Faulty 3 Piece Suite

slimboyfat

Hi, wondering anyone can help me here on this.

My mother took delivery of a new 3 piece suite on the 1/12/15, she went away for on the 2nd and returned on the 7th, on her return and using one of the chairs she noticed that it was faulty ( the padding in the sofa was inadequate and it was also leaning to one side, it is uneven to sit on ) .

She phoned the retailer and complained on the 9/12/15 and was informed by the retailer that they will replace or repair but refuse a full refund, she went into the shop today and was then told she would be given a credit note ( the term being that the items that are being replaced must be delivered on the day when the sofa is being collected) .

My understanding is that she would be entitled to a full refund as the item is faulty but the retailer says otherwise.

Where does she stand on this and where is she best to go to get the best advice on this matter?

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

_Whimsical_

slimboyfat wrote: »

Hi, wondering anyone can help me here on this.

My mother took delivery of a new 3 piece suite on the 1/12/15, she went away for on the 2nd and returned on the 7th, on her return and using one of the chairs she noticed that it was faulty ( the padding in the sofa was inadequate and it was also leaning to one side, it is uneven to sit on ) .

She phoned the retailer and complained on the 9/12/15 and was informed by the retailer that they will replace or repair but refuse a full refund, she went into the shop today and was then told she would be given a credit note ( the term being that the items that are being replaced must be delivered on the day when the sofa is being collected) .

My understanding is that she would be entitled to a full refund as the item is faulty but the retailer says otherwise.

Where does she stand on this and where is she best to go to get the best advice on this matter?

Did she buy the sofa online? If so she had 14 days to return it no questions asked. If she rang and complained and asked for a return and refund and was refused then that was wrong, she would be entitled to it under distance selling legislation.

If she bought it from a store and it is faulty she is entitled to a repair replacement or refund, which is at the discretion of the retailer. DFS were featured on the afternoon show recently where a sofa was inadequately packed with upholster filling. They attempted to repair it twice and then refunded it. They said it was there policy though id be surprised if it were that simple. Definitely fight for it, she is entitled to redress.

dudara

As already mentioned, the seller can refund, replace or repair. In this situation, a repair doesn't sound unreasonable, but if they do repair, it has to be a permanent fix. If it fails again, you can reject further offers of repair, and instead insist on a replacement or refund.

If it does come to a refund, legally it should be a proper refund, not a credit note. Your mother can accept a credit note if it suits her, but she is entitled to a full refund.

dannym11115

If it was only that easy with DFS for that to be their policy. That is far from their policy. I had to fight hard with DFS after problems with their sofas and even threatened legal action and they told me go ahead with legal proceedings cause I won't win.

dannym11115

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Did she buy the sofa online? If so she had 14 days to return it no questions asked. If she rang and complained and asked for a return and refund and was refused then that was wrong, she would be entitled to it under distance selling legislation.

If she bought it from a store and it is faulty she is entitled to a repair replacement or refund, which is at the discretion of the retailer. DFS were featured on the afternoon show recently where a sofa was inadequately packed with upholster filling. They attempted to repair it twice and then refunded it. They said it was there policy though id be surprised if it were that simple. Definitely fight for it, she is entitled to redress.

You are right there. DFS policy isn't that easy as they made out on the today show.

_Whimsical_

dannym11115 wrote: »

If it was only that easy with DFS for that to be their policy. That is far from their policy. I had to fight hard with DFS after problems with their sofas and even threatened legal action and they told me go ahead with legal proceedings cause I won't win.

I thought that might be the case. Sorry to hear it. We were thinking of a new sofa and considering dfs just because of that piece on the tv, the presenters went to such pains to say dfs always do this. I will be discounting them from my list now!Thanks for sharing.
If you do have an issue with the couch though you should pursue it, if it cost you less that 2000 euro you can do it via the small claims court at a max cost to yourself of 25 euro.

dannym11115

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I thought that might be the case. Sorry to hear it. We were thinking of a new sofa and considering dfs just because of that piece on the tv, the presenters went to such pains to say dfs always do this. I will be discounting them from my list now!Thanks for sharing.
If you do have an issue with the couch though you should pursue it, if it cost you less that 2000 euro you can do it via the small claims court at a max cost to yourself of 25 euro.

That was me who featured on the today show. When I told dfs that I was taking them to court the response I received was go ahead because you will lose in court. Went to the small claims and was getting everything ready then I came across Vicki Maye. She had the problem sorted within 2 days. Without her I would be stuck with the sofa waiting until the court went ahead. I couldn't believe my ears when she read dfs response. A pack of lies it was that dfs said that was their policy.They will gladly take your money but when the faults in the sofa starts to happen their attitude completely changes. But in the end I won thanks to Vicki.

coylemj

Another thing that DFS gets up to and which has been mentioned in threads on boards is that they entice a customer to pay a deposit on a piece of furniture based on the carrot of interest free credit. The sales guy more or less tells the prospect that as a home owner, credit approval will be a formality, then they take the deposit, then the application for credit is rejected and the customer has to raise the cash to complete the purchase where they never expected they would have to do, potentially at interest rates that they would prefer not to pay.

Get your deposit back based on false promises? On yer bike.

Suzyq wrote: »

I had the same experience with DFS - good salary, low mortgage, clean ICB report and was refused. It was pretty baffling to be honest with you.

When the guys arrived to deliver the sofa, they mentioned that a very high percentage of their deliveries were to cash on delivery clients with many customers having been refused credit after purchasing their sofa.

_Whimsical_

dannym11115 wrote: »

That was me who featured on the today show. When I told dfs that I was taking them to court the response I received was go ahead because you will lose in court. Went to the small claims and was getting everything ready then I came across Vicki Maye. She had the problem sorted within 2 days. Without her I would be stuck with the sofa waiting until the court went ahead. I couldn't believe my ears when she read dfs response. A pack of lies it was that dfs said that was their policy.They will gladly take your money but when the faults in the sofa starts to happen their attitude completely changes. But in the end I won thanks to Vicki.

Wow!Well I'm so glad you got some fair play in the end although obviously not willingly. I am disgusted they sought fit to misrepresent themselves in their statement to the show and that the girl speaking was so effusive in her praise of their good practices. That did make me consider using them.
I'll definitely WELL stay away now. I hope people google and see threads like this before buying there.

dannym11115

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Wow!Well I'm so glad you got some fair play in the end although obviously not willingly. I am disgusted they sought fit to misrepresent themselves in their statement to the show and that the girl speaking was so effusive in her praise of their good practices. That did make me consider using them.
I'll definitely WELL stay away now. I hope people google and see threads like this before buying there.

She is an awesome lady at her Job. She had to read out that because dfs had sent her that response and she had to say what they had to say even though its aload of bullsh*t. Dfs needed to be heard in other words. But people would have known it was lies on their part. Why would I go to a TV show for help if their policy is to keep the customer happy. The minute dfs realised that I contacted that woman and rte would be involved they finally said I will be refunded my money. A guy in the UK emailed me last night because of my video on YouTube and his sofa almost identical to mine has started to have the same issues as I did after only 11 days.

_Whimsical_

dannym11115 wrote: »

She is an awesome lady at her Job. She had to read out that because dfs had sent her that response and she had to say what they had to say even though its aload of bullsh*t. Dfs needed to be heard in other words. But people would have known it was lies on their part. Why would I go to a TV show for help if their policy is to keep the customer happy. The minute dfs realised that I contacted that woman and rte would be involved they finally said I will be refunded my money. A guy in the UK emailed me last night because of my video on YouTube and his sofa almost identical to mine has started to have the same issues as I did after only 11 days.

Would you mind sending me a link to your video?
That was a great idea to put it up online!

dannym11115

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Would you mind sending me a link to your video?
That was a great idea to put it up online!

It won't allow me to post link because I'm a new user. But just type in dfs sofa to YouTube and my video is 12 seconds long only with the username buster2k8. The guy in the UK video is 16 mins long. He really goes into detail about his issues after 11 days of use.

amarbudhe

We had a bad experience with DFS as well. Not a ethical company in my view. Stay away from DFS. Dont fall for the cheap offers trap.

JoeySully

We bought some sofa's on the interest free deal last year. The 0% interest was useful as we were just after purchasing a new house so funds were low but the interest free option meant we could buy the sofa we wanted.
The Sofa's we chose were not available anywhere else that we could find.

Initially everything was great but it went downhill fast after placing the order in store.

We had a voucher that gave us €150 off which was great. The salesman then gave us another 3x €40 vouchers off the 3 pieces of furniture which made it an even better deal.

The next day I got a call from the sales man saying it was an error and he cannot apply the extra vouchers. I told him to cancel the order as I was not happy to pay more than the agreed price.

This was followed up by another call saying I cannot cancel the order. I then spoke to the manager who told me that I has made a contract with them and cant get out of it and needed to pay the extra €120. I reminded him that he had also made a contract with me but just tried to offered me free delivery to which I declined and told him that he would be hearing from my solicitor regarding refund of the €1000 already paid.
He then changed his tune and tried to bring the conversion back to a friendlier tone and then agreed to supply the order for the original price.

I looked into making a complaint but there doesn't really seem to be any method for this with DFS.

3 months later on a Sunday afternoon I get a call saying that the furniture was on schedule to be delivered next week which was just 2 days past the estimated delivery date. I remember saying that day how unusual it was that they would ring on a sunday just to say my order "should be" arriving. If anyone else gets a call like this i would ask why they are saying "should be" and not "will BE".

That day came and passed with no contact. I rang and was told there was a problem with the supplier and it would be arriving next week sometime. That came and passed and I had to ring again to be told that it was delayed because of the bad weather and the ferry could not travel and there would be 1 more week delay.

It finally arrived anyway 3-4 weeks late and 4 months after ordering. It was great but because of the initial issue with the vouchers and the delivery delay and bogus excuses it really left a bad taste in my mouth.

The furniture itself has survived the year without any problems but we were sold the "easyglide" pads for the legs of the sofa. They were very expensive but really made awful scratches on the wooden floor and left a white residue, especially the footstool. I complained in store and was given more in case the ones I got were bad but i didn't fit them. I really should have taken the money back offer.


Overall I'm happy with the product they have supplied but the service and delayed delivery +delivery lies would stop me from using them again.


sorry OP my little rant probably doesn't help you but i would suggest you stand your ground and if you have time get a billboard made up outlining your issues and stand outside the door of the shop !