A friend recently bought a kids thomas the tank engine playset from Argos for the kids birthday but it was faulty and so they took it back. Argos said they have a 30 day money back guarantee on faulty items and because the item had been in the cupboard for 40 days before being opened, they could not do anything and said contact the manufacturer. They demanded to see the manager but she just pointed at the smallprint and smirked.
Cue me and my legal knowledge I have gained from my law degree to wipe the smirk off her face.

Bear with me on this

I went into the store and spoke to the manager and pointed out that the contract is between my friend and argos and not the manufacturer and I then directed her attention to the fact that goods must be of satisfactory quality under S.14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. I then told her that Argos's exclusion of liability after 30 days is attempting to exclude or restrict the aforementioned Act contrary to section 6 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, which states as follows:

As against a person dealing as consumer, liability for breach of the obligations arising from—

(a)[F2section 13, 14, or 15 of the 1979 Act](sellers’s implied undertakings as to conformity of goods with description or sample, or as to their quality or fitness for a particular purpose);

(b)section 9, 10 or 11 of the 1973 Act (the corresponding things in relation to hire-purchase),

cannot be excluded or restricted by reference to any contract term.

She kept making excuses so I told her that under these acts their smallprint is worthless and that we would take legal action whereby Argos would lose big time and not only be forced to refund or replace the item but would also be fined and have to pay costs. This duly wiped the smirk off her face and they coughed up a refund after much deliberating.

Sorry for babbling on but this is useful for any encounters with smug shop managers. I always give advice without prejudice

 LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

On an important note, did the kid get their Thomas the tank engine playset  09 FL2 HSE auto Lago Grey
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On an important note, did the kid get their Thomas the tank engine playset

Sure did. They opted for refund as Argos did not have any left and they purchased elsewhere  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

If it was like the TTE sets i bought my son they definitely are not cheap and personally i don't think they were 3 year old kid proof.

trains that have the power supplied from the carriage has tiny cables that break causing lack of power, wheels that come loose, nose that get scratched and cause my tired son to be heartbroken that spencers nose is broken

Nice to hear the little man took on the big company and came out trumps  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

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carriage has tiny cables that break causing lack of power, wheels that come loose, nose that get scratched and cause me to be heartbroken that spencers nose is broken

Ok you found Me out the train set was mine  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

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personally i don't think they were 3 year old kid proof.

trains that have the power supplied from the carriage has tiny cables that break causing lack of power, wheels that come loose, nose that get scratched and cause my tired son to be heartbroken that spencers nose is broken

Hey npinks, you should have argued the following, taken from S.14 subsection 2B of the Sale of Goods Act 1979:

For the purposes of this Act, the quality of goods includes their state and condition and the following (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—

(a)fitness for all the purposes for which goods of the kind in question are commonly supplied,

(b)appearance and finish,

(c)freedom from minor defects,

(d)safety, and

(e)durability.


Worth remembering for future  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey