Consumer right? Can I open mail order TV to see if too big for lounge?

Hey all. Our ancient CRT Sony being in the process of giving up the ghost, I ordered a new flat TV.

Now it has arrived I’m worried I may have ordered one that’s too big. It arrived today and I haven’t opened it, so it is my (quite possibly erroneous) understanding that I can return it within 7 days for a refund.

Does that only apply if I don’t open it? I’m keen to see what it’s actually like viewing it in the room, but figure that would rule out any chance of a return…

Thanks for any advice

Mark

do you have a tape measure?

Did you order it online or from a shop?

Yes, and cardboard cutouts of the various screen sizes… It’s not really buyers remorse (I want a tv, either this one or one 4″ smaller), just not wanting to spend a wedge of money on something that’s not right!

Edit to say ordered online through Amazon, fulfilled by Amazon.

What did the supplier say when you asked them?

Don’t open it. Get the specs from the website and use a tape measure to see if it fits.

Some might say you should probably have done this before pressing “Buy Now”

Haven’t asked supplier, will email amazon shortly!

Anything bigger than 32″ is chavtastic 🙂

On second thoughts.

You may indeed have a right to do this but given that the retailer will probably have to sell it as ‘returned opened’ at lower profit/a loss morally is it ok for you to do so?

Personally, I’d use the cardboard cutouts to make a decision.

If you ordered it via the internet/phone (ie didn’t walk into a shop to make the purchase) you have the absolute right to return it in 7 days but only if you have not opened it. They reserve the right to charge for the return costs though.

Anything bigger than 32″ is chavtastic

Unless of course you sit more than about 4ft away from your telly!

Thanks all! We’re moving up from 22″ and it’s the size of the box that has spooked me!

I would have thought that once the box has been opened you can only return it if its faulty. Ask yourself this, Would you pay full price for electrical goods where the box has been opened?

Where do you get the “if you have not opened it from?

Distance selling regs – absolute right to return for any or no reason within 7 days.

Open it – check if its OK – if its not pack it back up and return it at your expense

The cooling-off period and your right to cancel

If you buy something without face-to-face contact, you will usually have a ‘cooling off period’ of seven working days. It lets you can cancel the order for any reason and get your money back.

If you decide to cancel your order within the cooling off period, you must tell the trader in writing.

You don’t have this cancellation right:

* when a new service starts immediately (eg paying for access to a website)
* if the item is personalised or made to order
* if the item is perishable, eg food or flowers
* for newspapers or magazines
* where the security seal has been broken on a CD, DVD or computer software
* if you buy something from an online auction like eBay – this is known as a private sale

If you have already paid for the items or services, the trader must refund your money within 30 days of you cancelling the agreement.

* Buying from an online auction

When the cooling-off period starts

The seven working day cooling-off period usually starts on the day after you receive the goods.

But the trader has to tell you in writing:

* your right to a cooling off period
* how to cancel your order
* who is responsible for returning goods
* who has to pay the cost of returning goods if you cancel in the cooling-off period
* information about any after-sales service
* the address to use for complaints

If you don’t get this information, your cooling-off period extends up to a maximum of three months and seven working days. For example if the trader takes one month to tell you in writing, you get a cooling-off period of one month and seven working days.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/Situationsthatcanchangeyourconsumerrights/DG_183048

Thank you TJ.

it’s the size of the box that has spooked me

Bear in mind that the standard planet-killer packing dictates that the telly will be surrounded on all sides by at least 4 inches of packing foam and polystyrene.

What make and model is it?
Most will give screen size and external dimensions.

Oh and they do but a lot of poly in there to keep it safe so it will be considerably smaller than the box

There will be lots of packaging.

As long as it fits, you’ll get used to it very quickly and in a few months will wonder why you didn’t get the next size up.

Open it and enjoy some great stuff in high def (laptop, youtube, 1080p).

Don’t open it.

First go to Amazon and check out the returns policy. Its all written down for you.

I ordered a new tv online

After sticking it on the stand I realised it was too small so arranged for the next size to be delivered. I used it up till the point I knew the replacement was going to be swapped. Sent the old one back, paid the difference jobs a gud un !

I guess its all down to how good/helpfull the retailer is that you bought it off.

If it is HD then check the size against recommended viewing distances-they appear quite short for the size of TV compared to CRT. We had a 32″ CRT and sit around 10-12ft away,. The recommended HD size was 46″ but I knew that would be humungus in our room. Settled for a 42″-looked enormous when 1st set up but soon got used to it. Would still like the 46″ as the picture is so good but like most things, you have to compromise

I got a 42″ and when I first set it up it looked waaaayyyy too big. Now we’re quite used to it and wonder if we could have gone bigger. Food for thought

With flat-panel TV’s, especially now the frame is generally much slimmer, the tendency to get a smaller set is often a mistake, because the set can be placed further away from the usual viewing position. You get used to a big screen very very quickly. I have a 40″ Bravia, about five-six years old now, with a fairly wide black frame. A new set will now have a frame about ¼ the width, so I could easily fit a 44-46″ set into the same space.

It’s from Amazon ffs 😉 , they’ll take just about anything back, and resell it. They will however charge you fro freight for the return if there’s nothing wrong with it.

They’ve got a whole site devoted to opened returns, in varying condition, of shit that people didn’t want.

If your going from a CRT, it’s quite common to think it’s miles too big. It’s also pretty common that a month down the line you think it’s too small and want something bigger :-).

There’s nothing Chavy about it…films were meant to be watched big.

TJ is correct and I am stunned that not a single other poster has even mentioned DSR!

Basic rule for TV size used to be divide the distance of the screen from your seating position by 3 and that’ll give you the maximum diagonal screen size – if you get a bigger screen than this you’ll start to “not see” the detail at the edges of the image as your field of vision is too small to take it all in.

TJ is correct and I am stunned that not a single other poster has even mentioned DSR!

Probably because its Amazon we’re talking about and their returns policy is better than DSR requirements 😀

The correct size is n+4″

Without fail.

cynic-al – Member
TJ is correct and I am stunned that not a single other poster has even mentioned DSR!
POSTED 2 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

I did :-p

Wow, it’s awesome! Possibly a tad huge, but awesome. And huge.

Thanks all for giving me the info which allowed me to set it up free from worry!

DSR and all that. Equally DSR is wrong here. why should the retailer have to put up with your indecision? Maybe Amazon can hack it but so what?
The whole idea that you can return something just because you don’t like it is wrong!

how are you going to knopw if it was damaged in transit if you dont remove it from the packaging?
If they put the overall dimensions on thier website/catalogue you might have problems.

Kind of mindboggling that people are still discussing whether he’s allowed to, considering we’ve had the textbook answer.

mattsccm – Member

why should the retailer have to put up with your indecision?

Price of doing business online. Offset against the saving in not having bricks and mortar premises with stacks of stock in so that people can come in and see things, and the increase in impulse buy-ability.

Ohh and under DSR once you have used the product it is deemed accepted even before the 7 days are up I believe.

Latest crop of LCD’s don’t look as big, IMO, due to the smaller bezel. I replaced our 28″ CRT with a 40″ & its just right.

We have a 40″ and sit about ooh.. maybe 3.5m away. It looks good but if you go and stand about 1.5m away with a blu ray on it’s fanstastic. We miss a lot of the fantasticitude by sitting further back.

mastiles_fanylion – Member

Ohh and under DSR once you have used the product it is deemed accepted even before the 7 days are up I believe.

Nope.

Northwind – Member
mastiles_fanylion – Member
Ohh and under DSR once you have used the product it is deemed accepted even before the 7 days are up I believe.

Nope
Well that is possibly a grey area – I found this on the Dixons site The product must not have been used or installed or had any data inputted. Whilst the goods are in your possession you must take reasonable care of them and not use them. I mention this simply because I recently had the issue (with Dixons) when I bought a washing machine, fitted it and used it. My wife then realised it didn’t have some of the features the website said it had. They told me that because I had used it it was deemed accepted. It took me fully one and a half hours to get them to back down and agree to refund me in full.

Perhaps they were trying it on but their website does mention this ‘must not be used’ line.

EDIT: I just looked and the machine is still listed on their site with the original (incorrect) description some three months later. http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/hotpoint-bhwd129-1-integrated-washer-dryer-white-10491009-pdt.html

Mad!

Right, having now sat in front of it for three hours or so, my only remaining concern is that maybe i should have gone bigger!

However, money and wife say no, so that’s that!

A brief tangent, I first ordered the TV through an Amazon merchant who didn’t send it for a month and then disappeared from the Amazon marketplace. Amazon refunded the money three hours after I called them to lodge a claim. I then bought it through Amazon itself and it arrived two days after ordering!

Great service, and I can still send it back if I want! 😉