Argos Suite/Good Will ... Advice?

Hush-Puppy

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice on not so much my 'rights' perhaps, more Argos' C.S procedures.

I bought a leather sofa bed around a year ago from Argos, costing £600. The item was faulty, an upholsterer verified it was unrepairable and we were offered a refund or replacement. We chose to replace the sofa with a totally different item this time, a leather corner group with sofa bed (the 'Juliet') which was *apparently* £1,200 reduced to £600.

This sofa was also defective, another upholsterer was called out (around 3 months after it being delivered), again the sofa was verified as unrepairable and another replacement/refund was offered. We replaced with another Juliet corner group, hoping we'd simply been unlucky.

6 months after having this one delivered, I've had to call customer services again due to this one now being faulty (in the same ways as the first Juliet). An upholsterer visited 2 days ago and has reported this suite to be unrepairable.

And so to my question! I have spoken to customer services today, who informed me the Juliet had a manufacturing fault (really?!) and had been removed from their catalogue. I already knew this as I'd checked, anticipating another offer of replacement. I was informed I may have a refund or replacement (with a product of equal cash value). Therein lies my bind.

Argos now only stock one comparable product, the 'Alonza' (currently retailing at £800). The next nearest item is £500, but it is only an 'occasional use' product, wheras the Juliet and the Alonza are supposedly 'every day use'.

I have (after a lengthy call, being transferred to a manager etc) been offered £50 as a 'Good will gesture', leaving me a balance of £150 to pay if I want the only comparable product. Not ideal for a mother of four when Christmas is fast approaching, I can assure you.

I could also have the sofa removed, then receive a £600 refund. However, this leaves me, my hubby and four kids with no sofa (and dh and I with no bed) while we try to locate an alternative and arrange delivery (I believe 6 weeks+ is standard) so we can't really do that unfortunately.

I cannot quite believe Argos expect me to pay another £150, considering they have now sold me three consecutive items which were faulty (within 12 months) and therefore not fit for their purpose. Because of this, I've had three sets of upholsterer visits, and 3 sets of suite delivery (with soon to be 3 removals) which has been an inconvenience and would obviously have been unnecessary had the original product(s) not been defective.

Am I being greedy here? Am I deluded to expect them to replace the item with their £800 Alonza without being out of pocket? I had assumed their 'Good will' (ha!) might have been extended when the full story had been taken into consideration, but apparently not.

Has anyone ever managed to achieve the seemingly impossible in a situation like this or do I need to resign myself (with a heavy sigh) to getting into even more debt as Christmas approaches?

Thanks to anyone and everyone who got this far into my tale of woe, and huge thanks to anyone kind enough to comment (so long as I don't get pulled to pieces for being unreasonable! If I am being unreasonable, please say so ... without insults please, lol).

Yours,
Hushy

P.S - i did post this on the Argos board but it hasn't had much response. I plan to write to Argos today/tomorrow so I'm being cheeky re-posting here in search of more opinions/advice. If this is against the rules BG's, feel free to delete this post. Thanks! XX

yummymummy888888

You are being perfectly reasonable.
I am sure that when someone actually looks at your case IN FULL they will see you need more than the standard service. I suggest write to the top guy/guyette. Pretend you are Dominic Littlewood! Would he settle for what they have offered you? NAH. You insist on the equivilant repllacement. You are entitled to it.

GOOD LUCK

poppyolivia

Wow thats so unlucky! You would THINK they would allow you to have the £800 one swapped for the one you have after all the carry on you have had!..good luck with that one and let us know how you get on!

Trust_2

I would tell them that you do not want to pay the difference

They can cover this due to the fact they have sold you a known defective product I would have a conversation with trading standards, as each time an upholsterer has come out to your house you have had to wait in (Haven't you!)

You paid for a perfect sofa, if they have determined a fault surely they should have recalled!

Argos sofa's are not much good, a lot of returns, mainly due to the fact that people can not sit/touch/feel the sofa prior to delivery so Argos trys to offer them at a good price through cutting some corners.

So if I was you I would speak to TS first, see what else is around you like (Sales are hard for the retailers so see what is around and offer cash!)

Good Luck

Hush-Puppy

Thanks for the support, it's appreciated.

yummymummy888888 - I have contacted the C.S dept. and gained the name of the head of their consumer relations department (although the manager didn't seem pleased to give it to me). I shall fire off a huge letter to that person tonight or tomorrow.

poppyolivia - I would have previously thought so too! It's not as if I simply didn't like the design/size etc of the previous models - they were all badly defective! It's not even just a case of leather facing peeling, it's the fact that the springs have gone all along the sofa, the chaise has a large knackered spring in the outer corner, the stitching is coming away all along the seams of the leather cushion parts ... etc etc.

Trust - Thanks, I do keep telling them I don't think I should be paying the excess due to them upgrading a faulty item. The Alonza is basically just an upgraded version of the Juliet. If I didn't use the bed part, I'd be happy (and relieved) to accept a refund, but I don't fancy being bedless for 6+ weeks! I agree about the product recall aspect and will be asking about this in my [STRIKE]novel [/STRIKE]letter.

Thanks for the responses so far, they are much appreciated.

Hushy

valk_scot

I have to say that if you've got six folk using a sofa by day and two sleeping on it every night, you're going to need a better quality sofa than anything Argos stocks, and pay a lot more for it.

Dipsy_2

That is not true, the product should be fit for purpose, Argos or not.

Hush-Puppy

valk_scot wrote: »

I have to say that if you've got six folk using a sofa by day and two sleeping on it every night, you're going to need a better quality sofa than anything Argos stocks, and pay a lot more for it.

I'd dispute this actually. Firstly, there aren't 6 people using it all day long, as 1 is at work full time and 3 are at school, lol.

Also, the *supposed* full price of this sofa was £1,200. Considering you can buy a basic sofa bed for £200 or less, I'd assume the £1,200 one should be of a good standard. If I had attempted to buy the product a few weeks earlier I'd have paid the £1,200 and expected a decent quality product, as I did when I paid the £600 sale price tbh.

Also, the sofa is/was described as fit for everyday use as a sofa and/or sofa bed. The defects have never been implied to be our fault in any way, it's an accepted manufacturing fault. Over-use (or innapropriate use) hasn't been suggested even once by any of the three individual upholsterers (one for each sofa! Daubio X 1, Juliet X 2).

Thanks for your comment though - I do agree that Argos sofas are obviously (in my experience anyhow) not the best quality ... ahhh, the wonders of hindsight ...:o

Hushy

Trust_2

these are not designed unfortunately for everynight useage,

Fit for purpose - it is a sofa as for the sofabed this is occasional use

What is the upholsterer saying on his report
is this the mechanism/action
Frame

May be worth looking if they still have them are MFI or Reids but I am sure the cost will be greater for frequent use.

Hush-Puppy

The thing is though, Argos are describing the item as suitable for everyday use as a sofa or sofabed. The cheaper options clearly state that they are suitable for occasional use as a sofabed.

I'd love to look around for replacement, and would even spend slightly more (although I can't afford anywhere near the £1,200 'original' price of this piece of junk), but the point of being left with no sofa and no bed for 4-6 weeks (or however long it takes) makes this almost impossible to achieve. I say almost, I could attempt to get a sofabed from Freecycle for the waiting period, but I really shouldn't have to do that ... and also I'd then have to pay to have the sofabed removed etc ... it's all just such a pain in the rear!

I didn't see the Upholsterers report, but I've outlined the exact problems in a reply above. Facings, stitching, springs etc are all defective.

Thanks again for replying - I appreciate it!

Hushy

ladysparklexx

I think you should carry this on and argue this out, they should replace the faulty item with one of the nearest standard (obviously not a faulty one). I also disagree with the people who claim that you have over used it, I have had my argos sofas for the past six years and they have been slept on loads of times, had my twins clamber all over them and they are still fine (also I think they were the cheapest in the catalouge). A sofa should be upto being used, there are plenty of people who sleep on sofa beds I just think you have been unlucky.