Shop Passed off Display Goods as New

captainshamroc

So we bought a new couch from a large furniture chain a few months back. It was very comfortable and the nicest we'd seen to suit the small room it would go into that we'd seen. I suspect each store is a franchise as there are a few of them within 30 miles and they each have different stock but not sure. Delivery time was about 10 weeks
Anyway the couch arrived but it was the wrong couch. They checked the order and confirmed the mistake was on their side and ordered the correct one.
A few weeks later they came to deliver the new couch and took away the wrong one which was unused etc.
That night the wife noticed a bit of mud on the bottom of the couch where your foot would be but it came off easily. Bit weird. It wasn't really wrapped in plastic like a new couch that they are usually paranoid about damaging and instead looked like it have been wrapped in a slightly thicker clingfilm.
So we were passing the shop two days later and decided to drop in as we were looking for something else as well. Low and behold in place of the couch we had sat on and ordered was the one they had wrongly sent to us and the demo of our one was gone.
The wife who is much calmer than me rang and asked them if they had sent us a demo couch instead of the new one we had paid for and they admitted that they had.
In summary they've offered us €250 off a €900 couch or we can send it back for a full refund.
My attitude is it is blatant fraud and it shouldn't be encouraged so fire the couch back to them and never deal with them again. The wife thinks the couch is in good nick and we won't get something similar for the same price so take the offer. What do people think?

endacl

250 is a nice discount off the couch you wanted if you’re happy with it. Of course you could stand in principle and be right back where you started.

Technically right is the best kind of right. Never forget that.

L1011

I'd take the refund and then decide whether to ever use them again myself.

captainshamroc

I just couldn't bring myself to reward shady dealings. We told them to take back the couch.
Sad thing is they couldn't care less. There's no punishment for ripping off customers so they will happily do the same thing again.
If I had gone in and swapped the tags between a new and demo couch and got myself a nice little discount they'd have called the guards.

rock22

captainshamroc wrote: »

So we bought a new couch.....
.....My attitude is it is blatant fraud ….The wife thinks ..... take the offer.

What do people think?

Your question seems to be " who is right, me or my wife".
I can assure that your wife is always right

EKRIUQ

You received the couch that you bought, they should of been upfront before delivery and explained the situation and then offered you the discount.

As you didn't notice any difference I presume it was looking practically new so I'd of taken the couch and the discount. I don't think it's a fraud as you order X couch and received X couch.

captainshamroc

We paid for a new couch and got a practically new couch as you say. So we didn't get the couch we bought
If it was the same then they would be handing out new couches at ex demo prices and wouldn't have offered us a discount when we caught them. We noticed because of their complete contempt for their customers that they didn't bother even cleaning it.
I never understand why Irish people are so willing to accept poor service and be ripped off by businesses. Laugh it off and defend it. Ha, sure they nearly got one over on you there. Sure why wouldn't they give a try. Fair balls to them.
In most countries they'd lose all their customers. Its the reason we get such poor service.

Anyway deed is done. Was hoping to tap the board for some way of getting on my high horse to teach them a lesson but not to be. The next customer can deal with it. My more urgent task now is to find a couch the wife loves or she'll hold it over me forever

bucketybuck

captainshamroc wrote: »

I just couldn't bring myself to reward shady dealings. We told them to take back the couch.
Sad thing is they couldn't care less.

Did you really think they were going to go home and cry into their partners arms about what happened? That you were fighting the good fight?

You should have taken the perfectly good couch that you were getting at a sizeable discount.

daheff

you should have looked for a bigger discount. Cost to them to go pick it up and try store it again might have meant them drop the price even more.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

daheff wrote: »

you should have looked for a bigger discount. Cost to them to go pick it up and try store it again might have meant them drop the price even more.

More than €250 off a €900 item? Just how big a discount would you want? It didn't cost them that much to take it back in store.

Always Tired

The very definition of Irish that is. Shops here are rife with that trick. Had them try the same with shoes before in a shoe shop, the two shoes were nearly different colors as one had been left out.

And the last time my mother bought a couch, when they arrived they asked her who was going to help bring it in as they only had one man, the driver. She's 60. I had to come over and help lug it in and then we get it in and the recliner part on the end seats didnt function.

And this was after they arrived 2 days later then they were meant to, and we had gotten our old one taken away the night before they were meant to arrive, left us 2 days sitting on the kitchen chairs in the sitting room. Then we had to wait for the couch to be repaired.

Having to buy anything substantial in a bricks and mortar shop in this country is just rarely a good experience any more. I would much prefer to shop local but I don't, because so many places don't give a monkeys about their customer sevice or products. Tired of getting screwed by chancers.

daheff

Abigail Disgusting Arcade wrote: »

More than €250 off a €900 item? Just how big a discount would you want? It didn't cost them that much to take it back in store.

time, van, diesel, probably 2 lads, logistics team arranging to add this to the delivery schedule etc.


Anyways, in all negotiations you never accept the first offer