Berudenot2 Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 Eldery parents bought a suite of furniture, paying in full !!!! prior to delivery. Suite won't/can't be made to access the living room. Parents want a full refund but owner of the shop is claiming no obligation to refund them. Have claimed the suite is not "fit for purpose" but owner refutes this contending it's about access not product fitness. Anyone have any sensible legal advice to offer to get a full refund?
egg Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 The store owner is correct. There is no fault with the product. This is a bit like buying a car and asking for a refund cos you realise it won't fit in the garage.
dune Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 I would suggest a civil letter explaining things to head office(if it's a big retailer) - find out who the MD is and send it directy to him. Deal with the organ grinder NOT the monkey. If it is a small independent retailer then your options are more limited. Go to the council offices (trading standards) or the citizens advice and see what they say.
Turkish Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 Eldery parents bought a suite of furniture, paying in full !!!! prior to delivery. Suite won't/can't be made to access the living room. Parents want a full refund but owner of the shop is claiming no obligation to refund them. Have claimed the suite is not "fit for purpose" but owner refutes this contending it's about access not product fitness. Anyone have any sensible legal advice to offer to get a full refund? My parents had exactly the same thing about 6 years ago. Unfortunately they got no refund as it was their fault, cant remember all the ins and outs of what happened but after about 3 months of trying my parents just accepted that unfortunately it was their cock up and they were out of pocket. There was nothing wrong with the product and it was their responsibility to make sure that it was deliverable. Expensive lesson learned unfortunately as they were out of pocket to the tune of nearly £2k.
mcjwills Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 Eldery parents bought a suite of furniture, paying in full !!!! prior to delivery. Suite won't/can't be made to access the living room. Parents want a full refund but owner of the shop is claiming no obligation to refund them. Have claimed the suite is not "fit for purpose" but owner refutes this contending it's about access not product fitness. Anyone have any sensible legal advice to offer to get a full refund? Do they live in a house, as they could contact a good glazier who will take the window out, get the suite in through the hole and refit the window. It may be your only option
Al de Man Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 To be fair, how could you expect the retailer to know the layout of your parents' home? Did they pay by credit card? It might be worth approaching them if they did.
bridge too far Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 These days, as witnessed by the very long lead-in time, soft furniture is made to order. Retailers don't keep stock (apart from the display stuff) so their argument would be that they couldn't sell the furniture on, or if they did, it would be at a significant discount.
View From The Top Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 You actually have more protection if you buy via an online portal. The DSRs give you 7 day "cooling off period" in which you can return things, including things such as furniture.
Berudenot2 Posted 10 July, 2011 Author Posted 10 July, 2011 Many thanks to all. I thought they were on dodgy ground so I'm going to appeal to the shop owners better nature. Unfortunately mother is on the cusp of dementia and despite prior warnings from the family she insists on paying cash for everything and in full. Despite this being a salutory lesson I doubt it's one she will learn from. I'm hoping the owner will offer a solution but won't be too surprised if he doesn't.
SuperMikey Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 Could they not sell the suite on to somebody else?
JackFrost Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 As said above you've got absolutely nothing to go on. It's not the retailers fault if you buy the wrong sized item, they've sold you a perfectly good product
Verbal Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 As said above you've got absolutely nothing to go on. It's not the retailers fault if you buy the wrong sized item, they've sold you a perfectly good product It's not clear from the above, though, whether the shop had knowledge of the layout and access issues beforehand. If assurances were given, this might be grounds for action. Actually something like this has happened to me. I bought a fridge which I couldn't get into the house. It had to go back and I got a full refund. I suspect the difference is that I was buying from John Lewis.
toofarnorth Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 The fear of this happening led us to buy a sofa off the internet that came in five pieces.
benjii Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 It's not clear from the above, though, whether the shop had knowledge of the layout and access issues beforehand. If assurances were given, this might be grounds for action. Actually something like this has happened to me. I bought a fridge which I couldn't get into the house. It had to go back and I got a full refund. I suspect the difference is that I was buying from John Lewis. Your first paragraph is correct; if the buyers communicated clearly to the seller the need for the furniture to fit through a door of "x and y" dimensions and the seller was aware that was a requirement of the furniture then you probably would be entitled to a refund.
BigShadow Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 If its a fairly standard suite - i.e. size and colours - the retailer might take it back minus a 10-20% restocking fee, particularly if you agree to buy a replacement. Get hold of the manager, and be nice rather than demanding. If it was a pink and white tartan special order - forget it.
Sheaf Saint Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 I imagine that the retailer would probably be agreeable to replace the suite for one of equal value that will fit through the doors, but I think they can forget about getting a full refund really.
Manuel Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 I'm hoping the owner will offer a solution but won't be too surprised if he doesn't. Give him another chance tomorrow. He may just need to sleep on it.
Weston Super Saint Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 Do what we did when the sofa didn't fit. Take the window out
Gemmel Posted 10 July, 2011 Posted 10 July, 2011 Many thanks to all. I thought they were on dodgy ground so I'm going to appeal to the shop owners better nature. Unfortunately mother is on the cusp of dementia and despite prior warnings from the family she insists on paying cash for everything and in full. Despite this being a salutory lesson I doubt it's one she will learn from. I'm hoping the owner will offer a solution but won't be too surprised if he doesn't. Good luck mate, hope it sorts itself out.
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