Consumer rights

What are your rights if a product breaks, is faulty or not what you expected?  

Here at M&B we hear quite a bit about the things that have gone wrong for you, so below are our answers to your most common questions regarding your legal rights.

But remember, you may well be able to get a shop to go beyond meeting your rights. The secret is to be polite, firm, organised and clear (keep records of all communication and follow everything up in writing) and if the person you’re talking to won’t help, go all the way to the top (and the company MD) if you need to.

“I bought my travel system two months before my daughter was born. She’s now five months old and the brake is broken. What can I do?” Jane, mum to Bessie, five months

M&B says: You’ve had your travel system seven months and your statutory rights change after six months. Before six months, the shop has to prove the item wasn’t faulty when sold; after six months, you have to prove it was faulty and you haven’t damaged it yourself.

However, because mums get their big baby buys when pregnant, some baby companies, like Mamas & Papas, will start their six months cover from the date of your baby’s birth instead of the date of purchase. When you return faulty goods, you’re only entitled to a full refund if it’s very soon after purchase. After that, there’s a pecking order of remedies – repair, replacement, price reduction or partial refund (taking into account wear and tear).

The right to repair only applies if the item can be repaired without inconvenience to you. Being buggy-less would probably inconvenience quite you a lot. Accordingly some shops, like Mothercare, will lend you a buggy while they’re fixing yours. If yours won’t, you’re entitled to a replacement (if available) instead of a repair – and just pointing this out may ‘help’ them find you one to borrow!

“We’ve had our cotbed for two years and it’s been great as a cot. But now we’re converting it into a bed, it won’t fit together. Do I still have any rights?” Meena, mum to Kieran, two

M&B says: You have six years to make a complaint about a product. That doesn’t mean goods must last six years, but they must last a reasonable length of time. Go back to the retailer, not the manufacturer; as that is who your contract is with.

(A manufacturer’s guarantee gives you additional rights; however, your statutory rights should be sufficient. A guarantee may well have expired before two years, plus you are likely to have to make some payment under the terms of a guarantee.)

Babies R Us are just one of the companies who say they’ll look at cotbeds well after the six months has expired.

“I bought clothes for my 8-month-old baby which are too small, even though the size is given as 6-9 months. I didn’t try them in the store. Can I take them back?” Emma, mum to Ben, eight months

M&B says: You have no statutory rights if you simply change your mind about a product or made a mistake when you bought them. The shop may operate an exchange policy allowing you to return goods for any reason within a specified time.

However, if not, the shop isn’t legally obliged to give an exchange or refund. Having said that, in our experience baby clothes shops are generally very understanding about taking clothes back and will often exchange without receipt if they were a gift.

It’s usually up to the discretion of the manager.

“I bought a baby carrier on line and it doesn’t attach the way I thought it would – can I send it back.” Claire, mum to Joseph, one week

M&B says: “Under distance selling regulations you have seven working days after receiving goods from an online shop to cancel, for whatever reason – so in fact you have more rights when you buy on the web than in a shop.

But beware of websites based abroad – UK laws won’t cover you and just having co.uk or com in the name doesn’t necessarily mean they are UK sites; you need to check their actual address.”

“I bought a second-hand double buggy on an auction website and it’s in much worse condition than I expected for the price I paid. Can I get my money back?” Isobel, mum to Edward, three and Libby, seven months

M&B says: With private sellers, the rule is ‘buyer beware’. Your only rights are that the product is correctly described and the owner has the right to sell it. But if the seller didn’t say anything about the condition, there’s nothing you can do.

You have fewer rights when you buy privately, whether through a small ad or internet auction – the rules on satisfactory quality and fitness for purpose don’t apply. Some auction websites or third party processes (such as Paypal) offer complaints resolution processes or anti-fraud guarantees, so check the terms and conditions before you buy.

However, website obligations to you are likely to be limited.

Protect yourself: follow the golden rules of baby buys

1. Use a credit card. If you pay for goods over £100 on a credit card, then the credit card company is equally liable with the retailer. So if you have a problem, under the Consumer Credit Act you can go to the credit card company rather than the retailer – useful if the retailer has gone bust or isn’t helping you.

2. Don’t buy a car seat without making sure it fits in your car. Not only is it dangerous to put your baby in an ill-fitting seat, but retailers cannot take back car seats unless faulty.

3. Only use your buggy for the intended purpose! If it breaks because you’ve been loading it up with shopping/additional children, the retailer will be able to tell it was incorrectly used and won’t repair.

* If a shop has mistakenly under-priced something, you can’t force them to sell it to you at that price

* You have the same statutory rights if you buy something in an end-of-season sale as if you’d paid full price for it