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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Rebecca Smithers

How is it our two-year-old B&Q toilet seats are ‘irreplaceable’?

Buying a Cooke & Lewis bathroom from B&Q. But try getting a replacement if something goes wrong.
Buying a Cooke & Lewis bathroom from B&Q. But try getting a replacement if something goes wrong. Photograph: Alamy

I read a Guardian report about (the lack of) B&Q’s Cooke & Lewis toilet seat replacements, and now have a similar situation with two of the range’s Lanzo toilets. Both seats have broken and I checked the B&Q website to see if there were any replacements in stock anywhere, but there weren’t. Both are less than two years old.

Why is B&Q selling stock without making replacements readily available? What kind of help is out there without us having to replace two entire toilets? ZZ, York

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (previously the Sale of Goods Act 1979), an item should be expected to last for a “reasonable” time. But that’s difficult to determine in the case of toilet seats without knowing more (!) about your family’s habits. However, it turns out that you should have been able to get your hands on replacements. B&Q says: “The Lanzo toilet seat has been in stock all the time. However, due to a system error it was temporarily unavailable. By way of apology and as a gesture of goodwill, we are delivering two free replacement toilet seats to the customer.”

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to terms and conditions

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