may have a strong case. We'd need to know all the qualtities involved, and their sales units (do they price per block, or blaes of a certain quantity, etc..)

They are entitled to charge a re-stocking fee and carriage, so you really need to demonstrate they deliberately over-supplied you to have any hope of avoiding those charges.

This is not an uncommon problem in building and landscaping type work where the retailer sells by the tonne or pallet load and the requirements are specified in sq mtrs or sq feet. The mythical being "Someone" needs to take responsibility for the conversion and ordering and the retailer will usually round up the requirement (to half-tonnes or full pallet loads).

The restocking fee is not unusual but at 30% + carriage, the retailer will have it back in stock for free.