Reid Furniture - Stains Carpet

Laura_M_3

I purchased a 3 piece sofa last year from Reid Furniture. There is an option to have feet on or off each of the chairs. In January of this year I decided to put the feet on and they have been that way since. Last week, the furniture was moved to make way for Christmas tree. In doing this I found that under each and every one of the feet there is a bright pink stain on our cream carpet. Having tried to remove this with carpet cleaner on one of the stains with no success we called Reid Furniture. They said that we would have to pay a call out charge of £65 because we were out with our 1 year manufacturing guarantee. We were confident that Reid would see that the fault lay with the furniture and agreed to have someone sent out.

When visited by the technician, photographs were taken of the stains. He also rubbed the feet of the chairs with a paper towel and the red stain transferred onto the towel. We have since received a letter from Reid stating ‘There was no evidence that they were at fault and in the technician's opinion it was a result of general useage'

Having called Reid to ask why this could possibly be the case they then said that the carpet had been washed and the furniture put back without letting it dry properly. I explained that the carpet had never been washed as it was a new as the furniture, having just moved into the flat.

I have been in contact with Trading Standards who suggested I speak to the Furniture Ombudsman. They however can’t assist me with this problem as Reid Furniture is not a fully registered member of the Furniture Ombudsman. Their only suggestion was to pay a further £99 to have an independent report.

I hope someone can help. Even if the carpet were to be cleaned, we will still have the problem of the furniture staining it, or any new carpet, again.

bifold

I seen this problem when I worked for DFS a few years back,DFS paid for new carpet and gave the feet four coats of clear varnish to seal the colour in.The carpet had never been cleaned and if it had its a bit of a lame excuse.

Before I worked for DFS I used to do inspections for the Invicta CO-OP they delivered a suite in the rain wrapped in plastic but the base of the feet got damp and that stained the carpet.they replaced the carpet.

Keep pushing

Laura_M_3

Customer Services have basically washed their hands of it saying they won't take any further action. I'm at a loss of what to do.

bris

Laura_M wrote: »

Customer Services have basically washed their hands of it saying they won't take any further action. I'm at a loss of what to do.

Trading standards told you what to do, pay the £99 for an independant report.
If this comes back as the furniture to blame give Reid's another chance to rectify the problem befor taking them to a small claims court.
This is now your only option if Reid's have washed their hands of it.

bifold

The £99 reports are undertaken by FIRA,you could write to Reid asking them it they will accept the judgement of the FIRA report and refund the report cost to you if its in your favour.

Laura_M_3

If an independant report is done and in my favour, do Reid's have to accept this and act upon it?

I'm really put out that we have already had to pay £65 for a call out for the technician to more or less agree verbally that the stain has come from the suite then to put in his report sent to us that the cause is from general useage. Then following a phonecall we find that the report they hold on their system also states that the carpet has been washed and the suite put back too soon. This was never part of any conversation we had with him. I wonder why this wasn't put in writing either to us. The carpet has never been washed. Very frustrating.

bris

Laura_M wrote: »

If an independant report is done and in my favour, do Reid's have to accept this and act upon it?

No, they don't have to accept it, but this is where the small claims come in as it is likely that a judgment would go in your favour with it.

bifold

Laura_M wrote: »

If an independant report is done and in my favour, do Reid's have to accept this and act upon it?

I'm really put out that we have already had to pay £65 for a call out for the technician to more or less agree verbally that the stain has come from the suite then to put in his report sent to us that the cause is from general useage. Then following a phonecall we find that the report they hold on their system also states that the carpet has been washed and the suite put back too soon. This was never part of any conversation we had with him. I wonder why this wasn't put in writing either to us. The carpet has never been washed. Very frustrating.

The technician was working for Reids not you,they just got you to pay for it( cheeky)
Fira reports are well respected by the furniture industry,most retailers accept them,(Reids however are not members of FIRA)If you end up at the small claims court FIRA reports are the gold standard,and thats why trading standards like them,in any court its always nice to have to have both partys to accept a independent report.

Laura_M_3

We have more money to put out then...

Laura_M_3

I wrote a letter to Reid in January asking them to confirm that they would accept the findings of an Independant Report. They advised that unless we did this then they wouldnt accept it. The response I got was that they were contacting their supplier for comment and would then be in touch. I havent heard anything. I have since sent a 2nd letter explaining that I would be taking advice from furniture ombudsman on legal action if they did not repsond in 14 days. The 14 days are up. Should I call Reid for an explanation?

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Laura_M wrote: »

I wrote a letter to Reid in January asking them to confirm that they would accept the findings of an Independant Report. They advised that unless we did this then they wouldnt accept it. The response I got was that they were contacting their supplier for comment and would then be in touch. I havent heard anything. I have since sent a 2nd letter explaining that I would be taking advice from furniture ombudsman on legal action if they did not repsond in 14 days. The 14 days are up. Should I call Reid for an explanation?

No. go straight to the small claims court. i take it you got the independant report that people advised you to do?