SCS Threats on undelivered sofa!

raversteph

I ordered a sofa from SCS at the very end of December 2008. They gave me a contract which stated that the sofa would arrive with 6 - 8 weeks. In mid Feb, a sofa arrived, which was the wrong corner, minus several pillows in dark brown. I sent it back and the manager rang me up and told me he would get one ordered straight away which would take about 2 weeks.

I said OK and then weeks and weeks past so I phoned them up at the end of Feb and they told me it would arrive in the second week of March, which meant that they had not delivered my sofa within the time quoted by SCS. I rang them up and got the manager who was rude to me, made up excuses and told me that he would sort it out, then to get rid of me, he put the phone down on me. I couldn't believe it!

I didn't contact them again, then about 2 weeks ago at the end of April I got calls from them saying it was ready to be delivered so I told the girl on the phone that I didn't want the sofa, and that they had broken their contract because they didn't deliver it in the time they specified.

I have now received a letter from SCS saying that they will not force me to accept delivery, but they will try to recover the costs of the losses from the sofa.

I have since moved house and so they don't know where I live which means that any correspondence I have with them, I will not receive.

Can anyone help me please?

maninthestreet

They are trying to honour their side of the contract - unless the delivery date was written into the contract, time is not considered to be of the essence.

slummymummyof3

maninthestreet wrote: »

They are trying to honour their side of the contract - unless the delivery date was written into the contract, time is not considered to be of the essence.

So are you saying that if they tried to deliver in August that would be acceptable? Surely time is of the essence.....It should have been delivered in 6-8 weeks from Dec - we are now in May! I would feel the same as the op and no longer want the offending sofa!

mountainofdebt

The point is, is that unless the delivery time of 6-8 weeks is a condition of the contract then the contract still stands.

It could be argued that the contract was unfilled by the delivery of the wrong suite but again it could be counterargued that the remedy offered by SCS was accepted by the OP and therefore the contract stills stands.

As far as the situation the OP now finds themselves in I would argue that unless they don't plan on applying for any sort of credit for the next three years they would be wise to try and sort the situation out with SCS.

phlogeston

mountainofdebt wrote: »

The point is, is that unless the delivery time of 6-8 weeks is a condition of the contract then the contract still stands.

Delivery within a reasonable time is part of the contract - see SOGA 79 s29(3)

6-8 weeks is a reasonable time but 4 months is not

raversteph

I don't see how it would affect my credit rating because the finance hasn't actually gone through because I never received the sofa.

It is obvious that the delivery time was far too over due and the poor service I received didn't make matters any better.

I am wondering whether it would be a good idea to contact the people who were going to provide the finance to see what they say, and explain to them how scs failed to fulfil their part of the deal.

Any thoughts?

Thank you.

maninthestreet

raversteph wrote: »

I don't see how it would affect my credit rating because the finance hasn't actually gone through because I never received the sofa.

It is obvious that the delivery time was far too over due and the poor service I received didn't make matters any better.

I am wondering whether it would be a good idea to contact the people who were going to provide the finance to see what they say, and explain to them how scs failed to fulfil their part of the deal.

Any thoughts?

Thank you.

You have deliberately frustrated the contract by telling SCS you will refuse to accept the delivery of the sofa. You may feel you are in the right, but by acting in the way you have done does not put you in a strong position. Did you actually WRITE to SCS and state 'time is now the essence of the contract', and give them a date by which they must supply you with the sofa or be in breach on contract???