MattressNextDay.co.uk Problems - Advice needed please

Miss_Behaving

I did post this on the praise, vent and warnings board but would really appreciate some advice regarding my consumer rights…

I ordered a new pine bed on Monday from MattressNextDay.co.uk and true to their word it was delivered today at 10.30 Tuesday. However, the bed was very badly damaged with numerous deep chinks and scuffs on the headboard and footboard.

I immediately contacted MattressNextDay.co.uk to advise them of the damage and to request a replacement. After 15 minutes holding and being re-routed, I got through to a customer services rep who informed me that before they would replace the item I needed to provide photographic evidence to show that it was really damaged. I did comment that I was hardly likely to ask for a replacement for a bed in good condition but she was insistent :rolleyes:. She explained that if her manager agreed it was damaged they would arrange a replacement which would be sent out in 7-10 days. I explained that I had wanted a bed immediately which was why I used a company that delivered next day. I therefore asked for a refund and was told that I would still need to provide photos and once she had received them her manager would decide if I was entitled to a refund.

I sent evidence and then called an hour later to check they had received my email. The customer services rep was evasive when I again asked for a refund explaining that it was at the discretion of her manager. I had to cite the Sale of Goods Act numerous times before I eventually got their agreement for a refund and was then told I needed provide more photographic evidence to show I had packed the item. I have provided this and emailed it off and will wait in all day on Thursday for their courier to collect the bed.

However I have been warned by another user that they may try and charge me a restocking fee or return courier charges. I did a search on the and found this customer review on Kelkoo...

DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY THEY ARE

By Anonymous (05/08/2008)
DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY THEY ARE NOT THE CHEAPEST AND THEY WILL NOT ACCEPT CANCELLATION OF YOUR PURCHASE EVEN WITHIN THE HOUR OF PLACING YOUR ORDER. PLEASE BE AWARE THEY ARE NOT A PROFESSIONAL COMPANY AND THEY CHARGE £69 FOR ANY RETURNS EVEN IF ITS THEIR FAULT!

What are my rights regarding this restocking charge, does anyone know? Can they charge me because I refused to wait 7-10 days for a replacement? Any advice appreciated.

jamescu

I ended up having to take this company to the Smal Claims court to get them to refund their illegal charges for returning goods.

I'm sorry to hear you've been conned by them as well. Best of luck.

vicshippers

If the item arrives damaged then the company will normally reserve the right to replace the item, rather than refund.

Sale of goods Act only comes into play if they refuse to replace OR refund - you can't demand a refund. If you demand a refund then they presume you are cancelling under Distance Selling regs (7 day cooling off period) - in this case then you are liable for shipping and admin fees.

It's likely that the bed was damaged in transit (something they can't control) and that's why they need the pictures - so they can claim from the shipping company's insurers. Most shipping insurers refuse any claim without evidence (rather than them asking for photos just to annoy you or because they didn't believe you I mean).

Saying all that, you needed the bed fast. In the interest of good customer service I would have hoped they would of offered you a partial refund.

Hope you got it sorted in the end!

mwanderson

I have to say that I found this company very difficult to deal with, and they didn't uphold their end of the bargain. I ordered a Joseph Betel bed for my mother who is 70. Initially I wanted it delivered on a weekday as it was free, but then I was surprised when I was told that because of insurance issues the courier would only pass it over the threshold of the property to her, and not take it inside. As I explained she is an old lady and has suffered several strokes so hardly able to manhandle a huge box containing a flatpacked bedframe!

So, I changed the order to a Saturday delivery, explaining to the company representative that given the courier's inability to take the package into my mother's hallway I would have to get up at 3.30am and travel the 300 miles to her address in order to receive it, so it was crucial that it arrive.

As others have said this bedframe was out of stock despite the website saying different so I decided to go through with the order and wait the month or so it would take for the bedframe to be available. And this is where the company broke one of the T&C's binding covenants which is that they will not take any monies until the product is available - within two days of my order the full amount of £274 was deducted from my credit card, even though it was weeks before the 19th July availability date. I wonder if the company has a cash flow problem? Otherwise, why break your own T&Cs and effectively illegally take money for goods not available?

A few days before the bedframe was due a company representative called me to assure me that it would be delivered on Saturday so I thought all well and good.

I made the journey, thinking that since deliveries stopped at 1pm I would have the afternoon to assemble the bed, and then return home on the Sunday. But both my mother and I waited all day on Saturday for the bed to be delivered but to no avail. I tried calling the company ten times but no one picked up so rather than try the "1" or "2" options I instead used the "0" option that no one is told about and which bypasses the automatic cutoff. I got through to a pleasant girl who assured me that the bed had been dispatched to me, and it was due for delivery that day.

This is where the company broke a second of its own T&C's binding covenants which is that if there is a problem in completing the order/delivery they will call you to let you know... in my case, I had to pester them to get any information out of them, and even that information turned out to be false.

By 7pm there was no sign of the bed at all. I thought naively that perhaps, given my mother lives in Cornwall, that the courier company might - just might - deliver it first thing on Sunday morning but no, nothing. I had no recourse but to stay in Cornwall and take another few days off to try and rectify the problem.

Monday morning came and I called the company first thing. I spoke with a young man called Matt who tried to find out what had gone wrong but when he called me back he admitted that despite being told on Saturday the bed had been dispatched to me, there had been a mix-up and the bed hadn't been scanned in... so why was I told it had been dispatched? The young man had no answer for me, and when I asked him to get his supervisor or indeed the company's MD to call me to explain why the confusion had happened in the first place and what sort of recompense I could expect I never received a call back. Two days later I am still waiting although Mr Seeley, the MD, ought to note that he will be hearing from me in the future.

Finally, Monday morning the bedframe arrived via a local courier service. When I quizzed the man about the order he showed me the paperwork and I discovered that there had been intention to deliver to me on Saturday - if there had been then there would have been a special note on the delivery form. Indeed, when I asked the delivery man further he admitted that the courier company don't deliver on a weekend and that they only received the goods in question on Saturday in the first place!

And to add insult to injury there was no sign of the free memory foam pillow that is so well-displayed as a selling point on the website.

I have to say that although the product was reasonable, the service I received was terrible and I won't be recommending the website to anyone in the near future. As other disgruntled customers have said in their postings on other company review websites I would avoid this company if only to teach them the valuable lesson that good reputation equals good revenue... and I'd like to see them hit where it hurts - in their profit and loss sheet!

Mattressnextday... surely the name alone contravenes trading standards?