Faulty suite from DFS

lollpop

My friend purchased a leather suite from dfs, paying by credit agreement. After only 5 weeks, the stitching started opening, the seating began to dip and on even closer inspection she noticed some patterns did not match. Dfs came out to look and told her they would not let her pick another suite but would re-cover this one. She agreed to this on the condition it would be all sorted by the 20th july, before her daughters wedding. Dfs said yes!! 16 days to go and no sign of the new leather to re-cover the suite! Does anyone know why she isnt able to have a new suite and also, can she cancel the dd?? She has been told she would be black listed. Thanks.

tinkerbell28

No she cannot cancel the dd. Her agreements with the finance company is separate to her one with dfs.

If she cancels it, she technically could, she'd destroy her credit rating and risk a CCJ.

You need to get onto dfs and say you will be involving the finance company, as they are jointly liable.

DFS_representative

We are sorry to learn you are unhappy.We would love to see if we can help so please contact us on 01302 330365 andask for the Customer Service Department.
Kind regards
Customer Service - DFS

Computersaysno

Hey DFS rep.....are you still claiming that a suite is a 'personalised/custom made' item under DSR...and thereby trying to deprive consumers of their DSR cancellation rights??

shop-to-drop

Worst company i have ever had dealings with dfs. My sofa bought from there was either broken (frame)waiting for parts to repair or taken away for repair for getting on for a year. We rarely had something to sit on. In the end we chucked and bought something decent. There was no way they would agree to refund or replace. I tell everyone our experience every chance i get.

Computersaysno

Hey DFS rep.....

quote from your website...

"Distance selling regulations only apply to your order if the goods have not been custom made to your specification or if you have not examined the product in one of our showrooms."

Ordering a sofa, and specifying sofaguard or not is not 'custom made' [imo]. I can feel a complaint to OFT coming on.

The bit about 'examined in showroom' is also totally wrong and extremely misleading. DSR says nothing about this......if goods are ordered online DSR applies, there are no rules about 'if you've seen them in showroom you lose your DSR rights.

Next you'll be saying ' if you've seen the same sofa at a friends house, DSR doesn't apply'.

Talk about dodgy practices....get them sorted.

molerat

Computersaysno wrote: »

"Distance selling regulations only apply to your order if the goods have not been custom made to your specification or if you have not examined the product in one of our showrooms."

Ordering a sofa, and specifying sofaguard or not is not 'custom made' [imo]. I can feel a complaint to OFT coming on.

The bit about 'examined in showroom' is also totally wrong and extremely misleading. DSR says nothing about this......if goods are ordered online DSR applies, there are no rules about 'if you've seen them in showroom you lose your DSR rights.

Next you'll be saying ' if you've seen the same sofa at a friends house, DSR doesn't apply'.

Talk about dodgy practices....get them sorted.

Not that clear cut according to TS. There is a lot (most ?) of the legislation that has not been tested in court. From http://dshub.tradingstandards.gov.uk/in_practice/examined-store-ordered-online

Q: We offer discounts to customers who order from us online. About a week ago, a customer came into our store and tried on a dress. Since it looked great, she wrote down the product code and style before leaving – she said she would be back for it so we even kept it on hold for her.
Today we received an email from the same customer saying that she would like to return the dress she purchased online last week because she found a dress at another store that she preferred. It turns out that it is the exact same dress that she tried on in our store.
Do the Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs) still apply in this scenario?
A: This depends on the circumstances, but we consider that the DSRs may not apply where a consumer examines goods at your store and later orders those goods by distance means. If you know for certain and can confirm that the same customer ordered the same product that she tried on in-store, the Sale of Goods Act legislation applies, however the DSRs may not.

Computersaysno

That's TS's interpretation...and they do say 'may not' as opposed to 'don't'....and the store needs to prove it

So DSR doesn't specifically exclude on the basis of 'seen in a store'..........and I would therefore be happy to argue it's an erroneous/unlawful interpretation by DFS, until such time as they have some case law behind the statement.

The status quo exists until the law changes it.