HELP! damaged bed

bear.1973

Hello, i hope somebody can help me with this as ive had an absolute nightmare today!
I purchased a bed from world of interiors.com which was delivered by a man and a young child who was carrying one of two parts of the bed.
My teenage daughter took delivery of the bed as i could not get the day off work to be at home.
The delivery driver put the bed into the passage way and asked my daughter to sign of the little machine, which she did.

The package was well wrapped with cardboard and cellophane, when i moved the package which was very heavy the underside of the package on one of the leg posts was ripped and the leg slightly exposed, the paint work was scrapped and it had a crack in it (its a wooden bed). I was willing to let this go as i couldnt be bothered with the hassle of returning it and would have just touched the paint work up, however on opening the full package, the full bedpost is cracked all the way down and has completely snapped away from the headboard making the bed completely useless!
I emailed the company to explain in full and followed this up with a phone call the next day.
In the meantime i read through the policy for return of damaged goods. It stated that the reciever of the goods should check the packaging on delivery and if found to be damaged to sign the machine as damaged goods and then inform the company??
I explained that i had read the policy, however my daughter didnt notice the defect in the packaging due to the goods being placed with the defect resting against the floor and the package was too heavy for her to lift to completely check it over. the delivery man also didnt mention anything to her about checking it and signing anything but her name to confirm it had been delivered.
I also mentioned that this in fact wasnt the main problem as i was just going to touch up the paint, the problem was when it was fully opened that the top end of the post is snapped.

I was absolutely gobsmacked when the agent said that theres nothing they could do as they are not liable if it has beedn damaged in transit as the delivery company is nothing to do with them!!!! I said i didnt accept this as it dosnt resolve anything and they might not own the delivery firm but they have gave them a contract to deliver their goods! To cut a long story short i have spoke to 3 different agents today and each time asked to speak to a manager as they all said they are not liable as i should have signed my name as well as marked damaged goods or unchecked goods. Apparentley the manager was always busy and couldnt get to the phone then he had been called away to an emergency family matter!! I told them nobody in the right mind would accept damaged goods if tehy were aware of it, and that if they want customers to follow policy then shouldnt they be telling their delivery drivers to also follow policy as he clearly did not! Again they kept repeating that nothing thy could do and they not liable!! I was absolutley furious at this point and said if they were a store that i had gone into i would be back in today with the goods asking for a replacement or refund, but because its all internet based they are hiding behind that!! I'am now waiting for a manager callback tomorrow which i know is not going to happen as they changed the name of the manager twice whilst i was on the phone, first he was adam then 20 mins later he was referred to as thomas!!
this is the link to their website terms and conditions. http://www.ourworldofinteriors.com/terms-and-conditions.php
Can someone offer any advice as i do not want to see them get away with this as i feel completely ripped off.
:mad:
thanks in advance.

bear.1973

Any advice folks?
thanks

Mista_C

Under Warranties and liabilities it states: -

6.1 The Seller warrants that the Products will correspond with their specification at the time of delivery and will be free from defect in quality, material workmanship and condition for a period of 12 months from delivery, unless otherwise specified and subject to conditions set out below.

6.2 The Seller shall not be liable for any breach in warranty clause 6.1 unless:

6.2.1 The Buyer provides written notice of the defect within 7 days of the time the Buyer discovers or ought to have discovered the defect; and

6.2.2 The Seller is given reasonable opportunity after receiving the Buyer's notice of defect to examine the Products in question and the Buyer (if asked by the Seller to do so) shall return the Products to the Address at the Seller's cost for the examination to take place there.

Have you provided written notice or just made phone calls?

pimento

If it was ordered online, you have a certain amount of time to return it for a full refund under the Distance Selling Regs. Just tell them you've changed your mind and can they come and collect it.

bear.1973

Hello,

I emailed the company as soon as i saw the fault, then followed this up with 3 phone calls yesterday.

I know i could return it because of the 7 day cooling off period but it would cost me to return it, so i didnt want to go down this route.

thank you

bear.1973

OMG!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this company is sooooooooooo bad!
Just rang and spoke to the so called manager, thomas, who was very cocky and said i should have been in on delivery and not expected my daughter to take charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! am absolutely fuming, the flaming cheek. i explained i work full time out of town thats the reason why i cant be in!!!!!!!!!!
he is refusing to do do anything as i said the packaging was scraped even though i said thats not where the fault is and the fault only became apparent when i took away the full packaging so it was unreasonable for me to know about this faukt and make the delivery man aware of this. All he kept saying was i should have signed the machine stating it was damaged!!!!! oh am soooooo frustrated and angry!!!!
he then said the best i can do is send out replacement parts but he will have to charge me for them!!!!!!!!!!!!! my head wa about ti explode aat this point.
I took directors name and said i wanted to spk to him, he offered an email address to which i said anyone could be replying to.
I will take photos of the bed and attach to email to send to director today as he said he will get bakc to me tomorrow!
any other suggestions folks as this is really upsetting me now and getting me down

Badger_Lady

The point is it doesn't matter who took the delivery and how thoroughly it was checked - they can argue about that as much as they like, they've failed to deliver you the product you requested.

And if it's the fault of the delivery company, then they need to claim from the delivery company who I'm sure will claim on their insurance.

It's not difficult, is it? Silly Thomas.

I think I would now write a letter (not email) that clearly and concisely explains the situation and sets a deadline for them resolving it before taking it to Ombudsman (if there is one) or small claims.

Optimist

Firstly ignore the Distance Selling Regulations. You need to reject the goods in line with the Sale Of Goods Act. The reason, goods are not fit for purpose. Do it in writing.

You can also ignore the retailer insisting you should have checked the goods and not signed. The reason they do this is because the contract they have with the courier company puts the onus on the retailer if damaged and is not pointed out at the time. That however is a business to business contract and nothing to do with you. The retailer put it in their terms and conditions to try and cover themselves, however you are still covered under SOGA and it isn't in my opinion reasonable for them to expect you to check for damage especially on such a large item, unless it was really obvious.

Take lots of photos of the bed and packaging plus damage. Inform the company that the bed is available for collection and you require a refund or replacement, you decide.

I also see no reason why you cannot claim for consequential loss if you have to take a day of work to wait for them to collect but you will have a fight on your hands over that one but the odds are on a judge awarding it if it came to court action.

If they are still refusing refund/replacement you will need to consider court action but hopefully the company would see sense before that time, assuming they are a halfway responsible and customer focused company.

bear.1973

Thanks very much, i have just drafted a letter and used some of your suggestions, it really helped.
I will post the outcome, hopefully soon.

thanks

garth549

It always amazes me when retailers try to play this card. How somebody can be expected to examine goods in fine detail on delivery is beyond me. Do they think the couriers would be happy if they had to stand around for 45 minutes waiting for a signature on every delivery?

bear.1973

Sent final letter before court action yesterday after recieveing an email reply from "Managing Director" yeah right! Reply completely dismisses my rights and again just quotes their delivery policy.

I have contacted CAB who are happy to take this on for me and if i dont hear anything from company within a week or the response is not satisfactory then they will apply to the small claims court on my behalf.

Will update with the outcome.

Thanks everyone.