Anyone ever had flat-packed furniture probs?

patwa_2

Hello,

First of all, let me say that I fully admit that this is entirely my fault for being so lathargic about the matter and that I am also willing to bear the replacement cost for my mistake and learn from it.

Anyway. I bought a double bed from Tesco's in January, incidentally the same one we'd bought for mum in November and that had no problems at all. Anyway this arrived and I slowly started to set it up. I got as far as attaching the slat-holddrs to the side panel, when I realised that there was a problem - none of the screws would go fully into the side panel, indicating that ALL of the holes in said panel were too shallow.

At that time, I was doing exams, and then became very busy with group projects, etc. I've also had intermittent problems with my neuralgia flaring up to the point where I can't even leave bed, and have also just been feeling really tired and lathargic (which I now know is from over ten years of constant codeine use). Anyway, it was at about the end of February, with the bed still no further to completion, that I also realised that a lot of the pieces of wood were bent or warped, and I began to lose hope of actually having a working piece of furniture.

Now I know and fully admit at this point I should have just knocked sense into myself, called Tesco and discussed the matter with them. But as said above I didn't and the matter went unresolved, and the bed still was no further to completion.

Anyway, last week people around me finally had enough of my not doing anything - granted they know now much of my inactivity stems from medical issues, but they as good as gave me an ultimatum to get this done - my old bed is sagging, and after mum slept on it one night and ended up with a bad back, well let's just say that was enough to get me seriously looking into this again.

I'm not sure what to do about this. On the one hand, I can afford to just scrap this and buy another bed and learn from my mistake. I honestly just don't have the heart to go through the hassle of trying to fix whatever's wrong with this one, get replacement parts, argue with Tesco, etc, not withstanding that it is entirely my fault that I'm probably not eligible for any help on their part. If I bought a new bed and the same problems came up, I could get it fixed within days and get Tesco to come and fix it, sending out a repair guy if needed.

But I was wanting to ask if anyone else had had such problems? I've heard of one or two parts being off, but this was the entire side panel, and actually the other side is the same as well with the screw holes not being deep enough, and struts being warped so that they're bending upwards and pushing against the screws so that they could pop out.

H.

Sarahjovi

We had flat packed furniture from a catalogue once, it was the worst nightmare in flatpacked furniture, nothing fitted with anything else! It went straight back!

Have you phoned tesco to talk to them, if you mention the fact that you have been unwell and not been able to build the bed. I can't see why they shouldn't replace it, if it was faulty in the first place!

Sarah

pooranddesperate

I agree with the previous poster.

Tescos customer service is generally pretty good - if you don't feel up to giving them a call, send them an email saying that you have only just started to put the bed together, and that you have noticed problems with it - and see what they say - worth a shot!

patwa_2

Hi,

Just wanted to say thanks very much for your suggestion to write to Tesco. I did this and here's the bullet pointed results:

1. Wrote a letter but before I posted it, realised they had an e-mail address.
2. E-mailed them the letter and a zip file with photos of the damage. the attachment size was 15MB.
3. A few days and no reply. Mum wrote to tesco and got an auto-reply to confirm the message, so I figured they didn't get mine. Maybe their system deleted the large attachment.
4. Re-send the message with link to the photos on the web Here they are if you're interested
5. Immediate auto-reply and a human reply later that evening. Yes, replacement can be sent but have to phone to arrange it.
6. Phoned the next day, different agent, didn't believe me at first "What, you ordered this FIVE months ago and you want to replace it NOW?" and no record of the guy that I had the e-mail from.
7. As advised, replied to the first guy advising of the problem. He phoned me back that same evening. Tesco have two CS centers, Dundee and Cardiff, neither have records of the other centre's staff so rely on notes on file to advise of previous action. Of course, who you're connected to when you phone is totally random. and of course (apparently) agents are not allowed to make notes on file.
8. Result of phone conversation: Bed to be delivered Monday and collected at some point. No call so far so assume collection and delivery at the same time. Mum had to purchase a new bed, then have the old one refunded. I just remembered I'll need to ask her to check it's the same price with all the negotiated discounts as done the first time.

So, happy so far and hopefully even better on Monday. I'll keep you posted.

H.

ormus

some flat pack furniture just gives you the dimps to insert the screws in. its up to you to drive the screws home properly and make a good fixing.

maybe this was the problem?
ive seen this one before and the instructions were very poor, as per usual.

also as both sides were out, is there a chance that you had them the wrong way round? the slats should bend upwards. if its the type im thinking of.

patwa_2

Thanks. Honestly, with the way the last few months have been, I did not rule out the fact that maybe I've just lost it completely and it was all my own wrongdoing. But now that I can think more clearly I've realised there were definite manufacturing faults. I built the same bed for mum in November with no problems, and if even Tesco agree that there is a problem after seeing the photos, who am I to disagree?

I'll post back tomorrow to update on the redelivery.

H.

kippers

We had flat pack furniture from MFI a couple of years ago using our Tesco vouchers. It had so many knocks and bumps on it we thought someone was having a laugh! We obviously told them to take it back! Tesco were very good and explained how the vouchers go back on our account, but actually said they had had alot of problems with MFI (I wonder if thats why you can't use Tesco deal tokens at MFI now)?..We wouldn't go near MFI again.

patwa_2

MFI were very good when I had my first batch of bedroom furniture bought by parents when I was younger (about 14 years ago). But the drive to lessen manufacturing costs plus the whole issue of bulk manufacture and different parts made by different processes around the world has lessened build quality.

H.

Hitch

Patwa, that looks to me that you just need to tighten the screws properly.

If you have a hole which is too big there, just move the screw accross half an inch. Far less hassle than phoning/taking it back imo.