Consumer rights?

[derf]

Has anyone ever been able to get a refund, from one of the French DIY outlets for faulty electrical goods? (bought one day and taken back the next)

Do we have a right to demand a refund in no exchange is available?

If so how do you get them to do it?

Any comments welcome.

[Nick Trollope]

[quote]Has anyone ever been able to get a refund, from one of the French DIY outlets for faulty electrical goods? (bought one day and taken back the next) Do we have a right to demand a refund in no exchang...[/quote]

You do, in theory at least have the right to a refund. However, getting one is often a problem.

Conventional wisdom has it that you must stand in the middle of the shop and tell everyone (as loud as possible and in English) exactly what you think of the establishment. Works for some, I gather.

 

[Val_2]

Well against our principals of buying from such a place due to the bad reputation,bad mannered employees and shoddy goods,I recently bought a cheap (40€) masonry drill for the labourer to use and throw away after if it had any life left in it rather than him ruin our expensive Bosch machine as he can be very careless sometimes. It lasted only three hours until it fell apart right down the middle, took it back and they exchanged it for another, this lasted until next afternoon when the cable broke and we didn't see why we should spend time and money replacing it ourselves. Took that back and got another which did exactly the same. In the end, I asked for my money back and got it. This was at Bricodepot. I have also had money refunded at Mr.Bricolage in the past for unopened surplus paint I bought. I think a lot depends on your attitude towards the staff and if you remain calm and very firm not letting them fob you off with a credit note.

[Alexis]

I have never had any trouble at my local Bricosphere - Weldoms - M.Bricolage.  They keep changing their name so I get confused.  Mind you, I am their best customer and know all of them by name.

Take in your till receipt, your guarantee and the faulty goods and just stand there until they change it.  I had a faulty - cheap - drill exchanged twice and when I asked if I could cough up the money and pay for a dearer one, they just gave me the dearer one.  Then there was the thingie with the discs in upside down...that was him

After ten years I am still boycotting Bricomarche though.  They charged me double on a lot of stuff then, when I complained, they lost my receipt.....

[la bezarderie]

Remaining calm is the key, even when the staff have reached the hysterical stage. Having been sold one faulty shower valve at BAO in Cherbourg, I was less than impressed that the replacement was no good either.  Told it would take two weeks to get a replacement, I told them on the phone that I would be returning on Monday or Tuesday and would want a reimboursement.

On arrival yestereday afternoon, they told me they had no money in the till and I should have phoned in the morning so that one of them could go to the bank. 

They were, unfortunately, the two rudest women I have ever encountered but as my French wasn't up to a really good row I stood my ground and eventually with a lot of huffing, puffing and flouncing one of them paid me from her own purse.

According to them it is impossible to refund money on to a carte bancaire in France. 

I really enjoyed telling them that I didn't want another valve because I had ordered one over the internet with an English company and it had arrived in 48 hours.

Will I ever shop at BAO again?  Maybe but not until hell freezes over.

 

 

 

[suein56]

***According to them it is impossible to refund money on to a carte bancaire in France***

Strange how Ikea can do just that then.

Sue

Edit: I know Ikea is not a DIY place but the hours and the tools it took to put our wardrobes together they might well be. Mind you the wardrobes are lovely now they are finished.

 

[Teamedup]

Yes they can put it back onto a card if they are set up to do it, Casto do.

There are some shops I will not shop in because they will not give money back, ie Leclerc and I had a fight in Mr Bricolage the other week, but got it in the end.

 

[Clair]

My understanding is that if the item is unused, you have 7 days from the date of purchase to change your mind and get a refund (proof of purchase necessary).

If the item is under garantee, they have an obligation to first try to get it repaired (again, keep proof of purchase), then to offer you a replacement if that cannot be done. But as they tend to see it as money coming out of their own pocket, you have to fight for the basics...

I do not think giving a refund is an obligation, I believe all you'd get would be a voucher ("avoir") to make sure you spend the monry with them.

Best bet: see website for consumer association equivalent:

www.quechoisir.org

Good luck

Clair

[la bezarderie]

Surely a refund in respect of faulty goods that can't be immediately replaced, must be an obligation?  If it isn't I'll be reluctant to purchase anything without trying to source it from the UK first.