The invisible sofa

tandl165

Hello all,

First-time poster here so I hope some of you experienced hands may be able to lend some suggestions...

The sorry tale begins back in Jan when we ordered two sofas that were being made to our spec from Exclusive Leather sofas in Cannock. We paid a £200 deposit on credit card, with a pay the remainder of the balance in a year credit agreement. We were told that the expected delivery time would be around 16 weeks, but probably would be less. We accepted this as they were having to be made to our spec in Italy, and were told verbally it usually never takes that long. However, still no sofas!

We basically are getting nowhere with them as to when they will be arriving. We only seem to get to speak to an admin type lady there, who we feel a little sorry for to be honest as she's the one getting all the flack. They claim they are having problems with the company in Italy, and cannot get a delivery date, except they just keep saying it might be delivered on x day over multiple weeks.

We were beginning to lose our patience somewhat and my wife raised the possibility of a refund with the admin lady who said it was the director's decision to sign off refunds, and we had to submit a written request giving 14 days notice. This was done, stating basically if the sofa turned up, then great, but if not we expect a refund. These 14 days are up on Wed this week.

Anyhow, to cut this increasingly long story short we are not entirely confident of getting a refund and out of the credit contract if no sofa (still no idea where it is...). The smallprint in the contract details state that "Delivery outside the date quoted will not be accepted as a breach of contract". We have also seen some comments on another consumer rights forum that suggest they are not the easiest bunch to deal with by any means.

In our view, they have not delivered what they promised, and can still give us a date when they can, at what is now 22 weeks after order. I would think this is a breach of contract, but the small print (I know!!!) suggests otherwise. Are we at a dead end?

Not as worried about the £200, but more the credit agreement.

All thoughts appreciated!

swingofthings

I don't know the legal bit on this. But I do know a 4 month wait for a sofa is extra-ordinary. Yes I know this is normal practice in the sofa industry but it beggars belief that they take so long to make ... and to be waiting 5 and a half months and STILL have no delivery date. Good luck with it all ...

garthdp

Credit card you say? No goods or services recieved?
Claim it back from your credit card company.
Search the forum or look on the main site all the info is there or look at

http://www.wheresmyrefund.co.uk/refunds-when-you-pay-credit-card.html

isplumm

tandl165 wrote: »

Anyhow, to cut this increasingly long story short we are not entirely confident of getting a refund and out of the credit contract if no sofa (still no idea where it is...). The smallprint in the contract details state that "Delivery outside the date quoted will not be accepted as a breach of contract". We have also seen some comments on another consumer rights forum that suggest they are not the easiest bunch to deal with by any means.

Hi,

That is quite funny - so what they are saying is that if they NEVER deliver then hardluck.

My attitude is that I would tell you cc company that the goods have never been delivered & you want you deposit back - I would also read the t&cs about the loan - see what it says about non-delivery of goods.

Mark

tandl165

Thanks all - I guess the credit card company will only cover us for the deposit? So what do you think we can do about the loan (payments linked to a current bank account)?

The loan Ts and Cs say

"you have no right to cancel this agreement under the Consumer Credit Act 1974... The Consumer Credit Act lays down certain requirements that should have been complied with when this agreement was made. If they were not the creditor cannot enforce the agreement without getting a court order"

It then lists three things about the act including:
"If you received unsatisfactory goods or services paid for under this agreement, apart from any bought with a cash loan, you may have the right to sue the supplier, the creditor or both"

Whilst we will do it, it would be frustrating to have to go through the small claims court in order to get the agreement cancelled.

And when we go in what should we be asking for to be sure that the agreement has been cancelled e.g. their copy of the agreement, something in writing...

Appreciate your advice!

unholyangel

If you have signed on the trades premises, you basically have little/no rights to cancel.

Is it a different company to the sofa retailer?

tandl165

Ah - thanks for that I think!

Yes.. funnily enough called 'creation consumer finance ltd'! Funny because the sofa company have been quite creative with their excuses...

unholyangel

tandl165 wrote: »

Ah - thanks for that I think!

Yes.. funnily enough called 'creation consumer finance ltd'! Funny because the sofa company have been quite creative with their excuses...

You can find some useful info here:
http://whatconsumer.co.uk/ending-credit-agreement/

Of course if you could prove that the retailer is in breach of contract, they would likely be liable for expenses - including those of your credit agreement.

Have you tried contacting your local CAB? As things stand at present, even if you managed to cancel the agreement, the retailer will likely argue that they will be out of pocket as the suite was custom to your specs. Meaning that to get "out" of it without incurring any costs, you would need to prove breach of contract.

I'm not 100% sure (can someone confirm/refute?) but getting them to pin down a delivery date in writing should help with this, unless of course their T&C's state otherwise.

tandl165

Thanks Unholyangel, and good idea: I can at least ask the question. I can another long letter coming on - I'll go armed with it on Wednesday. I might just mess up some of their sofa display on the way out as well if I am feeling childish... you know... mix up their cushion arrangements or something!;)

unholyangel

tandl165 wrote: »

Thanks Unholyangel, and good idea: I can at least ask the question. I can another long letter coming on - I'll go armed with it on Wednesday. I might just mess up some of their sofa display on the way out as well if I am feeling childish... you know... mix up their cushion arrangements or something!;)

omg! those poor cushions:(

lol good luck and let us know how you get on

tandl165

garthdp wrote: »

Credit card you say? No goods or services recieved?
Claim it back from your credit card company.
Search the forum or look on the main site all the info is there or look at

That's interesting... so even if you made a deposit by credit card they cover the rest (although it does stipulate if paid by cash) - hopefully it covers the rest when it is part of a fixed-term loan agreement?