Need help with compensation claim for failed bathroom delivery.

cake_mistress

Brace yourselves...

We are refitting our bathroom. We ordered the vast majority of the materials from Victoria Plumb. We had a couple of problems with stock levels, so we paid extra for Next Day delivery and were told the items would be with us on Thursday 16th May between 10am and 1pm. Items included in that order were the bath, sink and shower. Only the bath was delivered. The courier told me in a charming manner "There's been a c*ck up, we were supposed to bring two pallets but there wasn't enough room on the van".

Because of the missing items we have been completely without bathroom facilities since Wednesday evening. Our very efficient builders removed the old bath, sink and shower on Wednesday (and removed them from the property, so they couldn't just be reinstalled) and got the bathroom clear, ready to install the sink and shower as soon as they arrived. This, of course, did not happen, and although the bath was here it couldn't be installed because of extensive replastering in that part of the bathroom. We were banking on having a working shower instead! The builders even spent two hours overtime here yesterday evening (they started work at 8am that morning so staying until 7pm was quite a stretch and certainly not covered by the normal working day!) because when we called the courier they said that the goods would be delivered yesterday around 7pm. Better late than never, we thought, but it cost us money we should never have had to spend. And all for nothing! The goods weren't delivered last night. We were given a new delivery time of 2pm-4pm today, but still no delivery. I called them again this afternoon, they've told me the goods will be with me by 5pm but I'm not terribly hopeful...

I've spoken to Victoria Plumb and they have already refunded the £49.95 delivery charges. Now we are planning to ask for compensation for the considerable inconvenience and distress caused by the totally inept courier company. We're not out for blood, but think it's only fair that the company acknowledges the awful position in which they have left us. I wondered if anyone had any advice on what to ask for, because we've never done anything like this before and it's a little tricky to put a price on being able to wash! :mad:

Just in case you were wondering, no, we would not be prepared to settle for a voucher with Victoria Plumb. We wouldn't shop with them again if they were the last supplier on earth. We will be asking for a payment, but I don't know if we stand any chance of getting anything, hence this post asking for advice.

A summary of main points which will be covered by our claim:

1. Because we were told the items would be here yesterday around 7pm we got the builders to stay late so that they could fit the shower when it arrived. We paid them two hours overtime for this.

2. We have been without a bathroom since Wednesday evening and even if the goods arrive now they won't be fitted until Monday, by which point we will have been without a bathroom for four days. We didn't mind having to wait until lunchtime to take our shower on Wednesday, but never in our wildest nightmares did we imagine all this would drag on over the weekend.

3. We have spent around two hours on the telephone over the last two days chasing this up. (Will have a more accurate figure when the online phone bill updates tomorrow).

Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated. I'm not looking forward to washing with a bowl of water this weekend. If I had gym membership I could just go there to shower and wash my hair, but I'm a runner so don't bother with gyms! Nor can I afford to check into a hotel for the weekend. Ho hum.

ILW

I always wait for items to be delivered and checked before stripping out something as vital as a bathroom.

cake_mistress

ILW wrote: »

I always wait for items to be delivered and checked before stripping out something as vital as a bathroom.

Well hindsight is 20:20 and in an ideal world none of this would be happening. What I need to know is how to proceed.

Valli

Thoughts

1) it's not the fault of the courier company; presumably VP contracted them to do the delivery so it's their fault. VP should have ensured the van they booked could take your whole order.

2) When I had my bathroom refitted the outgoing items were not removed until the new bath etc was in my dining room - I (personally) wouldn't have had the old stuff taken out until the new stuff was on site.

3) your contract is with VP; bill them for your out- of-pocket expenses ie phone call and labour costs; possibly your time too.

How did you pay?

For future reference if time is of the essence (which it was, hence your paying £49.99 because you were going to be without your sanitary fittings) ensure you build that into the contract ie STIPULATE 'time is of the essence'.

ETA get copies ofn phone bill and statement from builder re their bill for being in your house but not able to fit bathroom due to non-delivery; retain copies of VP bills; then if they attempt to wriggle out of it you can hit them with a small claim for costs incurred due to failure to deliver. All this paperwork will be your evidence for small claims; the fact that you had paid £49.99 will go in your favour (I feel - I don't KNOW) even though that was refunded. So save it all;)

cake_mistress

Valli wrote: »

Thoughts

1) it's not the fault of the courier company; presumably VP contracted them to do the delivery so it's their fault. VP should have ensured the van they booked could take your whole order.

2) When I had my bathroom refitted the outgoing items were not removed until the new bath etc was in my dining room - I (personally) wouldn't have had the old stuff taken out until the new stuff was on site.

3) your contract is with VP; bill them for your out- of-pocket expenses ie phone call and labour costs; possibly your time too.

How did you pay?

For future reference if time is of the essence (which it was, hence your paying £49.99 because you were going to be without your sanitary fittings) ensure you build that into the contract ie STIPULATE 'time is of the essence'.

Thank you for your reply. I read the article here on MSE about failed deliveries, so was aware that we need to deal with vendor rather than courier, so that's fine. We paid with a debit card online. Yes, I now realise that we shouldn't have removed the old fittings but very naïvely took them at their word when they gave us the delivery time. Lesson learned!

Valli

have added a bit to my previous post which you need to read;)

cake_mistress

Valli wrote: »

have added a bit to my previous post which you need to read;)

Thanks! Okay, we'll work on that basis then. We'll tackle them over extra costs for builders and time on the telephone. I really appreciate your help on this. We're not out to get piles of money from them, we just want them to reimburse for expenses so that we're not left out of pocket. Does that make sense?

Dogger69

Surely a friend or family member will allow you to use their shower this weekend?

It is clear you have been inconvenienced, but the dramatics detract from your case somewhat.

cake_mistress

Dogger69 wrote: »

Surely a friend or family member will allow you to use their shower this weekend?

It is clear you have been inconvenienced, but the dramatics detract from your case somewhat.

You know absolutely nothing about my personal situation. We have no family nearby, the nearest ones are 90 minutes away. We don't really know our neighbours and certainly aren't on bathroom-sharing terms. Our friends are in Surrey and north London, an hour each way.

If you have nothing pertinent to add please keep your ill-informed opinions to yourself.

Dogger69

cake_mistress wrote: »

You know absolutely nothing about my personal situation. We have no family nearby, the nearest ones are 90 minutes away. We don't really know our neighbours and certainly aren't on bathroom-sharing terms. Our friends are in Surrey and north London.

If you have nothing pertinent to add please keep your ill-informed opinions to yourself.

Oh dear, someone doesn't take constructive advice too well!

Why not get a free day membership for a local gym? That would solve your problem of having no friends?

cake_mistress

You didn't offer useful advice because you failed to ask questions before making inaccurate assumptions, on to of which you accused me of being dramatic when I simply reported the facts of the case.

People like you give a forum a bad name.