My 89 year old neighbour, who doesn't sleep well and watches infomercials, has finally been brainwashed into purchasing an IWalk Treadmill from the Tv Shop. 

The advertisement says "It's suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels to improve health and stay in shape."

It turned up last week, I saw the courier arrive so I went over that evening and asked if she needed any help. 

The package had arrived and she couldn't lift it, so she had cut down the sides of the box, and then left it on the floor. We assembled it for her, set it up and watched while she tried it out - however at 89 years old her stride length is small and she was running to keep up with it at 1km/hour. It clearly wasn't suitable for her, and would be dangerous to use, the design is quite short so she could easily fall off the back and break a hip. 

Without trying to persuade her we suggested she have a think about it and we were happy to help her send it back under the 30 day trial period. 

So the next day together we called TVShop and asked to return it. 

She paid $750 on a credit card, if she returns it she will lose $100 in P&H, plus the return courier at her cost, plus any damage to the packaging (remember she had to cut the box open?). The cheapest return courier I can find is $155 through my work, other companies are quoting up to $200 to return it. 

If she keeps it they have offered her $100 refund, but then she is stuck with a treadmill she can't use. 

I did CC one of the Brand Developers managers into an email asking them to give some consideration to her circumstances when they did the refund, but at this stage she will be lucky to get back $450 from her purchase. I can see now why there are a few Iwalks for sale on trademe around the $400 mark. 

Any ideas as to my next step? Could I use Consumer Guarantees Act as not fit for purpose, given they targeted her age group but it's too fast? 

It's a hard lesson to learn as a pensioner.