Having recently bought a “euroflex vapour M2R Delicate Floor Ultra Dry Steam” floor tile cleaner, we are keen to know our rights, having found that the machine is useless for our kitchen floor tiles.
We were looking in Harvey Norman, just to see what might be available. We could not find anything that looked likely to do the job and were just about to give up, when a salesman came and asked if he could help. We told him the problem and showed him a photo of the offending tiles.
He immediately assured us that the one we were looking at was the best and would clean our tiles easily.
As this has proven incorrect, we need to know where we stand, as to consumer rights. I have lost the Choice print out, that I used to carry with me in my wallet.
If you can establish that through the sales person’s admission or otherwise you should be entitled to a refund having been sold an inappropriate product, or minimally ‘oversold’ the product.
Experiences with HN shops can be widely variable as documented in many Community posts. Step one is to read the ACCC and Choice documents focusing on that you showed your problem to the sales person and the sales person assured you the product would ‘do the job’ but it would not, and ask for a remedy such as a refund.
If the sales person denies making claims you might be in a ‘he said he said discussion’. In honesty it would be difficult for anyone to authoritatively state a steam mop could clean a stain or dirt based on a photo since the make up of the stain/dirt would not be known. If that discussion happens it is also possible that there would be claims you misheard and it was only stated the product ‘is the best we have’ and you took that to mean it would clean your tile.
Bottom line is it might not be clear cut how the HN shop will respond.
Note that if you made the product selection yourself (which you indicate you did not) without providing details supporting what you needed, and a sales person did not advise you, your situation would come under ‘change of mind’.
Please let us know how you go. If the HN shop does not verbally engage so you are satisfied your rights have been considered appropriately, follow up with a formal Letter of Complaint to the manager.
I would look at the receipt and see what their ‘change of mind’ refund policy is. If they have one.
But really, if you showed the salesperson a photo of a floor, and the store sold floor cleaners, then it would be assumed that a floor cleaner would clean a floor.
This is where Choice is very handy. They test such things so you don’t have to.
But my view of steam floor cleaners is I wouldn’t bother. Having used a few I find them pointless. Nothing beats a good old fashioned bucket and mop with floor cleaner.
Edit: As a bit of info since the topic is print out of basic rights…, I bought a new laptop from JbHiFi a few days ago. My receipt was stapled to a booklet outlining my consumer rights as per the ACCC. So good on them. Although the salesperson did try to sell me an extended warranty, but that’s another issue.
We have “non-slip” floor tiles in the kitchen and bathroom of our independent living unit. The textured surface of these tiles are very difficult to clean, also they are of no benefit. We have smooth, easy to clean tiles in our entrance lobby and they are perfectly safe, no-one has ever slipped on them in 6 years.
In hopes of finding a machine to clean the non-slip tiles we went to a Harvey Norman store. We did not find anything that looked likely to do the job and were on the point of leaving the store, when a salesperson came and asked us if he could help; we told him the problem and that there was nothing that looked good for the job. He immediately started a sales pitch and told us that the last machine we had been looking at was the best they had. My wife had a photo of the offending tiles which she showed him and we explained that nothing worked because of the textured finish. He assured us that that machine would do the job.
Stupidly, we took his word for it and bought the $450 dollar machine. We tried every which way to make it clean the textured tiles but it did not work at all. Four weeks later, we packed the machine up in its original box, with all the paperwork, instructions and receipt. We took it back to Harvey Norman’s store and asked for our money back.
After much haggling with the salesman, we refused to back down. He finally agreed to talk with his manager, he said it would take a lot of time. We said that was OK and went off to buy a lunch. We returned an hour later and he said that his manager had told him we could have our money back! It would seem that if you obviously have right on your side, a reputable store will see you right. It does take some time and you must have all the details, especially the receipt. Also, the photo my wife had taken was very telling and the salesman is not the final arbiter.
HI @rmg.s, it is good to see that you have reached a resolution in relation to the floor tile cleaner. I have moved your recent post to the end of the existing thread so that members have continuity of the issues you faced, and the resolution that you managed to get.
This has been resolved, HN gave us a full refund, after we explained how it all happened and returned the item and all its parts in it’s original packaging.
