Silentnight & Sainsbury's - nightmare!

ladylisa798

This website has been my saviour on many occasions where I've researched a product etc before buying something, but thankfully have never had any issues serious enough to have to post anything. Sadly now we do


Would be so grateful if anyone can help us with a nightmare situation we are in with Silentnight.


We ordered a Silent night memory foam 4 drawer bed through Sainsbury's on 4th August. We particularly wanted the divan to be in a charcoal colour to match our bedroom. After ordering through Sainsbury's the order confirmation email said it was in 'Chestnut' so I called Silentnight to confirm what colour the bed would come in.


The lady in their customer services advised that the memory foam bed only came in brown colours, and to get something in charcoal we would need to buy the latex bed which was an extra £50. I wanted some assurances that this bed amd she kept switching between 'black' and 'charcoal' but to be honest either of these colours would have been fine, just not brown.


So we cancelled the memory foam bed, and ordered the latex on 9th August.
On 26th August the bed arrived it was Nutmeg in colour (light beige) and not the Charcoal we had ordered and had been assured that it would be.


Having had extensive conversations that morning with their Customer Service team, I was advised that there was no way of getting a replacement quickly, but they would ensure the right bed was ordered and delivered to me as soon as possible. She admitted liability but blamed it on the computer system that they use.


I was given a new delivery date of 9th September.


And on 9th September, another bed arrived. Luckily this was in the correct colour Charcoal. Hurrah!


However, on taking the wrapping off the bed that evening, the bed that has arrived is a non-storage bed instead of the 4 drawer bed that we have ordered and paid for.

On the Sainsbury's website the non-storage latex bed is priced at £100 less than what we paid. So we now have a bed in the correct colour, but have paid £100 over the odds for something that, again, we did not want in the first place.


As we live in small flat we had to get rid of our old bed in order to fit the new one in. Because the first bed was incorrect we kept the divan base in the wrapping and slept only on the mattress on the floor.


When speaking to Sainsbury's Customer Service I was rudely told that it was my fault that we had got rid of our old bed and had nothing to sleep on, and that Sainsbury's were not liable for the situation we now found ourselves in.


I appreciate that Sainsbury's do not process the orders and make the bed, they just pocket the money. But still, a little understanding would have been nice.


Because the bed wasn't delivered until 5.30pm, customer service lines for Silentnight were shut until Monday. I have done a little bit of digging and emailed Justin King and Gwyn Burr at Sainsbury's, have emailed Jon Gatfield the new CEO at Silentnight and also a couple of other contacts at the Silentnight Customer Service team, outlining all the issues we have had.


I've taken 2 days off work unpaid to receive 2 beds and they have both been wrong. Really angry :mad:


My biggest concern is that Silentnight seem to be in major trouble, apparently having asked their creditors for a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) to help them avoid administration. I am worried that if we do not get the right bed through from them, they will go into administration eventually and we will be left out of pocket.


Any help you can give, or suggested next steps would be great as we are sick of sleeping on the floor and really just want to receive what we paid for

wealdroam

With regard to your biggest concern...

I know your first order was with Sainsburys, but were subsequent orders placed through Sainsburys?

If so, you have no need to worry about whether Silentnight go into administration or not.
Sainsburys are responsible for the fulfillment of your order.

ladylisa798

Hi Wealdroam, thanks for your reply. All orders were placed through Sainsbury's. If Silentnight did go into administration before this is sorted, would Sainsbury's have to have this order satisfied using another bed supplier, or would they simply refund?

pulliptears

To be honest Silentnight have not been a recommended brand in the industry for some time if I recall correctly so you may have had a lucky escape. I think if I were in your position I'd return the bed to Sainsbury's under Distance Selling Regs and head to your local bed shop where you will probably find an infinitely better quality bed for similar money, and often in stock as well.

wealdroam

ladylisa798 wrote: »

Hi Wealdroam, thanks for your reply. All orders were placed through Sainsbury's. If Silentnight did go into administration before this is sorted, would Sainsbury's have to have this order satisfied using another bed supplier, or would they simply refund?

I am pretty sure Sainsburys would just refund you.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi ladylisa798

Silentnight has asked us to post a response on its behalf. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the forum.

Hi ladylisa798,
We're so sorry about the problems with your order and sincerely apologise. Following your correspondence with our customer services team, we delivered the correct bed on Saturday 17 September and hope that the free headboard and £50 cash goodwill gesture that we've offered goes some way towards restoring your faith in Silentnight Beds. We're also making checks internally and with Sainsbury's to ensure that this doesn't happen to anyone else. We really appreciate your custom and your patience and hope you love your new bed.

We'd also like to reassure you that we're not at any risk of going into administration as we have new owners who are totally solvent - the news stories you've seen are from earlier this year and fortunately we're not in that situation any more.

wealdroam

Silentnight, thanks for your response.

Just a shame that LadyLisa didn't think it appropriate to tell us how well you have reacted.