We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Tried to buy a mattress then accused of fraud
mtmackay88
Posts: 2 Newbie
My gf and I bought our first property together a few weeks ago. A good friend of ours genriously gave us a £200 voucher for a local independent bed shop, as she wasnt going to use it and we really needed a bed. She won it at a fundraising ball for a school she used to work at. It didn't have any conditions written on it that I can remember other than an expiry date maybe.
Anyway, we went to the shop (day before we moved in) and found a mattress we like. It was a father/son business and the son was the only one in the shop. He gave us a price for the mattress and we agreed and didnt try negiotiate a discount. We then produced the voucher and he didn't look overly impressed. As we were paying he asked a few casual questions about how we came across the voucher. We mentioned that that friend had won it and gave it to us. He said that was nice of them and we mentioned that we bought her a bottle of champagne and some sweets for her children as a thankyou. We didnt think much of it at the time. We then arranged for it to be delivered the next day and everything seemed fine.
Next morning (moving in day) I was awoken first thing by a phone call from an angry sounding man. It was the father who owned the shop. He was extremely rude. He claimed the voucher that we used had already been claimed by someone else and that we had given had been photocopied. I explained that I was given it by a friend and he said if he didnt get answers that morning he was going to go the police. Not really what I needed when I had the stress of moving house to deal with that day!
I called our friend and she happened to be in the are the shop was and went into speak to them. They were very rude to her. They back tracked and admitted the voucher was indeed valid. They claimed we "bought the voucher with booze" (refering to the bottle of champagne and sweets we gave her as a surprise thank you). They made comments to her such as "you must be doing well if you can afford to give gifts like that" - not sure why that is any of their business.
Eventually he said that he was no longer willing to go through with the deal. He was said he was unhappy with the way the deal was done (i.e if he knew we had a voucher he would of charged us more!) He also said you can't just expect to turn up at the shop and expect to use the voucher. Well his son didnt have to accept it, its not like we forced him to sell us the mattress! Also, what else are you supposed to do with the voucher, its not like they have a website so how else am I supposed to use it?! Phone up a week in advance and let them know we are comming in with a voucher!?
We are a young couple so I don't know he was just annoyed by the price his son gave us or he thought he could intiidate us into coughing up the £200 we used the voucher for.
In the end the deal was cancelled and I do not want to buy anything from their store. I am not very clued up on consumer rights but I don't think someone should be able to get away with treating people like this.
Could someone please advise how I could deal with this? Is their somewhere I can complain to? We live in scotland btw.
Thanks
Anyway, we went to the shop (day before we moved in) and found a mattress we like. It was a father/son business and the son was the only one in the shop. He gave us a price for the mattress and we agreed and didnt try negiotiate a discount. We then produced the voucher and he didn't look overly impressed. As we were paying he asked a few casual questions about how we came across the voucher. We mentioned that that friend had won it and gave it to us. He said that was nice of them and we mentioned that we bought her a bottle of champagne and some sweets for her children as a thankyou. We didnt think much of it at the time. We then arranged for it to be delivered the next day and everything seemed fine.
Next morning (moving in day) I was awoken first thing by a phone call from an angry sounding man. It was the father who owned the shop. He was extremely rude. He claimed the voucher that we used had already been claimed by someone else and that we had given had been photocopied. I explained that I was given it by a friend and he said if he didnt get answers that morning he was going to go the police. Not really what I needed when I had the stress of moving house to deal with that day!
I called our friend and she happened to be in the are the shop was and went into speak to them. They were very rude to her. They back tracked and admitted the voucher was indeed valid. They claimed we "bought the voucher with booze" (refering to the bottle of champagne and sweets we gave her as a surprise thank you). They made comments to her such as "you must be doing well if you can afford to give gifts like that" - not sure why that is any of their business.
Eventually he said that he was no longer willing to go through with the deal. He was said he was unhappy with the way the deal was done (i.e if he knew we had a voucher he would of charged us more!) He also said you can't just expect to turn up at the shop and expect to use the voucher. Well his son didnt have to accept it, its not like we forced him to sell us the mattress! Also, what else are you supposed to do with the voucher, its not like they have a website so how else am I supposed to use it?! Phone up a week in advance and let them know we are comming in with a voucher!?
We are a young couple so I don't know he was just annoyed by the price his son gave us or he thought he could intiidate us into coughing up the £200 we used the voucher for.
In the end the deal was cancelled and I do not want to buy anything from their store. I am not very clued up on consumer rights but I don't think someone should be able to get away with treating people like this.
Could someone please advise how I could deal with this? Is their somewhere I can complain to? We live in scotland btw.
Thanks
0
Comments
-
What business can afford to offer £200 off anything?!!0
-
I would suggest that your friend contact the school from whom she won the voucher and tells them the story. They gave it as a prize in a competition and it is their responsibility to ensure that it is genuine I think.
What a horrible experience for you both and for your friend, my sympathy. Will they allow your friend to use the voucher in the store? If so, perhaps she could go back in and choose you something that you will be able to use.
Legally - I think you could have insisted on them following through on the deal, e.g. they offered a product at a price, you offered the voucher to pay and they accepted it. At that point a contract has been formed.
Consumer direct suggests:
How to complain about furniture
Check if a trader is a member of the Furniture Ombudsman
Contact the Furniture Ombudsman http://www.thefurnitureombudsman.org/members-of-tfo/full-members
First write to the trader with your complaint.
Once you have made a written complaint, you should hear back from the trader within a reasonable time, eg 14 days.
If you get no reply or don’t agree with the response, check if the trader is a member of a trade association, eg the Furniture Ombudsman. It is an independent organisation that helps sort out disputes about furniture, including with carpet, kitchen and bathroom providers.
If the trader is a member of its scheme, the ombudsman can help you and the trader come to an agreement. If you and the trader can’t agree, the ombudsman can decide the case.0 -
But the voucher would have been paid for (ie £200) by whoever was running the competition!
I wouldn't have thought so. If it was a fundraiser, the business most likely was asked/offered to donate a prize.
An idea might be for your friend to get in touch with the organisers of the event at which she won the voucher. It might force the shop to reconsider it's position when they're presented with the question of why they have donated a prize they do not wish to honour.0 -
yes, get in touch with whoever organised it - perhaps it had terms and conditions attached e.g. based on a spend of £x or whatever.
It sounds like it might not have done, but that is then down to the owner of the shop to manage better in future!0 -
Wow thats helpful !!!!!!
What I am saying is,they have given out something that seems too good to be true, they have not thought it through,now they realise they cannot afford to let them have hte mattress
.But even off a highly overpriced bed,its seems too much money for a small business to offer. Exactly what were they hoping this voucher was going to be redeemed agains,was the question I would be wanting an answer too..
Agreed,go to the school.If there are no t & cs, threaten to go to a local paper (that they advertise with)
!You have been treated appallingly.Name them on this thread and we could see if there have been other complaints.I think you could ring the asa and ask their advice.They are pretty toothless but have guidelines about advertising being legal ,decent and honest.Edit-they also regulate competitions.This ad was not honest.0 -
Probably something a local paper may be interested in.:j Trytryagain FLYLADY - SAYE £700 each month Premium Bonds £713 Mortgage Was £100,000@20/6/08 now zilch 21/4/15:beer: WTL - 52 (I'll do it 4 MUM)0
-
I would guess that your friend bought a ticket and won the voucher. If that turns out to be worthless then the school (or fundraiser) is probably liable. I'm guessing they had the best intentions but should be informed so they can make sure they don't get involved in the same scam again (that's a scam by the business that is getting free advertising - £200 isn't a lot depending on the type of fundraiser and market - £0 is a lot better though). If the fundraiser didn't ensure the voucher was valid then I suspect they could be in trouble if it was followed up.0
-
Specifically ask the school also,how they came to be involved with this shop,and whether this offer has been made before .Tell the school you are going to speak to the ASA.I do wonder if it could be a grey area they could wriggle out of that you didnt actually win the competition yourself.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.2K Spending & Discounts
- 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 600.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.5K Life & Family
- 258.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards