East Sussex County Council (24 009 573)
Category : Environment and regulation > Refuse and recycling
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Oct 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that a bicycle he bought from a household waste recycling centre shop was not fit for purpose. This is because the injustice he claims is not significant enough to warrant investigation and if Mr X believes he is entitled to a refund it would be reasonable for him to take the matter to court.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains he bought a bicycle from a council household waste recycling centre (HWRC) shop which was not fit for purpose.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X had an opportunity to inspect and test the bicycle and if he was not satisfied with its condition he did not have to buy it. He did, but he then had it inspected and found there were several issues with it. At that point he tried to return it but the shop would not take it back.
- If Mr X believes he is entitled to a refund it would be reasonable for him to make a claim for this at court. It is not for us to decide whether the bicycle was mis-sold and the amount Mr X paid (£80) is not significant enough to warrant investigation in any event.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the injustice Mr X claims is not significant enough to warrant investigation and if Mr X believes he is entitled to a refund it would be reasonable for him to make a claim at court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman