HomeFurniture never delivered by Furniture@work- they claim it was. What next?

usignuolo

At start of November my OH purchased some office furniture for his home office, online, from an outfit in Glasgow called Furniture@work. He paid on line and the promised delivery was 5 days. Needless to say nothing arrived and when he managed to get through on the phone after a long wait, he was told it was shown in their records as having been delivered several days earlier. He said it had not and asked for proof. Nothing has been supplied of course and now it seems on looking them up on the web that this is a common excuse and they are scam merchants. Stupidly he paid with his bsuiness debit card not his credit card. They are not responding to email queries and now uncontactable by phone. What to do next.

Anihilator

Well they are not scammers as I have used them several times no problems.

It is a customer service issue. Write to them by recorder delivery with your complaint giving them reasonable time to respond.

If they don't small claims court. If your so insistent it is a scam waste half a day getting laughed out your local police station.

honeypop

I don't think they are scammers, I regularly use them for office furniture at work and had no problems.

How are they uncontactable by phone? The number seems to be working ok. What did they say when asked for proof of delivery, they should have been able to access that info when they were looking to see it had already been delivered.

usignuolo

Despite claiming to respond to all queries within 24 hours, we had had no reply from [EMAIL="F@W"]F@W[/EMAIL] by this afternoon so my OH phoned them. Once again he got told that his order had been delivered according to their records. This was what the courier had advised them that it was delivered, on 12 November. There was even a hint my OH was making it up

OH asked for proof of delivery and to see signature on delivery note. he said they could fax it or email to him so he could demonstrate it was not his signature. [EMAIL="FG@W"]FG@W[/EMAIL] said they had asked the courier for sight of the delivery note signed for but they had not yet responded and there was no more they could do until they did.

There is no way either courier or [EMAIL="F@W"]F@W[/EMAIL] can provide proof of delivery as it never arrived. OH has already paid. Who is liable to refund or supply goods, [EMAIL="F@W"]F@W[/EMAIL] is implying it is courier?.

The_Pedant

Personally I would put it in writing, so you have a record on file.
Send a letter recorded delivery stating you have not had delivery of the goods contrary to what they have said and request proof of delivery within 7 days.

Not sure if using your business card may make things tricky. Could that be classed as a business to business transaction & therefore fall outside many of the consumer protections? :shrug

As a consumer, you would be fully entitled to expect them to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that the item was delivered to you. Also, as a consumer, if you have not yet received the goods then you could simply send them a fax/email/letter asking for the order to be cancelled due to their failure to deliver, and for a full refund to be made.

If this is a B2B transaction though, then what you are entitled to do depends on their terms & conditions.

kiddy_guy

Vehicle should have telematic or GPRS tracking - get them to show that, as it will show every road it went down that day.

dickydonkin

Anihilator wrote: »

Well they are not scammers as I have used them several times no problems.

It is a customer service issue. Write to them by recorder delivery with your complaint giving them reasonable time to respond.

If they don't small claims court. If your so insistent it is a scam waste half a day getting laughed out your local police station.

There may be a genuine reason for the OP's problem, however, just because a company has had a good reputation in the past, that does not guarantee that will always be the case. When businesses start to struggle, the cash flow dries up and suppliers are blacklisting them, it will inevitably be the customer who will suffer.

Many companies will do anything to keep in business - usually to the detriment of the consumer.

But why go to the police and why would the OP be "laughed out of the police station?"

I would suggest the Trading Standard Dept where the company is based (they may be aware if this company has had other complaints) or try your own local TS. They should at least be able to offer you constructive advice.

broadside

Hello

Probably not so helpful, but I ordered furniture from furniture@work on the 5th November and it is yet to turn up.

I phoned them last week (20th) and they said it should have been with the courier on the 12th, that they'd look into it and get back to me.

Having heard nothing, I e-mailed them twice this week, receiving no reply. I called them this morning, to be informed that, according to the courier, the item had been delivered. They have said they'll get back to me on Monday with a response from the courier.

On a slightly more helpful note, their number is on the "no to 0870" website.

mirshahik_2

These guys are crooks. I have bought previously from them and they have delivered (once with long delay). But this time they have not delivered and they claim they have.

I have asked many times for proof of delivery and they keep saying they will send it to me. By their own admission it has been signed by "Dennis" which is not me. Then they said they may have left it at my neighbours. I asked which one and they did not reply to my email. They do not return calls or emails.

They have refused a refund and now I have contacted my credit card company and have logged a complaint with trading standards.

AVOID this company at all costs. There is something very wrong with this organisation. Their attitude towards their customers stinks.

There are much better furniture companies around.