Bought a 'slightly damaged' bed - not as described!!

arcon5

GotNoRhythm wrote: »

I contacted them the same day to advise them of the missing items/damage. They offered to send the spare parts. I later realised that other parts were missing and called them back (same day). I spoke to a different adviser than the first one, who told me to go to the website and fill in a returns form which I did. By the time I got to fill in the returns form I had decided that I would rather have a refund than accept the spare parts.
All this happened on the same day the bed was delivered (Weds 28/09/11)

Have you yet notified them you want a refund?

You can still cancel under DSRs. HOWEVER, depending on their terms may be required to pay return postage costs -- also depending on whether it can be classed as 'not as desribed' in which case reject it under SOGA.

JimmyTheWig

How far from you are they? How possible would it be for you to take it back?
If that's not possible then you don't really want to go down the DSR route as you are liable for the return shipping which, for a bed, won't be a trivial amount.

Your quote from the web is correct. See http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2011/06/21/shop-staff-quoted-nonsense-rights-at-me-%e2%80%93-isnt-it-time-they-were-taught-the-law/ and http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange.
It has to be "as described".
In this instance it will come down to personal opinion on what "slightly damaged" means. From what you've said it isn't slightly damaged it's considerably damaged and so it's not as described. So you are entitled, by law, to your money back.

Obviously there's a chance that you've exagerated the damage here. There's a chance that you are particularly miffed with the bed and are seeing all the minor issues as great big faults. So before you proceed, consider this...
Would a reasonable person who walked in off the street describe the bed as "slightly damaged"?
If the answer is "no" then you are entitled to a refund.

steven504

Send them an email and post a letter(proof of postage) that you are rejecting the bed under dsr and they need to make arrangements for it to be collected or nominate a parcel company for you to use.

GotNoRhythm

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

How far from you are they? How possible would it be for you to take it back?
If that's not possible then you don't really want to go down the DSR route as you are liable for the return shipping which, for a bed, won't be a trivial amount.

Your quote from the web is correct. See http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2011/06/21/shop-staff-quoted-nonsense-rights-at-me-%e2%80%93-isnt-it-time-they-were-taught-the-law/ and http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange.
It has to be "as described".
In this instance it will come down to personal opinion on what "slightly damaged" means. From what you've said it isn't slightly damaged it's considerably damaged and so it's not as described. So you are entitled, by law, to your money back.

Obviously there's a chance that you've exagerated the damage here. There's a chance that you are particularly miffed with the bed and are seeing all the minor issues as great big faults. So before you proceed, consider this...
Would a reasonable person who walked in off the street describe the bed as "slightly damaged"?
If the answer is "no" then you are entitled to a refund.

They operate from an office 250 miles from where I live, so I can't return it myself. (I checked one courier just to get an idea of price and it would be about £70)

I have taken 40+ photos of the damage to the bed - ranging from small, light scratches to areas of loose/chipped paintwork (approx the size of a 50p coin), deep scratches/scuffs approx 3 feet long on the back rail which go through to bare metal, damaged/bent/dents on finials etc. I don't honestly think any reasonable person would say it is 'slight damage'.

Aside from the considerable number of missing parts (which the company said they will replace) I am angry that the bed is clearly not 'new'. Given the description of 'slight damage' I imagined the bed would have received the 'slight damage' in the warehouse as there was no mention of it being ex-display or previously returned (which it must have been. It is clear that the bed has been put together as there is wear on the holes where the bolts fit, the slats I have are all dirty/dusty and the one slat-holder I received is cracked where it attaches to the bed)

Thank you for taking time to answer. Much appreciated!

JimmyTheWig

GotNoRhythm wrote: »

I don't honestly think any reasonable person would say it is 'slight damage'.

Forget everything else (it didn't say it had never been put together, for example) and concentrate on the fact that the damage is more than a reasonable person would describe as "slight".
Tell them you reject the bed under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 as it is not "as described".

arcon5

steven504 wrote: »

Send them an email and post a letter(proof of postage) that you are rejecting the bed under dsr and they need to make arrangements for it to be collected or nominate a parcel company for you to use.

If rejecting uner DSR the buyer is usually responsible for returning the item.

JimmyTheWig

arcon5 wrote: »

If rejecting uner DSR the buyer is usually responsible for returning the item.

Agreed. They want to use the SoGA.

GotNoRhythm

I emailed them yesterday outlining the faults and stated that a satisfactory conclusion would be for them to collect the bed and issue a full refund (which is what I would ideally want to happen - I wasn't sure at the time whether I was actually entitled to this!!) They declined and offered to send the spare parts and give a further refund of £15. I replied (yesterday) to say I would be taking advice on this matter and would be in touch again shortly - and left it at that for now.

Thanks again to everyone for your replies!

arcon5

Also, remember to take a screenshot of the website to go with the pictures of the bed

GotNoRhythm

I took a screen shot the day the bed came - Great minds think alike!!