To accept a gesture of goodwill or not?

kiraroo

Very briefly, I ordered a bed from a large department store before Christmas. The first bed turned up broken, the second bed had parts missing and the pieces were different colours. The bed we ordered was then out of stock (probably because we'd had most of them in varying stages of being useless ) and we've ended up with a different bed (not broken with all the pieces there), so it's bed number 3.

The store have now called us to offer us a £25 goodwill gesture for the trouble caused. I refused it on the grounds I had to wait in for the two replacement beds to be delivered and also that it's taken between 1-2 weeks for each subsequent bed to be delivered. This means I had to technically store the unwanted beds which have taken up space and been inconvenient from just generally being in the way. Whilst this is going on they have also recharged my credit card for the full amount without my permission and refunded it again.

I am just wondering if I have made the right decision, I just think £25 might be a quite small gesture of good will considering the amount of inconvenience caused.

wealdroam

What figure did you have in mind?

Also remember that they can withdraw their offer at any time.

kiraroo

I guess you've raised an interesting point really! It's not like I do have a set figure in mind or that I am out there to get loads of cash from it. I'm just not really sure what to do in these circumstances. I'm not sure if their offer is good and I should have accepted it...

Before they phoned I had written a letter of complaint, just because of the days off work and waiting in for it to be delivered and what I felt has been quite crummy customer service, such as people saying they would call to arrange the second bed to be delivered and again after waiting for a call for the third bed to be delivered, I called them to find they'd set a delivery date and time without even telling me what it was!

arcon5

kiraroo wrote: »

I guess you've raised an interesting point really! It's not like I do have a set figure in mind or that I am out there to get loads of cash from it. I'm just not really sure what to do in these circumstances. I'm not sure if their offer is good and I should have accepted it...

Before they phoned I had written a letter of complaint, just because of the days off work and waiting in for it to be delivered and what I felt has been quite crummy customer service, such as people saying they would call to arrange the second bed to be delivered and again after waiting for a call for the third bed to be delivered, I called them to find they'd set a delivery date and time without even telling me what it was!

How much was the bed? If it was in the £200 region then perhaps it is reasonable. If nearer £1,000 maybe a little on the stingy side.

It is however a gesture of goodwill, get too greedy and they may withdraw the offer. Maybe look at getting 10-15% goodwill gesture... still no harm in asking for a little more though...

fluffnutter

Depends on the value of the bed and whether you've financially suffered as a result of waiting in for the bed to be redelivered twice.

wealdroam

arcon5 wrote: »

It is however a gesture of goodwill, get too greedy and they may withdraw the offer. Maybe look at getting 10-15% goodwill gesture... still no harm in asking for a little more though...

I would go as far as to say... ask for any more and be prepared for the offer of £25 to be withdrawn.

Of course, none of us know what actually will happen, and it may also depend on how you ask.

somethingcorporate

Yep, if you outright reject it expect it to be withdrawn. If you politely ask given reason x,y,z whether they would consider improving their offer then you stand more chance of not losing it (and perhaps even getting it increased).

Anything better than the first result will be a winner. I wouldn't expect more than £100, more than likely £50 would appear like a good result (even on a bed costing £1k).

Let us know how it goes!

fluffnutter

It's not hugely common for companies to offer anything as a gesture of good will, particularly when they've already fulfilled their legal obligations. See this as the bonus it is and take the money before they change their minds. Unless you're hugely out of pocket due to waiting in for redeliveries, e.g. you're self-employed and have lost income as a result.

brightonman123

£25 for all that hassle, lost (?) pay etc.. pfft!

Tell the papers, tell twitter! I am sure they will soon reconsider.. ;-)

arcon5

brightonman123 wrote: »

£25 for all that hassle, lost (?) pay etc.. pfft!

Tell the papers, tell twitter! I am sure they will soon reconsider.. ;-)

Not really sure what angle the papers would take on this

Effectively bribing them with the threat of bad publicity probably isn't going to get the result ops looking for tbh. Infact they will more than likely withdraw any offer completely, a couple of threads come to mind where this has happened.

malkyh

arcon5 wrote: »

Not really sure what angle the papers would take on this

Effectively bribing them with the threat of bad publicity probably isn't going to get the result ops looking for tbh. Infact they will more than likely withdraw any offer completely, a couple of threads come to mind where this has happened.

I think he/she was taking the p1ss.:beer: