I recently ordered a couple of hoses from the dealer and was told they would have to come from Germany and would be 5-10 days. Less than 24hrs after placing the order I discovered that the problem was with a a clamp rather than with the hose and called to cancel the order. I was told, "sorry we are unable to return items to Germany, a special order cannot be returned" 

The two hoses were standard items and the only thing that was "special" was that they didn't have them in stock. I also advised that Germany would not have even despatched the items yet let alone worrying about returning them.

I have done a bit of googling and it would seem that as the items were neither bespoke nor unique that should be capable of return and refund. Thus far I have written to the dealer but have heard nothing yet.

Has anyone had a similar experience or perhaps know the law in relation to this scenario.

Cheers

Graham

In these bean-counting times dealers keep very few parts in stock, relying instead on 'Just in time' supply.  As with all conveniences, this has its own price and problems.  For example, the dealer does not receive the usual discount, and has to pay BMW GB a handling fee should anything be returned, which from the dealer point of view can make the transaction a loss to the dealer.

I suppose that one could consider that by ordering the parts, you have entered into a contract with the dealer, who obviously does not want you to break it at their expense.  I would guess that you have no recourse, and will simply have to be more careful about what you order next time!  Fault diagnosis by replacing components is seldom fruitful, and always expensive.

On the basis that the goods would take 5-10 days to arrive from Germany and I wished to cancel within 24hrs of ordering, I felt it was senseless to allow any cost to be incurred. The dealer's deliberate refusal to mitigate a loss whether mine or theirs will not go unchallenged.

Fault diagnosis by replacing components is the only way that dealers operate which I discovered to my previous expense. It is difficult to deny this as one hears horror stories about certain dealerships every day and it is why I now choose to do my own maintenance. 

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