CPA claims first victim

According to a local resident, the customer purchased the do-it-yourself irrigation system from the retailer (who has refused to be named) and on getting it home, discovered that parts were missing, and some of the parts in the pack had clearly been used before.

"I was shocked when I opened the pack. I was expecting a complete system - my garden is small so I selected the appropriate model - but when I checked the instructions and laid out the parts, quite a few were missing. Then, when I checked even more closely, I found dirt on some of the uprights," said the consumer, Bo Draker.

He claimed that when he returned to the store with the system, the owner was at first reluctant to exchange the pack and told him that the dirt on the uprights was because he always checked the systems before putting them on the shelf.

"That's rubbish," said Draker, "What he'd done is put a returned product back on the shelf, claiming it to be new."

The retailer, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, refuted Draker's claim: "I would never do that. I have been in this town for years and never had a complaint like this; personally, I think the customer discovered he got the wrong system and is now trying to fob me off with a sob story.

"I did however, agree to accept the system, but I said I would deduct 15% for depletion of goods. I think I was being fair."

Draker disagreed and said that in terms of the new Consumer Protection Act, he wanted the full purchase price.

He says he told the retailer that if he did not get a full refund, he would take the matter further - in terms of the CPA.

"I can't afford any legal problems so in the end I gave the customer a full refund, but I don't want him back in my store again," said the retailer, who added that he plans to discontinue stocking the irrigation systems that caused all the trouble... "The gardeners in the place are a close-knit bunch and if they start doing the same thing, my business will take a real knock.

"All this happened in the space of a morning; for me it was a bad Friday," he concluded.