Consumer rights explained: I bought a front door for €2,500 – but water keeps leaking through
Q: I bought a new front door from a local company last August. The door was fine at first, but after about a month, water started seeping in underneath whenever there was heavy rain.
The door company came out to do repairs a couple of times. The first repair held for a few weeks and the second for about two months. However, water has started seeping in again, at a faster rate, during the recent bad weather.
I followed up with the company again, this time to request a replacement door, as I wasn’t confident that further repairs would really resolve the issue. I emailed the company and included photos and videos of the water seeping in. They emailed the manufacturer to see what solution might be possible and copied me.
It’s now been two weeks and I haven’t heard anything from either the door company or the manufacturer. I paid the door company €2500 for the door and surrounding reveal, including installation. What are my rights in this situation after I have already emailed the company about the issue?
Sheila, Wicklow
Sheila, when you bought your door, you entered a sales contract directly with the door company, which included installation. Under this contract, you were entitled to a door that is fit for purpose, durable under normal use and installed properly.
From your account, it appears that the company was somewhat responsive and tried to help when you first told them about the issues with the water leaks. But ultimately, the repairs didn’t work and you have been left with a door that couldn’t keep out water all through winter. The company simply have not met their obligations to you.
You are not required to give the door company unlimited opportunities to do repairs if the same issue returns. I can understand how you have lost confidence in the company’s capacity to repair the door satisfactorily. In this situation, you were entitled under the Consumer Rights Act to draw a line after the second attempted repair and ask for the door to be replaced.
Under your sales contract, the door company is responsible for providing and fitting a replacement door. It cannot refer you to the manufacturer for the replacement or, in your case, email them and leave you waiting for a reply.
Since it’s now a couple of weeks since you last heard from the company, I suggest you send it a formal complaint. Give a timeline of the issues with your new front door and remind them of their obligations under the Consumer Rights Act (which you can find on the CCPC website). You may also want to tell them that you could potentially seek costs if your floor is damaged because of the fault. Hopefully this complaint will prompt action, but, if not, you are at least creating a clear paper trail in case you need to go down a legal route.
In cases where a company can’t or won’t provide a replacement, you are entitled to request a full refund. If needed, you can go to the District Court to enforce your rights. The small claims procedure is the recommended way to do this as each side covers their own costs. However, this process currently only covers claims of up to €2,000 (the CCPC is trying to get this limit increased). You can get legal advice on how to seek a refund for the full amount but carefully consider the risks and costs that this would involve.
