Are there any consumer trained legal people in here?
I need help with this (letter to Dainese)
Dear Sirs,
Earlier this year I bought a nero/nero/antracite one piece Dainese T. Avro-P suit off the peg but unfortunately the fit wasn’t quite right for me, so last September I decided to pay the extra money and buy a made to measure suit.
I approached “Bike Stop” in Stevenage (UK) and was measured up for the suit. As I was happy with the styling of my first one, I asked for the new one to be exactly the same style, expect to have some of the Dainese symbols in black and the change the anthracite coloured strips for black ones. The attached illustration is the one I was sent by Bike Stop and the one I agreed to.
When the suit came, to my horror I saw that there were perforations all down the torso panels in the front and all the way down the upper thighs. I took the suit home but was not happy and contacted John from Bike Stop who said that’s what I ordered. I did not order perforations like this and he has no proof. After exchanging emails, he is not helping me at all or admitting to his mistake or accepting that the perforation options were not explained to me before he decided to add them. He has told me that perforations are not so bad and better in the hotter weather and basically that other people like them , so I shouldn’t be too bothered about it. I ride all year round in the UK and there’s no wayI would order perforations like this as it’s too cold. The suit is breathable enough in the British summer with the other materials that are used. When I pointed out to John that I didn’t ask for this and that the illustration shown to me does not show the perforations on the suit, he says that the word “Estiva” written on the illustration means the suit is peforated. I do not speak Italian, so how am I supposed to now this?
If the illustration said “perforated” in English and not Italian, then I would have seen that was not as I wanted and the problem could have been avoided. If the illustration also actually showed the perforations on the suit panels, as other companies have done, then again I would have noticed this and not given the go ahead until it was changed and the problem would have been avoided.
Bottom line, I did tell Bike Stop when I was being measured that the only changes I wanted to my original suit was to make it more black. (which was done) The original suit only has perforations on a few small places, which is more than enough in the UK. The illustration does not show that the suit is fully perforated from top to bottom and the wording on it is in Italian, so I had no reasonable grounds to be alerted to the unwanted change.
I have not worn the suit as I am not happy with it and would like this problem sorting out. I have spent a lot of money on your suits and expected a better service than this. Once again, I did not want full perforations all down the suit and the agreed illustration does not show them. As I have no suit to wear, I cannot ride my Ducati and the winter is coming.
I also have all the emails that were exchanged.
Please can you look into this and help me out as I’m about to take legal action against Bike Stop who are one of your agents for supplying the suit different to what I agreed to. May I also suggest that in future, perforations are added to your diagrams and the agent or you either translate the wording or everything is fully explained to the customer in their own language.
You have a couple of grounds for taking legal action against Bike Stop.
Selling a product not as described is the most obvious one, but there is also the Supply of Goods and Services Act which requires that a company exercise skill and care in regard to the selling of services, s13, this applies as the made to order suit would be a service to which you could expect reasonable care to be taken, such as pointing out differences between the illustration you are shown and the product you will receive.
Your contract is with the supplying dealer not the manufacturer, and so any correspondence needs to be addressed to the dealer and it is for the dealer to sort the problem out with the manufacturer.
In September of 2011 I purchased from “Bike Stop” a made to order Dainese one piece leather motorcycle suit.An illustration was provided to me describing the motorcycle suit. (AN01)This illustration contained no images of perforations on the legs or torso.When the leather suit arrived there were perforations in places which were not shown on the illustration, and which were not described to me by Bike Stop as being on the suit.Under the implied terms of the Sale of Goods Act 1979; s13(1) I wish to repudiate the contract on the basis that the goods are not as described.I wish to claim a full refund on the purchase price of the goods.The claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from 24th of January to of £[amount] and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of [daily rate of interest].
That is your Statement of Claim, I think they call it now.
You need to send a pre-action letter to Bike Stop first though.
To whom it may concern,
In September of 2011 I ordered from Bike Stop a made-to-order leather motorcycle one-piece suit. I was shown illustrations of this suit prior to order.
The illustration failed to show that the suit would contain perforations on the legs and on the torso which the finished product contained. It was never explained to me that the illustration would not match the final product. Therefore I feel that the goods sold to me are not as described.
After speaking to your employee, John, I was told that the illustration contains the word “Estiva” and he claimed that this would mean the suit had perforations. Estiva means summer in Italian and this does not equate to the suit having perforations in places not shown on the illustration, nor does it excuse the failure to inform me that the suit would not correspond to the illustration provided.
Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979, s13(1), I now wish to repudiate the contract, return the goods and receive a full refund.
I hereby give notice that this letter constitutes a pre-action letter and that if I do not receive any correspondence from you within 14 days I will have no other option but to initiate a claim against Bike Stop in the small claims court for a breach of their implied duty under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 making a claim for a full refund, interest on the amount owed from the date of this letter and court costs.
