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Buying online at Auction


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Caution must be taken if buying a gun online at auction  to reading the terms and conditions of the Auction in question .If you buy a  gun  which is packed by them  and is damaged in the post  some auction houses  terms state they are not responsible if damaged  .If a claim  is lodge against  the  courier and the packaging    was not to their  standard then they will reject the claim. I have witnessed this but if the parcel had been insured but badly packed would the outcome have been the same.  i am  now the owner of a expensive gun with a broken stock and there is nothing I can do  about it , so if you buy online at a auction always read the terms and conditions before you place your bid  

Feltwad

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Clearly the auction house cannot be liable for damage caused by the courier/conveyor or Royal Mail unless the packaging was inadequate. That is only fair. However if the packaging is inadequate then I'd think of two "points".

First that the auction house is liable as had the thing been adequately packed then damage would not have occurred.

Second that if it was inadequately packed then as, surely, the contents were declared to the courier/conveyor or Royal Mail then they should have rejected it at point of consignment. If they accepted it then they are liable IMHO.

So what to do? 

You need an declaration from the courier/conveyor or Royal Mail that the packaging was inadequate. So you need FIRST to claim against them. If they reject it ask for that reason in writing. And if they say it was "inadequately packed" follow it up as to why they accepted it?

You need to write a "Letter before Action" stating that you hold them, the carrier liable, and expect payment within fourteen days.

Once you have that (or indeed they may pay up) then you have the evidence that you need to go for the auction house in the Small Claims Court.

It is all about whey did X happen. Did X happen because it was damaged by Y and if so why did that damage occur? If Y says because it was inadequately packed then you have the the start to getting remedy.

I hope it helps.

Edited by enfieldspares
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10 minutes ago, ditchman said:

it isnt unknown for couriers who hate blood sports etc...to damage what they think are weapons..

to be honest with you ditchy i work for a  sameday and overnight courier company with same days it goes from pick up to drop so not much chance of damage with an overnight take a norwich pick up going to me in kent for instance  the apc hub is in birmingham  so  it would be picked up by the nearest apc franchised courier to norwich taken back to there base then an overnight apc lorry will pick it up from there take it to birmingham then it would be sorted taken to kent  overnight dropped off in the apc nearest to me in orpingtom and then delivered by that courier company   as overnights charge and pay peanuts the box would be just piled up with all the hundreds of others  with so many people handling the box and chucked from one van to another so many times thats the reason most overnight parcels get damaged 

as for claiming most overnight terms and conditions only pay out a tiny fraction of the parcels they carry 

sorry but the old term you pay for what you get sometimes  springs to mind 

you would be surprised how many companies sent documents on an overnight service to save a few quid and when it goes late they then tell us its a 20 million pound contract we have missed  

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Thank you for the info ,but what is adequate packing  The gun in question when it arrived was  in a corrugated card board  box just loose  with no internal packing  it had moved about in transit till the  box side was torn and the gun hammers were protruding through the card board the  box then  was wrapped  with bubble wrap and finished in brown wrapping paper

Feltwad

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36 minutes ago, Feltwad said:

Thank you for the info ,but what is adequate packing  The gun in question when it arrived was  in a corrugated card board  box just loose  with no internal packing  it had moved about in transit till the  box side was torn and the gun hammers were protruding through the card board the  box then  was wrapped  with bubble wrap and finished in brown wrapping paper

Feltwad

That sounds like inadequate packaging to me. Surely it should have been packaged  so it could not move within the box. As guns are regularly transferred between dealers it may be worth you getting a statement from a respectable dealer who can state how it should have been packed.

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If you made the purchase as an individual rather than a company then it would appear the Consumer Rights Act 2015 would apply. Section 49 states the auction house should provide services with reasonable care and skill.

Section 57 of the act stats "Liability that cannot be excluded or restricted (1)A term of a contract to supply services is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude the trader’s liability arising under section 49 (service to be performed with reasonable care and skill)."

I think this applies to auction houses, so basically their terms are void and you should be able to claim against them. Something to look into?

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34 minutes ago, Windswept said:

If you made the purchase as an individual rather than a company then it would appear the Consumer Rights Act 2015 would apply. Section 49 states the auction house should provide services with reasonable care and skill.

Section 57 of the act stats "Liability that cannot be excluded or restricted (1)A term of a contract to supply services is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude the trader’s liability arising under section 49 (service to be performed with reasonable care and skill)."

I think this applies to auction houses, so basically their terms are void and you should be able to claim against them. Something to look into?

Thanks for that info  has there is deadlock between myself and the auction House  it maybe wise to seek legal advice .

Feltwad

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The other thing to think about is chargeback on a debit or credit card or a claim under section 75 if you paid by credit card. You can claim against them instead of the auction house or at the same time. It may depend on how your purchase was made, i.e. if the delivery was a separate cost to the item.

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