Sofa 'Not fit for Purpose'

Flipjango

I recently bought two sofas from an online company who don't have showrooms (well, one showroom but not practical to where I live) and who offer a 21 day no questions asked returns policy (not sure if I can mention names here?). When they arrived, we discovered that they were the most uncomfortable sofas imaginable. The reason they were so uncomfortable was because they had a layer of feathers on top of the foam in the cushions, and in what I can only assume is a design fault, the feathers were not sewn into pockets, so after sitting on them for more than 10 minutes all the feathers migrated towards the edge of the cushions. Basically, not long after sitting down, you ended up sitting on a massive slope. The sofa has two cushions, and each of them ended up sloping towards the centre at a rather alarming degree (i'd guess at least 30 degrees with the outer edge being a good 8cm higher than the centre) so that the only place you could comfortably sit on the three seater sofa was in the bottom of the valley created by the gap between the cushions. You couldn't lie down at all and certainly couldn't sit two people on the sofa at once. The cushions were rock hard and this slope didn't recover when you got up, so the only solution was to rather violently shake them every 20 minutes or so in order to flatten them again.

I notified the shop that we were returning them within two days of them arriving, and they have since been collected. I asked them to refund the delivery/collection charge as the sofas are not fit for purpose, and they have said that after inspecting them they are sure there is no issues and no design fault and they will not refund the charges, though they are going to refund the cost of the sofas.

Is there anything I can do? Would it be worth my contacting trading standards? I hold that the sofas were not fit for purpose - how can a sofa that you can't really sit on be fit for its intended use?

ILW

How much was the delivery charge?

shaun_from_Africa

The main problem that you will now face is that due to no longer having the sofas in your possession, you won't be able to get an independent report stating that they were not fit for use.

Did you make the purchase entirely at a distance (telephone or internet) without seeing the sofas first?

If you end up getting a refund under the distance selling regulations, you should get the full price that you paid (items and delivery charge).
You may also be entitled to the return delivery costs if you were not informed before making the sale that in the event of a return you would be liable for this cost.
In any event, the most you should legally be charged for a return is the true costs of collection.

Flipjango

Thanks. I have only been charged a returns charge, and they have refunded the sofa/delivery as you say, under the distance selling regs. But I feel I should also get the returns charge back. its £50 so enough to be disgruntled about!