Furniture delivery - ruined carpets

oj29 · 6 June 2017 at 4:51PM

Hi all,
I recently ordered some new furniture from IKEA to be delivered to a new house which had not been moved into yet and had to pay £35 to actually have it delivered. Yes, really, £35 for delivery!

As advertised on their site, they will also bring the furniture into your desired room, up the stairs, etc. since I was paying £35 I figured they could at least put it all in the correct rooms. As this is IKEA they should be doing this day in, day out so I had no worries at all; it turns out they contract out this service to a courier company.
Anyway, upon asking them to bring it upstairs I saw that the brand new cream carpets installed throughout the house were now covered in mud from the boots.

After complaining to IKEA I was told they would be investigating it with the delivery company and they may be in touch. I pestered them but didn't really get anywhere. I did tell them that actually my contract is with IKEA and not the delivery company, I should not be dealing with the delivery company in any way - thats their business. Completely out of the blue I received a phone call from a solicitor acting on behalf of the delivery company who wanted me to send some photos across of the 'damage' and also to get some quotes to clean the carpet and send them across.

I was just wondering how to approach this? I don't really see why the delivery company are contacting me and attempting to intimidate me in giving up on this, really IKEA should have issued a refund and paid for the cleaning costs and then they should have tried to retrieve this from the delivery company?

Thanks in advance

p00hsticks · 6 June 2017 at 4:59PM

oj29 wrote: »

Completely out of the blue I received a phone call from a solicitor acting on behalf of the delivery company who wanted me to send some photos across of the 'damage' and also to get some quotes to clean the carpet and send them across.

I was just wondering how to approach this? I don't really see why the delivery company are contacting me and attempting to intimidate me in giving up on this, really IKEA should have issued a refund and paid for the cleaning costs and then they should have tried to retrieve this from the delivery company?

Thanks in advance

How are they intimidating you ? They've asked you to provide evidence of the damage and an estimate of how much is required to put it right - to me that sounds like the correct steps to resolve the issue, not an attempt at intimidation.

lincroft1710 · 6 June 2017 at 4:59PM

I don't see that the delivery company are trying to intimidate you, it sounds as if they are trying to resolve the matter.

oj29 · 6 June 2017 at 5:05PM

The way I interpreted it was that most people would probably give up when contacted by a solicitor. Why did it need to be a solicitor? Why couldn't a regional manager or someone like that give me a call and apologise for the inconvenience and offer to pay for the carpet to be cleaned? Having a solicitor involved just seems a bit too full on to me, they're being paid to act on their behalf - there must be a reason why they've chosen to do it like this as opposed to just deal with it internally?

societys_child · 6 June 2017 at 5:08PM

ruined carpets

Are they really ruined or simply need the footprints cleaning ?

I received a phone call from a solicitor acting on behalf of the delivery company who wanted me to send some photos across of the 'damage' and also to get some quotes to clean the carpet and send them across

Intimidating?

angryparcel · 6 June 2017 at 5:11PM

oj29 wrote: »

I don't really see why the delivery company are contacting me and attempting to intimidate me in giving up on this

The are not , the delivery company caused the damage, they are asking for evidence of this and estimates to get it cleaned/repaired.
It would be easier for your to deal with delivery company direct than send stuff to Ikea and then ikea send this to courier who then replies to ikea who them replies to you.
as long as it get cleaned or repaired

LilElvis · 6 June 2017 at 5:11PM

oj29 wrote: »

The way I interpreted it was that most people would probably give up when contacted by a solicitor. Why did it need to be a solicitor? Why couldn't a regional manager or someone like that give me a call and apologise for the inconvenience and offer to pay for the carpet to be cleaned? Having a solicitor involved just seems a bit too full on to me, they're being paid to act on their behalf - there must be a reason why they've chosen to do it like this as opposed to just deal with it internally?

They didn't say that they didn't believe you and that they'll see you in court. They asked for photographic proof and cleaning quotes. If you want a resolution then just give them what they've asked for. You have taken photos haven't you?

angryparcel · 6 June 2017 at 5:13PM

oj29 wrote: »

The way I interpreted it was that most people would probably give up when contacted by a solicitor. Why did it need to be a solicitor? Why couldn't a regional manager or someone like that give me a call and apologise for the inconvenience and offer to pay for the carpet to be cleaned? Having a solicitor involved just seems a bit too full on to me, they're being paid to act on their behalf - there must be a reason why they've chosen to do it like this as opposed to just deal with it internally?

Most likely the solicitor is acting on behalf of their insurance company, who will need the evidence and the costs to fix the issue

unholyangel · 6 June 2017 at 5:17PM

oj29 wrote: »

The way I interpreted it was that most people would probably give up when contacted by a solicitor. Why did it need to be a solicitor? Why couldn't a regional manager or someone like that give me a call and apologise for the inconvenience and offer to pay for the carpet to be cleaned? Having a solicitor involved just seems a bit too full on to me, they're being paid to act on their behalf - there must be a reason why they've chosen to do it like this as opposed to just deal with it internally?

I very much doubt they've specifically engaged a solicitor to deal with your claim. More likely they either have their own on staff or outsource the claims to a specific firm by default.

Chances are a solicitor hasn't even looked at your claim and you've been sent a template letter from some low paid administrative assistant.

oj29 · 6 June 2017 at 5:18PM

If I've interpreted it wrong then that's fine; I have photos and have quotes, no issues there.

The carpets aren't ruined but it's a bit annoying when you've paid for brand new carpets to be installed only for them to be covered in mud before anyones even moved in.
I don't even know how someone can get so much mud on their boots walking from the delivery truck to the house!

LilElvis · 6 June 2017 at 5:21PM

Next time you will know to put plastic or similar down if you're expecting delivery men to traipse through your house. They almost certainly won't be allowed to remove their boots for Health and Safety reasons.

Furniture delivery - ruined carpets

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