Austin answers your legal queries...
Q: AFTER purchasing a lounge suite, a manufacturing fault was found.
The customer service department said that we could have like for like or select another suite of the same quality.
However, they now say that, as the suite was clearance stock, the price was heavily discounted, and they cannot match like for like, or give us anything of the same quality. To get a similar suite we would have to pay a lot more. Can we insist on a higher repayment or the same quality?
A: YOU are entitled to treat damaged or substandard goods as not of satisfactory quality and claim back what you paid.
There is no law that requires the seller to match any other deal available. The only possibility is to try to ensure that the statement made by store’s staff that you could reselect is binding on the company as they were acting as its agent, but they could argue that anything said to you was subject to the decision of senior management.
Firm forced my door
Q: a company tried to force my door open by mistake, breaking the main border round it insecure.
I have phoned the firm and e-mailed photos, but keep getting fobbed off
with different stories. I have been to the police and they say it is a civil matter.
I say it is vandalism and attempted break-in, the company says it was an accident. Can I take them to court if door is not fixed? It is 26 days since it happened.
A: MISTAKES do happen, although I am surprised the police take such a relaxed attitude to one person damaging another’s property without any authority to do so.
It may have been an error, but the firm should pay.
If it does not act to repair the damage soon, you can get the job done and sue it in the small claims court for the costs incurred by you, as well as something for your inconvenience.
Is speeding ticket valid?
Q: I WAS correctly given a speeding ticket for doing 40mph in a 30mph zone. However, the offence description on the ticket states I was driving at 40mph per hour in a 70mph limit.
The clerk of the court assured me the ticket was valid and would only be deemed invalid had the court code, amount of fine, or penalty points been incorrectly stated. Is this true?
A: THE difficulty you have is that if you do not pay the fine, you will be treated as ignoring the ticket and will be charged at court.
If that formal court complaint is in correct terms you have no defence and may get a more severe punishment for the speeding than if you pay the fixed sum.
I suggest you pay the fine.
Who gets account cash?
Q: MY wife and I have joint accounts. If one dies does half the account go into the estate of that deceased to be divided between the surviving spouse and children?
A: If the accounts are genuinely shared – not just in joint names for convenience while really belonging to one of you – half is part of each deceased spouse’s estate. Children have legal rights to a third of the estate, excluding the house.
