Doorstep sales - alzheimer's sufferer
Discussion
My grandad lost his wife last year and has since been diagnosed with alzheimer's.
My Nan bought an expensive motorised chair around 10 years ago which is in as good of condition as the day it was delivered. She weighed very little and hardly used the motorised tipping feature, only when her arthritis was particularly bad.
My mother recently visited and noticed the chair had been replaced.
Turns out a doorstep sales man from the same company turned up and offered to take away the old chair and replace it with a brand new one. He didn’t believe there would be a cost for this. Unfortunately he was alone with this salesman and due to his condition we can only speculate on what happend and take what he says with a pinch of salt.
May also be worth noting My Nan’s will left all of her property to her Daughters with my grandad having life interest in the flat.
If you were to spend 5 minutes talking with him, it would be clear he is vulnerable and no longer the full ticket.
My sister and I are going round to see him tonight to find out the company details, times and dates but I’m under the impression he may be outside of the 14 day cooling off period.
I’m hoping the company given their demographic will do the morally correct and refund him the full £3,500 for a chair he does not use or need and refund the £70 for removing the old chair!
Am I right in thinking, legally they do not have to refund outside of the 14 days cooling off period or is there any exception due to his condition or ownership of the old chair?
I am out of my depth here, so any pointers or help with letter writing would be greatly appreciated.
My Nan bought an expensive motorised chair around 10 years ago which is in as good of condition as the day it was delivered. She weighed very little and hardly used the motorised tipping feature, only when her arthritis was particularly bad.
My mother recently visited and noticed the chair had been replaced.
Turns out a doorstep sales man from the same company turned up and offered to take away the old chair and replace it with a brand new one. He didn’t believe there would be a cost for this. Unfortunately he was alone with this salesman and due to his condition we can only speculate on what happend and take what he says with a pinch of salt.
May also be worth noting My Nan’s will left all of her property to her Daughters with my grandad having life interest in the flat.
If you were to spend 5 minutes talking with him, it would be clear he is vulnerable and no longer the full ticket.
My sister and I are going round to see him tonight to find out the company details, times and dates but I’m under the impression he may be outside of the 14 day cooling off period.
I’m hoping the company given their demographic will do the morally correct and refund him the full £3,500 for a chair he does not use or need and refund the £70 for removing the old chair!
Am I right in thinking, legally they do not have to refund outside of the 14 days cooling off period or is there any exception due to his condition or ownership of the old chair?
I am out of my depth here, so any pointers or help with letter writing would be greatly appreciated.
So he sold your grandfather a replacement chair, when the original was for your grandmother - i.e. your grandfather had no need of the chair?
if so:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
if so:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
I'll bet anything it's the same company which also recently sold my grandmother two of the same for a combined cost of £6k. She was told they were half price at that! Apparently a guy came around to provide a demonstration and it seems she was a victim of hard sales tactics. PM me if you wish.
A quick look around a mobility shop recently revealed very similar looking chairs priced between £500-1100
A quick look around a mobility shop recently revealed very similar looking chairs priced between £500-1100
Butter Face said:
He's classed as a vulnerable person and the salesman should very well have realised this (especially as he probably deals with lots of elderly customers)
A call to his boss outlining the situation should sort it out pretty quickly,
As per my post above - if its the same outfit then they supply furniture almost exclusively to very elderly people at colossal markups, all their customers are probably vulnerable to a degree or they'd have the wherewithal to realise they were paying a massively inflated cost. I'd bet this wasn't a one-off rogue salesman but the actions of a company which knows exactly what its doing.A call to his boss outlining the situation should sort it out pretty quickly,
akirk said:
So he sold your grandfather a replacement chair, when the original was for your grandmother - i.e. your grandfather had no need of the chair?
if so:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
Pretty much, yes. Thanks for the linkif so:
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/...
Butter Face said:
He's classed as a vulnerable person and the salesman should very well have realised this (especially as he probably deals with lots of elderly customers)
A call to his boss outlining the situation should sort it out pretty quickly,
This is what I first thought, their products are designed for the elderly.A call to his boss outlining the situation should sort it out pretty quickly,
Thanks I will check the paperwork tonight and this will be my fist port of call.
theboss said:
I'll bet anything it's the same company which also recently sold my grandmother two of the same for a combined cost of £6k. She was told they were half price at that! Apparently a guy came around to provide a demonstration and it seems she was a victim of hard sales tactics. PM me if you wish.
A quick look around a mobility shop recently revealed very similar looking chairs priced between £500-1100
Thanks, I'll check out the paperwork tonight and may PM you tomorrow.A quick look around a mobility shop recently revealed very similar looking chairs priced between £500-1100
Butter Face said:
He's classed as a vulnerable person and the salesman should very well have realised this (especially as he probably deals with lots of elderly customers)
A call to his boss outlining the situation should sort it out pretty quickly,
That phone call would be a waste of time. The boss is probably the very man that is encouraging aggressive selling because his boss & his boss is running a business & is never going to come over all charitable.A call to his boss outlining the situation should sort it out pretty quickly,
WJNB said:
Butter Face said:
He's classed as a vulnerable person and the salesman should very well have realised this (especially as he probably deals with lots of elderly customers)
A call to his boss outlining the situation should sort it out pretty quickly,
That phone call would be a waste of time. The boss is probably the very man that is encouraging aggressive selling because his boss & his boss is running a business & is never going to come over all charitable.A call to his boss outlining the situation should sort it out pretty quickly,
Not a solution to this, but would leaving only a credit card for old vulnerable people provide any protection from this type of thing? Eg whatever overpriced ste they buy in this sort of situation, is paid for on credit card. Can that then be charged back later to fk the company? Cash spending money could be left with them weekly to buy everyday stuff.
Was here (Oz) but had a similar situation, dad looked after everything but had early onset dementia. On checking 1 day found local telecoms had supplied 2 phone lines, pay TV, multiple internet packages, fax lines etc. Complained and threatened taking them to TV. Result was refund of all costs for previous 4 years, they backed down quite easily and initially offered 1 year but asked for complete refund as he was deemed as not of fit mental capacity to authorize the services/goods. Could prove most services had never been used as hardware was still in boxes.
4x4Tyke said:
Probably too late now if he's already lost the capacity to make an informed choice - needs to be done ahead of reaching that point. I have it for my parents, but not yet instigated legally as my dad is still all there mentally, just physically ruined from caring for an occasionally double incontinent wife of over 50 years who can't walk far and has lost all interest in life, and stares at the TV all day......Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff