Help - Cancel B&Q Fitted bedroom

richard734

All, apologies if I have hit the wrong forum, normally live over in Motoring and Credit Cards

Parents-in-law popped round in a flap last night. They have ordered a fitted bedroom from B&Q and payed in full, but have now been told they have to strip the room, pull up carpets etc and that fitting will take between 3-5 days.
They are in their 70's and just cant face it.

They tried to cancel the order with B&Q and were told they couldnt as they had already subcontracted out and to deal with the subby direct, who of course also refused to allow them to cancel.

I advised them that as per the reciept and contrat T&C's their contract is with B&Q and they can cancel any time. I told them to call B&Q head office/customer relations team today and to cancel via them. If they dont get any joy today, I am happy to take this on for them, but was looking for anyone eklses experiences/advice - always better to learn from someone else than make the same mistakes!

Thanks

Alfrescodave

Looking at alternatives if you are unsuccessful in cancelling the order - how about getting a local odd job person to do the preparation work? There's usually plenty advertising in free papers etc who will do any basic diy at a reasonable cost.

ey_up

richard734 wrote: »

but have now been told they have to strip the room, pull up carpets etc

What do you mean "now"? Possibly a stretch but if they were sold the bedroom on the basis that everything would be done for them (not unreasonable expectation given age) and have now been told differently then I would playing that line.

macman

No, they can't 'cancel at any time' unless' the T&C's permit that. If they refuse to allow fitting then B&Q are entitled to retain the full sum as contracted.
How did they think that a fitted bedroom could be installed without moving the furniture and carpets etc? It's never the contractor's job to do this.
But if they talk to the subby nicely he will probably do that for them for a small cash sum.
But I'm bemused as to why they have paid in full upfront, you should never do this.

richard734

as quoted on all the brochures and the website

When you’ve okayed the plans and chosen your products, you can take a step back and leave the rest to us. We’ll handle every aspect of your fit, so you don’t have to worry about who to call about what.

• Home surveying and building regulations advice
• Local project management from start to finish
• Delivery of products, and all the flooring, plastering, lighting and installation work

They fell for it hook line and sinker.... The contract that they were given with teh recipt has teh standard T&C's that says that you can canel your order at any time and return goods upto 45 days after purchase. No mention of sub contractors or non-cancellation clauses

Thanks for the Comments - and trust me, people will never fail to bemuse you

macman

You clearly can't 'return' a fitted bedroom!

azzabazza

I have no idea about terms and conditions.

However, I have recently had two bedrooms refurbished and I found a local handyman who willingly came along and lifted carpets and moved furniture out. He also returned once work was done and decoration/new carpets completed and moved furniture back in. He also took old carpets to the tip. Each room only took approx 45 minutes to clear completely. He only wanted £30 but I gave him a bit more as I could not have done this on my own.

I am sure there would be someone local who could help. I found my guy on the local Facebook page.

keystone

richard734 wrote: »

They tried to cancel the order with B&Q and were told they couldnt as they had already subcontracted out and to deal with the subby direct, who of course also refused to allow them to cancel.

Abject nonsense. Their contract is with B&Q not the sub-contractor. as you have already stated. I'm going to be generous and suggest that the B&Q person they spoke doesn't know what they are doing/saying. Yes you shoudld escalate it oif the Ts&Cs allow that you have a case.

Is the whole of the works sub-contracted or just the installation?

If its the sub thats saying "room must be clear etc" it soundsas though there is a disconnect between B&Q and their contractor. Not your PILs problem.

As a matter of interest when was the contract signed? When did it become effective? What is the wording of the cancellation clause wrt the signature/contract effective date? Are they still within the cancellation period?

Alternatively could you not grab a couple of friends, rally round and do the clearing required yourself?

3 - 5 days sounds a seriously long time to fit a fitted bedroom. When I had mine done (albeit 15+ years ago) two blokes rocked up at 09.00 with all the kit (wardrobes to be fitted either side of chimney breast, reduced depth cupboards across chimney breast to match and drawpacks and built in linen basket return on long wall back to the doorway) on their van and albeit with a clear room, were done and dusted and gone by 5pm the same day.

OK we had no bed in there and no carpet but the fitting was all done and finished.

Cheers

STARGAZE_2

you are entitled to cancel your order at any time, you have not recived any goods so take your sales order back to b&q refund desk and ask for your refund, it should state the terms and conditions on the back of your order stating this fact

macman

STARGAZE wrote: »

you are entitled to cancel your order at any time, you have not recived any goods so take your sales order back to b&q refund desk and ask for your refund, it should state the terms and conditions on the back of your order stating this fact

Waiting on receipt of goods does not cancel a binding contract, you can only cancel at this stage if the T&C's permit.

builder_mediation

Read your contract terms and conditions, familiarize yourself with the contents and then, if they allow, contact B and Q. You will probably find that the person you talk to will know less about the t & c's than you do.
Good Luck