Advice about about magazine purchase.

zaly

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice on behalf of my father in law. He recently bought two self build DVD cabinets from a magazine that came with the Radio Times. He ordered them and was then asked to pay a whopping £35 each heavy delivery charge!
When they arrived he put them both together and put his DVD's in and found that because of the cabinets design they just fall over when the doors are opened! The weight of the DVD's in the main unit equal the weight of the DVD's in the open door so it's just unbalanced immediately. He contacted the company only to be told that they'd never had any complaints before, and that he was not entitled to a refund as they would be unable to return them to the manufacturer as they'd already been constructed. They offered him £20 back (which doesn't even cover one delivery charge!!).
Unfortunatley he accepted this. Is there anything that can be done now or is it too late? Feels like he's really gotten ripped off. Would be grateful for any advice.

melorablack

Could you fix the cabinet to the wall to stop it falling over?

zaly

Couldn't fix it to the wall as the base plate sticks out. Also feel like at £100 each we really shouldn't have to find ways to fix them

pmduk

I'd complain to the Radio Times, if the retailer is unhelpful. After all, they've an interest in maintaining their reputation.

hollydays

Speak to trading standards.His contract is with the retailer,he was given incorrect information that was not in line with the law,and he only accepted the £20 because of the information.The goods may not fit for purpose.The fact they have offered him anthing suggests they are admitting to a problem

CHR15

Can't see the Radio Times being obligated to get involved. It was an advert.

Some rip off merchants paid good money to shift their overpriced tat, the same as all those Precious stones Globes, handpainted plates and really really really life like fire engines you see advertised in such places.

Good luck in your citizens fight for justice, but in future, learn from this and stop buying worthless tat from magazine adverts.

zaly

Thanks for the advice - I'm going to try and speak with Trading Standards. As for buying useless tat from magazines I'm completely with you - think the father in law will be too after all this!

wuckfit

I know it's not much help but I'm not surprised that when the doors are opened that the unit falls forward - the unit will be top heavy.
Out of interest, with the doors empty, does it still fall over if the shelves are full?
Your options are limited: either you have to find or devise a long bracket to tether it to the wall, or you have to cut out a bit at the bottom rear to allow for the skirting board and use a shorter bracket.
But in order to stop it falling over fixing it to the wall is your only option, unfortunately.

pinkshoes

I'm sure Ikea furniture comes with some sort of cord/bracket combination (i.e. flexible) so it doesn't matter if it doesn't sit flush against the wall. This would work.

I would take it further though, as the item is not fit for purpose. I would get him to write the the company (sending it recorded delivery) stating that the item is not fit for purpose, so they need to arrange collection of the item, and issue him with a full refund. Say that he looks forward to hearing from them in the next 7 days, and in the mean time will be speaking to trading standards for advice.