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Janepie33

Gone off FatFace!

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Today the strap fell off my £25 cotton & PVC Fatface handbag. I have had it for 7 months. When I took it back to the shop, the assistant said that I could have a refund or an exchange, but as the price of the bag had gone down, I was only entitled to £15.

I was a bit fed up as I had paid full price for the bag. :(

 

The assistant held the bag up to the CCTV to show the manager who was in an office somewhere doing paperwork. The manager told the assistant that as I had had the bag for more than 6 months, I was not really entitled to anything, but as a good will gesture they would pay for me to have it repaired, but I would have to sort it all out and give them the bill.

 

That is what I am doing, but not really sure if it is the best solution. :think: Any Omlet thoughts on the matter?........

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I think the length of time depends on the item, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect something like this to last significantly more than 7 months. I would tell them the item is not fit for purpose and you are entitled to a full refund (of what you paid for it, not what they are now selling it for). If you don't get any joy, go to head office, failing all else, Trading Standards (and dare I say it, post on the Fat Face Facebook/Twitter page - that seems to have a remarkable effect, sadly)

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Have a look on the trading standards website. Lots of useful info. I bought an expensive leather bag (£220) from Joules and the strap stitching started coming loose after 2 months of normal everyday use. I had to dig my heels in and insist on a refund rather than a credit note. It took at least 25 minutes on a busy saturday of loudly insisting on my money back and exclaiming how disapointed I was with the lack of fitness for purpose. They kept trying to lure me into the back of the shop but I dug my heels in so the whole affair had an audience of nosey customers . They offered a replacement from the current range but the price had gone up from summer to autumn range, so I would have to pay the difference. The quality of finish was a problem, so I accepted the refund and bought a replacement from Fossil - which has been super. Read up and stand up for your rights! Good luck.

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This may be an urban myth but I thought stuff like this could be taken back if it breaks within 12 months.

Not an urban myth, but a bit of a misinterpretation of the law.

 

Anything a shop sells has to be "of merchantable quality". What that means depends on the product, but it all hinges on what length of life is reasonable to expect. There are, of course, some items you wouldn't expect to last for more than a few months, but for most products the rule of thumb is that if something fails within the first six months, the onus is on the vendor do prove the product was of merchantable quality, whilst something failing after the first six months moves the onus to the purchaser to prove it wasn't of merchantable quality.

 

This obviously means also that if you buy (for instance) a dishwasher and it fails completely after 3 years, there is still a pretty reasonable chance for you to demonstrate the failure was due to a substandard product and get some kind of recompense as a result, irrespective of warranty status. In the case of a handbag, I think most people would expect more than 7 months life so it would be up to Fatface to prove the failure was due to your misuse of it (e.g. your inclination to carry 3 gold bars at 27lb each around with you at all times in the handbag - I know, the chance'd be a fine thing). The manager is obviously an obstacle to getting the issue sorted, but in the long run their opinion is irrelevant; it's a small claims court that would be the one to decide.

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