Three piece suite woes.

guslucky

Hello everybody,
I wonder if anyone could help me with the following?

About 3 months ago my parents (78yrs. and 75yrs.) decided to purchase two armchairs and a sofa. They chose a fawn colour with a chenille type finish for £1,500.
After a few weeks the material on the seat cushions began to look a bit grubby and now it looks as if the suite has been plucked from a rubbish dump.

They called in person to the shop and a lady called round to see the suite.
She advised turning the seat cushions and brushing them and said that the material sample that they chose had a notice on it to say that this needed doing.
My parents said that there was no such notice.
While the lady was demonstrating how to turn and brush the seat cushions she had difficulty in removing them and said that they were a bit "tight".

It was left at that and after wrestling with the cushions for a few days they decided they couldn't manage and called in at the shop again. They looked at the material sample book and saw that there was no notice about the material they chose.

Anyway to cut a long story short the retailer has said that they are willing to supply a different suite to replace the original one.
However they cannot find another one they like and would like their money back - is this possible?

So far there is nothing in writing and I am concerned that if they leave it much longer this agreement will be "forgotten" and they will be left with the "grubby" suite.


Any advice would be helpful.

unholyangel

I know you've probably came on here to find out where you stand before going back to them as i had a tendency to do it sometimes too.

However, sometimes it really is as simple as just asking them. Often you find you gear yourself up expecting an argument when in fact, the company could not be more helpful Plus if you ask and they say you, you could then give us a better idea of what their stance on it is (ie why they are refusing the refund).

You could also ask that they email you confirmation of any offer they have made so you would have it writing should they refuse that the offer had been made.

guslucky

Thank you Unholyangel for your reply.

I forgot to say that my parents did ask for the money back but this was refused, I don't know why but as you say it would help to know.
I'll find out if they can remember.

guslucky

I have just phoned the parents, and they were told that they couldn't have a refund as it was not their company's policy to give refunds.

Does anybody know if this is a good enough reason to refuse a refund?

fthl

this is a characteristic of chenille sofas. It isn't generally considered a fault unless the appearance of the goods can be considered unsatisfactory; sometimes it depends on what angle the light is coming from. As any claim you have depends on you showing that the goods are not of satisfactory appearance, which is often transitory in these cases and expected if the question is asked at point of sale then the success of a claim can be unpredictable.