Laura Ashley - Is this allowed??

nette77

I wonder if anyone could advise re the following:

I placed a substantial furniture order with Laura Ashley on 6 May 2012 for the Garrat dining table, 6 chairs and small
sideboard (at a total cost of £1716.75) during their 30% off bank holiday promotion.

Prior to ordering the furniture, I made enquiries as to when the 30% off sale, as promoted over the bank holiday weekend,
would cease. I was informed that the 30% discount would end on Bank Holiday Monday (7 May 2012) and after this date the
furniture prices would revert back to their full cost.

I was also informed at this time that should I open a Laura
Ashley Mastercard and purchase the furniture on the said card, I would qualify for an additional 10% discount on my order.

As a result of the information given, I placed my order as I understood that should I not do so at that time, I would not be
in a position to take 'advantage' of the discounted price.

I last week visited a different Laura Ashley store and was shocked to see advertised the exact products I had purchased 4
days earlier at a newly discounted offer of 50% discount (plus an additional 10% discount for new Mastercard account
applicants.)

After enquiring with a member of staff in the store as to when the 50% discount offer had commenced and being informed that it had commenced Thursday 10 May 2012, it became apparent that placing my order 4 days earlier had resulted in me paying an additional cost of approximately £490.50 for exactly the same products, of which I have not yet even received, having been given a delivery date of 15 June, 2012.

I am utterly disgusted that having been led to believe that should I not place my order during the 30% discount period, I
would have to purchase the furniture at full price, when this was quite clearly not the case as the 50% discount period was
implemented a mere 48 hours later and in fact not only would I have to purchase the said goods at the full price, but I would
have additonally saved myself a further 20% of the total purchase cost.

I have written to Laura Ashley to express my utter disgust and I today received a reply stating that they would not offer any
additional discount due to the agreement I had made when ordering the items.

Having not even received the products I have ordered, and considering that due to the amount of marketing collateral to
promote the 50% off sale Laura Ashley must have been aware that the additional discount would be offered 48 hours later, is
what Laura Ashley have done considered to be an 'unfair commercial practice' and do I have any legal rights regarding the additional expense that I have incurred as a result of the above practice?

Many thanks in advance for any advice. )

Forwandert

Just to clarify between the 7th and 10th what was the price the furniture was at? Lots of companies offer different promotions when they want and it sounds like the information provided to you at the time of purchase was accurate. They've not done anything wrong. There is also nothing to say anyone at store level would know about the next promotion, POS etc for quite a few companies is sent a day or two before the new promotions start.

lovinituk

Cancel your order and then re-purchase at the new deal price?

wealdroam

OP, did you place your order in a shop or online?

If you purchased online (or by phone or mail order), then your are entitled to cancel your order and receive a refund of all monies paid. Then just wander into your local store and place you order at the new price.
A bit of hastle, but for nearly £500, I would be doing just that.

However, if you did buy in a shop, then you are stuck with the purchase you have made.
Could it be that at the time you asked, they had no intention to lower the price even further?

nette77

Thanks for the replies.

I purchased instore.

Cancelling my order now will incur a 25% cancellation fee and as the 50% off promotion has now ended, I couldn't now even re-order at the cheaper price.

I didn't expect that the sales assistant would have known that there was to be another promotion 48 hours later... but those higher up at Laura Ashley must have surely known?? It seems most unfair.

I have written asking for them to refund the difference... but their customer service is appalling and the basic answer (reading between the lines) was' tough!'

Can't express enough how irate I am that a product I have not even got in my home has cost me almost £500 more that is need have.

Unfortunately this is not the first time that Laura Ashley has disappointed me in their standard of customer service... you would thnk that they would have more intelligence than to alienate regular customer.

Based on my latest experience, I shall most definately not be giving them any further business due to their total lack of understanding and disregard for their customers.

somethingcorporate

You asked when the 30% off ended and were given the answer. You didn't ask whether there was another discounted sale (which happens all the time at LA).

There is no-one to blame here but yourself unfortunately. You have no right to the additional back and obviously were happy at the price that you offered for the goods when you bought them.

When buying things from LA the key is to be patient, there is always a sale on but the only thing that differs is the % off.

s_b

nette77 wrote: »

I wonder if anyone could advise re the following:

I placed a substantial furniture order with Laura Ashley on 6 May 2012 for the Garrat dining table, 6 chairs and small
sideboard (at a total cost of £1716.75) during their 30% off bank holiday promotion.

Prior to ordering the furniture, I made enquiries as to when the 30% off sale, as promoted over the bank holiday weekend,
would cease. I was informed that the 30% discount would end on Bank Holiday Monday (7 May 2012) and after this date the
furniture prices would revert back to their full cost.

I was also informed at this time that should I open a Laura
Ashley Mastercard and purchase the furniture on the said card, I would qualify for an additional 10% discount on my order.

As a result of the information given, I placed my order as I understood that should I not do so at that time, I would not be
in a position to take 'advantage' of the discounted price.

I last week visited a different Laura Ashley store and was shocked to see advertised the exact products I had purchased 4
days earlier at a newly discounted offer of 50% discount (plus an additional 10% discount for new Mastercard account
applicants.)

After enquiring with a member of staff in the store as to when the 50% discount offer had commenced and being informed that it had commenced Thursday 10 May 2012, it became apparent that placing my order 4 days earlier had resulted in me paying an additional cost of approximately £490.50 for exactly the same products, of which I have not yet even received, having been given a delivery date of 15 June, 2012.

I am utterly disgusted that having been led to believe that should I not place my order during the 30% discount period, I
would have to purchase the furniture at full price, when this was quite clearly not the case as the 50% discount period was
implemented a mere 48 hours later and in fact not only would I have to purchase the said goods at the full price, but I would
have additonally saved myself a further 20% of the total purchase cost.

I have written to Laura Ashley to express my utter disgust and I today received a reply stating that they would not offer any
additional discount due to the agreement I had made when ordering the items.

Having not even received the products I have ordered, and considering that due to the amount of marketing collateral to
promote the 50% off sale Laura Ashley must have been aware that the additional discount would be offered 48 hours later, is
what Laura Ashley have done considered to be an 'unfair commercial practice' and do I have any legal rights regarding the additional expense that I have incurred as a result of the above practice?

Many thanks in advance for any advice. )

thats what you get though isnt it
maybe next time if you want some chinese furniture cheaper you go down who flung duns:)
ashleys for furnishing material only is my advice

arcon5

This is the risk when you buy anything anywhere, prices change all the time.

I'd be kicking myself over such a large sum of money, but no point dwelling on i too much!

pinkshoes

I think you need to accept that you were happy with the price you paid at the time, and although it's annoying there was a further 20% off, ultimately you are getting what you paid for, and no one lied to you - the items did indeed return to full price for 4 days after the sale ended.

Just enjoy your furniture, and never shop at LA again if it makes you feel better.

Moon_Maiden

Agree with you about their awful customer service.

I had terrible trouble this morning trying to get a £30 CASH refund.They said that the float could not be used for refunds!!! I either had to wait for a cash sale, call back later (tomorrow too) or accept a company cheque that would take 7-10 days. Does LA not have a safe? Their sign said "happy to refund" no mention of cheques. M&S and John Lewis would never treat customers old and new in such appalling fashion.

I complained to customer services using the in-store phone. Result? Got my refund.