Please can anyone advise me on customer consumer rights in Ontario.

My daughter's boyfriend bought her a Longchamp bag for her birthday from Betty Hemmings in Toronto. The store didn't stock the bag so they had to put in a special order to Longchamp.

When my daughter unwrapped the bag the end of nylon zip was coming unravelled. Betty Hemmings refuse to do anything with the bag apart from restiching the zip...they said they don't refund money on special orders. They also claim they inspected the bag and it was in perfect condition when they boxed and gift wrapped it. I was sitting with my daughter when she unwrapped the gift and I noticed the fault straightway.

My daughter called Longchamp and they if she returns it to them in Boston at her expense and they will repair it. She doesn't want it repairing and now they would like a refund.

I think they are perfectly within their rights to repair it, as long as they repair it to the manufacturers standards...

Sorry. Did they not do a good job fixing it? Probably made in China anyway

Thanks Iaink...but aren't they obligated to give a refund if the goods are faulty. Why should she have to have a repaired bag? Surely the shop should return it to the manufacturers and they should refund the shop. The bag should then be sold as 'seconds' or faulty merchandise...if Longchamp sell seconds.

That's what I would expect a store to in the US and the UK to do. Does Canada not protect the consumer against companies selling damaged goods as perfect?

There are none.

NFT.

I know nothing about consumer rights in Ontario, but in 20 years in Canada, I have anything to compare to UK consumer rights. They don't even have the equivalent of the CAB!

When I have had a problem, I don't take no for an answer if my complaint is valid. On more than one occasion I have tracked down senior executives from major corporations and got the matter sorted. On one occasion a senior VP from Sears e-mailed me on a Sunday and said it would be sorted Monday - It was!

Why would you speak to the oily rag when you can go straight to the mechanic.

Ha. There is a thread on here somewhere i started about rights as a customer when i purchased a bluetooth device that didn't work out of the box and the shop refused point blank to accept responsibility, they gave me a free phone number for manufacturer in California.
I won't bore you with any more details but after countless mails to Bell Mobility (it was their shop) 2 visits to shop i got absolutely nowhere and had to get a replacement from California. (I was even expected to pay to ship the faulty one back but they sent me a pre paid envelope in the end)

Thank you all for taking the trouble to reply. I have to say I am shocked that the customer doesn't seem to have any rights when buying faulty goods. I am also shocked by the attitude of the owner of Betty Hemmings. The owner even told my daughter's boyfriend not to shop there any more....great customer service eh? Personally I never buy anything from a store unless they have a refund policy.

On the upside...they are leaving for vacation today from NYC so travelled down to New Jersey yesterday. Last night they went into the Longchamp store at my local mall and got the bag exchanged for a different style of bag. The fact that the bag was purchased in Canada and it wasn't from a Longchamp store wasn't a problem.

Whenever i have a problem with a company, I do searches on the internet for other people who have similar complaints.

I start creating a paper trail, so that if I have to take it further I can.

I check for the body who deal with consumer complaints and see if they deal with the issue. In Ontario, I believe it is the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services

I make it clear that I am not going to let the matter drop. I do not allow them to pass me from person to person, letting them know that my grevance is with the company. If they try to ignore me, I keep on following the matter up, putting them more and more into the wrong (With the threat of a formal complaint). So far, they have always been the first to cave, though th last time, it took almost 5weeks before they finally gave in.