B&Q errors and product failures causing delays and increasing costs help

Lysworld

Hello

I thought it would be better to keep the initial post as short as possible and to the pointand then follow up with detail should anyone be able to offer advice or theirexperiences.

Last year, I renovateda house and used B&Q as the main supplier for materials. This made the mostsense weighing up the pros and cons.

Anyway anumber of errors occurred, which I will list below, which meant that delaysextended the building project through having to pay the tradesmen and secondlyfaulty materials, in particular two styles of their wood flooring which waswarped and didn’t fit together correctly; as well as the TradePoint manager lyingto both my builder and myself.

Major Issues

1. Timber joists not delivered from ArnoldLaver: Informed us at 16:30 that day they were out of stock.

2. Skirting boards & architrave: We couldnot collect/accept due to heavy water damage – no one in the TradePointconducted any quality check on delivery. This caused significant delays andalterations to the schedule.

3. Cumaru wood flooring could not be installed:Item was faulty due to different board sizes and gaps (have photo evidence andjoiners statements).

4. Replacement skirting board and Cumaruflooring: Skirting board again could not be collected as there were not enoughunmarked lengths - variant styles did not match. The agreed amount ofadditional Cumaru wood flooring was also not collected as not enough packs hadbeen delivered to Leeds store. This is where he lied to us saying he would have80 packs but we were shown an email with him knowing he could only get amaximum of 20.

5. Replacement wood flooring could not beinstalled: Oak board was warped and twisted (have photo evidence and joinersstatements)..


OtherIssues causing lost time

1. Velux window was incomplete item andanother branch (closer to house project) would not exchange.

2. Shower screen: (a) not informed that it was to be collected from store – thus itsarrivals was delayed by a week, then; (b)could not be installed – it was twisted out of shape.

3. Electrics and plumbing order was not fullyprepared as discussed. My builder had to spend 2 hours in store trying toresolve.

4. Missing kitchen items: (a) SMEG Fridge Freezer– Was not delivered with the rest of the kitchen. Despite receipt indicatingplenty of stock and an early delivery date, item was not delivered, told itwould take 3weeks; (b) Jig forunder-mount sink – worktops could not be installed until it was delivered; (c) Worktop bolts – not delivered withthe order delaying worktop installation.

5. Wrong Saniflo unit delivered, wasted moretime trying to exchange at another store again they would not do so.

Ihave corresponded with B&Q customer service (initially they took 13 weeksto respond) and they have been of little help. They initially offered me £400and completely fobbed me off. I have tried to be as polite / reasonable aspossible but they are not interested. These issues meant the delays extendedthe project by 2 weeks at a minimum cost of £5000.


Myquestions are therefore:

1.Has anyone experienced anything similar to offer advice?

2.Can anyone advise of options before pursuing this in the small claims court?

3.If I have to go down this route. Does anyone have any advice?

Thankyou

bris

You used tradepoint so you are bound by their B2B T&C's, have a read through them and see what they say about compensation for delays, (they won't ay anything).

This is not a consumer rights issue.

Lysworld

Which is the best category to post in?

Thanks

vuvuzela

Lysworld wrote: »

Which is the best category to post in?

Thanks

There's not really any category here, as it's a consumer website and your problems are business to business which not many posters here will be able to fully assist with. I would suggest trying to find a website for the building trade, maybe ?

bris

To let you understand a bit better businesses run under contract law, so the terms of that contract are what you follow. If it was a consumer contract then some of the terms can be unfair and so ignored, however with B2B there is not really any unfair terms so when you enter into the contract you should fully understand them.

If the contract says delays or mistakes are possible and you have to accept them, then you have no rights as thats the contract you entered in to.
http://www.trade-point.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/
All your problems are covered by their T&C's especially the part where you should wait to have everything you need before commencing any installation proceedings.

phill99

Why did you use tradepoint / B&Q? Their customer service is notoriously bad. Not just a little bit bad but off the scale bad. Tradepoint have tried to develop themselves as a brand that the trade can rely on but in reality operate internal ordering systems that are appropriate only to a poor quality retail market.

You should be grateful that they are offering you anything. The contract that you had with tradepoint/B&Q is for the provision of goods. The goods needed to be of an acceptable quality. However, unless you and tradepoint entered into a contract that specifically identified delivery dates etc then there is no breach of contract. If you look at their standard terms and conditions which are your contract terms you will see that they don't guarantee delivery dates, times etc. you will also note that there is a consequential loss clause ie they are not liable for cost overruns or delays due to late delivery of goods.

Sorry but you need to take a reality check on this one.

unholyangel

bris wrote: »

To let you understand a bit better businesses run under contract law, so the terms of that contract are what you follow. If it was a consumer contract then some of the terms can be unfair and so ignored, however with B2B there is not really any unfair terms so when you enter into the contract you should fully understand them.

If the contract says delays or mistakes are possible and you have to accept them, then you have no rights as thats the contract you entered in to.
http://www.trade-point.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/
All your problems are covered by their T&C's especially the part where you should wait to have everything you need before commencing any installation proceedings.

There are actually unfair terms in business contracts! If memory serves UCTA applies to B2B but UTCCR dont.

Lysworld

vuvuzela- Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into that.

Lysworld

bris - thanks also. I will have a read through. While I did not have a contract as such I had a verbal contract in that before I began using B&Q I explained the schedule we were working to and the guy I was dealing with said that to received goods by certain dates then I would have to oreder them at specific times, which is what I did.

It is the aspect of faulty goods I will be most interested reading about as that is the cause of the issues. One or two issues, even at a cost, would be somehting I would have accepted but multiple errors and them lying about it made things significantly worse.

Thanks again

Lysworld

Phill99 –Thanks for your [brutal] honesty! I actually appreciate this because I do getthat point.

I choseB&Q mainly due to logistical reasons and that we could get the majority ofthings through them so it made the most sense. Your initial point is spot on,at times I had no issues with them, but it was a culmination of large issuescombined with them lying about things. I had always been open to finding analternative or solution as I understand things like this very rarely gocompletely smoothly.

None of thegoods were delivered late, they were faulty which caused the issue. For examplethe skirting architraves were badly water damaged and when delivered theyobviously had not conducted any quality control – or at least contacted me andsaid we have a problem. But like you say, perhaps I was expecting too much.

This is oneof the reasons for my post to see if anyone else had taken things further inorder to make a decision on this. The guy I was dealing with at TradePoint evensaid that B&Q were good at reimbursing on delays and issues.

Thanksagain.

Lysworld

unholyangel - do you have any web links to expand on your points? Also, to whatdo the acronyms UCTA and UCCR refer?

Thanks