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Hi all im after some advice...
in june we visited a local sofa company who had a nice leather corner sofa we wanted to look at.
they told us they could do the corner piece in a proper right angle and not a rounded corner unit.
so we placed the order and waited......
fast forward to saturday and the sofa arrives and it has the wrong corner piece with it.
so i go into the shop straight after it was delivered and told them im not happy.
they told me there was nothing they could do on that day and come back monday.
so i went back to day and showed them the drawing the salesman did for us (which is also on the invoice) and told them again im not happy, the invoice also had measurement on which showed the right angle corner bit to be a metre square, the bit that turned op is 2 metres wide and just wont fit in our front room.
the sales man told us he would get back to us later today, which he did to tell us that they never promised us that and they cant get one??
we paid cash for the sofa, what are my rights as an unhappy customer??
i managed to find the sofa on a website which had the correct corner piece but this other company no longer sells that sofa??
help!!
here is a link to the correct looking sofa.....
http://www.csl-sofas.co.uk/checkout/index/Maxim
scroll down and its the top corner unit you come to.
Same rights as with anything, if it's on the invoice then you'll be fine as you've got proof of what was agreed. Tell them you want a full refund or will go to small claims/cab/watchdog.
Write them a letter detailing exactly what you've been told so far and what you want doing.
Give them a time scale, say 28 days to put things right. Make it clear if they don't you'll escelate it to the small claims court.
If they reply saying they'll make up another corner unit then obviously that'll be longer than 28 days but is probably reasnoble.
Probably best to instruct them to remove the current sofa ASAP so that they can't claim you've damaged it.
does it matter that its only a quick diagram of what the correct sofa would look like??
p.s. how big is it, we need a corner sofa...............
well the correct sofa should of been 2.55 metres by 3.15 metres
Why did you accept it if it was wrong?
TINAS has got the correct advice. Do it properly with copies of receipts etc. Never pay cash in future always do credit cards as it has consumer protection.
Why did you accept it if it was wrong?
Indeed. The first thing you do is check it and don't sign for it if it's wrong....
And always pay for stuff like this on a credit card too. They have their uses....
Too late now though.
Give 'em some stick. Make threats and follow them through.
PS I have the address of an online solictor who will issue letters for a couple of quid. I'll find it in the moring on my work puter.
Has to be worth talking to trading standards too.
all the details of how to handle it here
thanks all!!
my wife has just told me we paid about £800 on the credit card as the deposit. we paid the rest cash as they placed a 2% charge on balances paid by credit card.
i took it as the delivery men already had it in the door before i noticed it was wrong and said just pop back down the shop and explain to them and they will have it picked up.
i signed for it all unchecked and its still wrapped up in its packaging.
This may be of use as well:
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_goods_your_rights.htm
HTH
If you paid the deposit on the credit card then you are in luck.
The credit card company is now responsible and involved in the sale.
Doesn't matter if you paid in cash or not for the final payment.
Thanks for all the replies!!
I went into see them today and they are refusing to budge on it , they are saying that on the order from i wanted a corner unit and they have delivered a corner unit.
the little diagram which is on my order form isnt on theirs ??
wife has been crying all day as they are basically saying tuff!!
Renton - dont expect to get accurate advice on an internet forum full of ill informed MTB'ers.... 😉
Phone this lot to lodge a complaint and get proper advice on your rights and the best course of action - http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/
The order form you have, is it a photocopy?
Does theirs have your signature on it? Does yours have theirs on it, etc? Maybe they've just put together a new one to try & hide the fact they've mucked up.
Mate small claims it's the only way. District judges almost always fall on the side of the small guy, or they haven't got the balls to make a decision so they split the claim down the middle (therefore inflate your claim)
Does your home insurance have legal protection or a legal element, some do If it does ring them for advice as it will be included, we've used it a few times as it means you can position your letters and statements with the correct wording, usually you get call from a duty solicitor quickly. We have had 100% success this way. But you must get proper advice and follow the process.
Goods legally have to be "as described." They aren't. They're breaking the law. I'd be pursuing a refund.
thanks all, spoke to consumer direct and they have advised me to write 2 letters,
one to the company basically about the sales of goods act and that the item is not as described and that i want a full refund.
the other to my credit card company about section 75 of the consumer credit thing holding them jointly liable.
both letters going into the post recorded tomorrow!!
fingers crossed
the diagram is only on my order form as i think it was drawn on about an hour after placing the order for my piece of mind as i was going away for 4 months and the wife would be looking after it.
dimensions are on a compliments slip which is what they (sales chap and store manager) gave us to go and measure up with, this slip is attached to the order form.
Sounds like you've got the upper hand to me mate, give 'em some stick!
i was that wound up ealrier i felt like making a sign up and sitting outside the shop!! saying do buy from here.......... i was too cold though!! 
You need a full bladder, the salesmans shoes and a set of classic Marzocchi forks - sorted.
Try the Furniture Ombudsman - yes there really is one. Part of FIRA International www.fira.co.uk
WTF is wrong with furniture companies?
SCS tried to tie me into a sale telling me I could cancel if I pleased. I found something that I preferred and cancelled. They still tried to deliver the sofas (2 months late). I was lucky as I had spoken to the bank and they just told me not to accept it and there was nothing they could do. SCS were proper nasty about it though. avoid.
Letters have been sent recorded delivery today to both the card company and the sofa people.
Ive noticed that on my credit card receipt the company is ELS ??
has anyone heard of these people?
cheers
steve
i have just had a heated phone conversation with the sales man who was quite rude to us when we went into to complain about the sofa being wrong.
he is now saying that he is in overall charge of the company and that the person we had liusted as the md is not.
why couldnt he of said that at the time instead of saying he would have to get in touch with the so called md??
he is also saying that the headed compliments slip will get laughed out of court and that i have signed a legal binding contract (the order form ) which says we wanted to order 1x corner unit and that is what he has delivered.
how do you think this would stand up in court?? i have a headed compliments slip with the dimensions of the sofa we were led to believe the company were going to order for us, its in the same handwriting as the actual order as it was done by the same person(the shop manger)and it was ordered from them in good faith and trust that they could supply what we wanted. they havent.
they have then failed to supply us the correct sofa and are now back tracking.
also he has literally got off the phone to us now at 19.30 at night?? isnt that a bit strange?
he also had his phone on loudspeaker and had 3 other people in his office to listen to the conversation, trying to get me all tied up, surely this is entrapment??
Sounds like a senior salesman cacking his load (at his mistake) trying to get you to back down to me...
95% customers can be basically told to shut up or fobbed off - with that other 5% you bluster and bluster then back down like crazy once they get serious.
carry on as you are, you did order a corner sofa, but you ordered it a certain size (can you cache the website page as extra proof?) and that size is listed on the headed paper.
yep keep notes of everything phonecalls ect,they know they are in the wrong as they are coming in so heavey handed hoping you will back down. have always used Furniture Village myself good back up service too
well just an update really.
ive been waiting for trading standards to call me as the girl from consumer direct said they would and then today i get a call from another person at consumer direct telling me that trading standards wont get involved afterall as i can still persue this myself as im not infirm or old etc etc!!
to say im shocked is an understatement!
still waiting for my statement and copies of the invoice to reach the credit card company before they decide what to do .
do you think its worth getting advice from a solicitor now??
What's the company name and where are they based?
I think I'd be lookign at getting the local paper involved;
"Disgruntled customer of X in wrong sofa shocker"
well, maybe not quite but I think you should be pusuing in this order;
1) credit card company - they have equal responsibility as card company - if nothign else them contacting sofa people may make them think twice as card company can just take money back from them.
2) local CAB.
3) local publicity/going in there on a regular basis (when they are busy) and making a fuss (not shouty, but in a clear firm voice explaining the problem and asking how they propose to resolve it).
Are you using the stuff they delivered?
You any idea who actually makes the sofa? Is the shop a chain (assuming the CSL link was just an example of the product rather than who you bought it from)?
Chances are its shipped in from China and they don't have any spare corner units.
company name is "the sofa specialist" based in droitwich, worcester.
www.yessofa.co.uk
the sofa is still all packaged up and its taking up most of our front room at the moment.
we have nothing to sit on and have had to cancle christmas dinner this year as we have nowhere for people to sit afterwards!!
still waiting for my statement to reach the credit card company before they decide if they will refund us or not.
****ing livid i am and relly want to go and smash the shop up but reality bites and i realsie this is not the way forward!! 👿
els the sofa specialist in droitwich now yes the sofa specialist
Can any one help? I was wondering if any one else has had problems with ELS the sofa specialist in droitwich spa now known as yes the sofa specialist. to ...
www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/.../showthread.php?...sofa-specialist... droitwich...sofa-specialist... - Cached
This yours? If not, appears you are not alone...
ive replied to that thread yep!!
we have nothing to sit on and have had to cancle christmas dinner this year as we have nowhere for people to sit afterwards!!
You're in danger here of punishing yourself
Hire a van, deliver said sofa back to the shop
You & a mate walk straight through the door with it & get another one to film it, it'll be in there before they know what's happening.
Give them the rejection letter
Now go & buy a cheap sofa from the local auction house & reinstate Christmas, in the New year, resume battle with the shop
you should buy the url for nosofa as a proest site. A bit of decent text and some work on seo and you'd be up there with them on google.
[edit] uplink has a point - busy saturday and you turning up with rejected goods, you could get them on the shop before anyone cottoned on.
And if you don't get through the door, plonk it down on the forecourt right in front of the entrance and sit down with a big notice saying 'for sale, brand new sofa, wrong one delivered but can't get a refund'.
You could ruin an afternoons trading for them 🙂
Seriously though, good luck. You'd think they'd just take it back and stick it in showroom. I suppose they know they'd have to sell it cheap in the January sales.
Send official letter stating:
Not as ordered
Not fit for purpose
Charging them storage at £20 per day
Big john ive laready sent them a letter saying not fit for purpose etc and they have just laughed it off!!
Surely a rounded corner will also fit into right angled corner, just with a small almost triangular shaped gap when pushed flush against the wall. Sounds like you ordered a sofa that is too big and are now trying to pick faults with the corner thing rather than the size.
Nice 1st post there teaandslippers
You don't happen to work for a 'fly by night' West Midlands furniture emporium by any chance do you?