Asda - AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Any advice accepted please?

EmilyL_2

Hi, this is my first post here but I've had an AWFUL experience with Asda Direct. We ordered a sofa from them over 9 weeks ago and it arrived yesterday (even though they said it would take 6-8 weeks) - and it was totally the wrong sofa! Wrong product, wrong colour, wrong size - but the delivery people left it at our house anyway....
Here is the experience that my partner has had with trying to get a refund and the sofa taken away:


"Ordered sofa 26/06/2013
Wrong Sofadelivered 19/08/13 by 2x intimidatingdelivery drivers who made my 35 week pregnant partner feel intimidated in herown home. We ordered a left hand facing Austin sofa inCharcoal and were delivered a right hand facing Alistair sofa in Graphite.
My partner tooka day off work£100 lost.
Sofa wasmeant to be delivered and assembled but they dropped it in the room and walkedoff. Not removing the transit caster wheels and therefore marking my brand newwool twist carpet and underlay.

They alsoleft their signature machine in our house but my partner shouted after them andinformed them of this because we are not dishonest people unlike your company.

Phonedcustomer services team at 4pm but were told the manufacturer was shut so wouldhave to phone tomorrow.

Went intostore and complained. I told them I could bring the Sofa back to them and theycould refund me in store, they told me this was impossible as I was due the refundfrom the manufacturer ( I have looked up my consumer rights and this is wrong)
And thattold me they don’t have the storage facilities in store to hold the sofaalthough they have a 30,000sqm unit and I have a 14ft living room.

Got toldover the phone that I would be getting £50 compensation in gift vouchers whichI find a joke as my partner had to take a day off work to wait for the sofa tobe delivered, and is going to have to take another day off work for thecollection of the wrong sofa. £50 doesn’t cover half a days work and why wouldI want gift vouchers to spend with a company I have lost all faith in.

Another hourof my time wasted, just what I need with a baby due in 5 weeks time.

Spoke withthe duty manager Mike [surname removed by MSE Forum Team] in Woking and the Asda direct customer servicesteam around 7pm on 19/08/13 Spoke to Kurt and Chandre.

They told me their manager Tamsin would be phoning me 8:30amon the 20/08/13 as the manufactures open at 8:00am and she wouldarrange a collection of the wrong sofa.

Didn’t receiveany phone calls on the morning of the 20/08/13 at 8:30am like I was informedwas going to happen so i waited until 10am. Phoned up at 10am and spoke to thecustomer services advisor? Charine, she told me her manager was on the phone tothe manufactures and she was going to ring me within half an hour to tell me when the wrong sofa was beingcollected.

Waited 45 minutes

Didn’treceive a phone call so phoned back on a different number encase they weretrying to get hold of me on the number they told me they told me they wouldring me back on. Got put through to someone but was unable to catch their name.They were rather unhelpful so I asked to speak to their manager, they left meon hold for 15 minutes before the line went dead.

15 minutes @ 14p a minute =£2.10

Arrow XL

Had avoicemail left on my phone by Susan from Arrow XL

at 10:52amtelling me the below.

Hello I havespoken to Emily and she’s given me your number. I’m very sorry she had problemswith the driver. I will put in a driver complaint about this. Also told me thatthe driver will be getting interviewed and we will find out the outcome of theinterview.

In terms of thewrong item delivered if that item was addressed to you we have received thewrong item from Asda. And you will need to contact Asda to arrange acollection. IF you need to contact me I am on 01905 461362 and I’m here until 1pmtoday.

I tried tophone Susan back at 11:10 on the number stated and it sounds like an office andI can hear people speaking in the background but there is no one picking up thephone.

Finally gotthrough at 11:20 . speaking to Susan and she told me that she’s not surprisedthat the delivery drivers forced a signature and it’s not a rare occurance. Shealso informed me she didn’t know why Asda had told her to phone me as I neededto sort the collection of the wrong sofa out with Asda and Asda had no reasonto give her my number. She was the most helpful and informative person I havespoken to through this whole situation and she doesn’t work for Asda. She worksfor a delivery company Arrow XL.

Phoned AsdaDirect back at 11:40AM and got through to Danni, gave her my complaintreference number and she put me on hold for 15 minutes. She came back and toldme the collection company would be contacting me to arrange collection. Iinformed her Asda are the retailer and that they told me this would happen 2hours ago and didn’t happen so she needed to sort it out with them. She put meback on hold for another 15 minutes.

When shereturned she informed me the collection company will be contacting me “sometimetoday” to arrange collection of the wrong sofa and receive a full refund. I asked how longthe refund would take and I was informed it would be 7-10 working days afterthe sofa was collected. What am I meant to do in the mean time and where mypregnant partner is meant to sit as we got rid of our old sofa the day beforethe wrong one came.

I askedDanni what compensation I was entitled to, she said she can’t deal with thatand she will need to escalate it to her manager. (As if it’s notescalated enough?)

I asked tospeak to her manager but was told she was unavailable. I told her I wanted tospeak to someone who can deal with it and she said she would find someonesenior to herself for me to speak to. After another 5 minutes on hold Dannireturned to the phone claiming she had spoken to her senior colleague supportMary Anne and she informed Danni that compensation can’t be talked about untilthe matter is resolved.

I acceptedthis as I realised I wasn’t going anywhere and asked when the company will becontacting me to arrange collection of the wrong sofa, she said before close ofbusiness tonight 20/08/13

37 minutes @ 14p a minute =£5.18

TO BECONTINUED…..While my partner is 2 weeks from being full term"


Sorry for long post but just wanted to get all the details in..... Any advice on what to do?!?!
We're now out of pocket for this sofa, and have an unwanted sofa taking up so much of our living room at the moment... (the wrong sofa was massively bigger than the one we ordered and takes up all the space!)

Thanks x

jacques_chirac

Way too much dramatics there!

They delivered the wrong item - they have acknowledged that and offered you £50 compensation. They are going to contact you to arrange collection of the sofa.

What more do you want them to do? Is it their fault your wife is pregnant? Was there any need for you to go into store?

I can see that you have been caused inconvenience, but you are making this into far greater a deal than it needs to be.

angelil

^^ Agreed...hope you were not as aggressive with them as you have been here, otherwise you will never get it sorted..!

Valli

Why did you accept delivery of the wrong sofa?

wealdroam

EmilyL wrote: »

Sofa wasmeant to be delivered and assembled but they dropped it in the room and walkedoff. Not removing the transit caster wheels and therefore marking my brand newwool twist carpet and underlay.

Wait until baby arrives.
It's just possible you may get a few more marks on your brand new carpet.

EmilyL wrote: »

They alsoleft their signature machine in our house but my partner shouted after them andinformed them of this because we are not dishonest people unlike your company.

Why did you bother mentioning that?

EmilyL wrote: »

What am I meant to do in the mean time and where mypregnant partner is meant to sit as we got rid of our old sofa the day beforethe wrong one came.

Was it Asda's fault that you got rid of your old sofa too early?

Maybe your pregnamt partner would be more comfortable on a dining room chair?
Just an idea... since you asked.

tinkerbell28

My idea, would be to write a coherent and less dramatic complaint. Be clear. You are more likely to get the solution you wish.

Valli

[QUOTE=EmilyL;discussion/4745723]Hi, this is my first post here but I've had an AWFUL experience with Asda Direct. We ordered a sofa from them over 9 weeks ago and it arrived yesterday (even though they said it would take 6-8 weeks) - and it was totally the wrong sofa! Wrong product, wrong colour, wrong size - but the delivery people left it at our house anyway....
Here is the experience that my partner has had with trying to get a refund and the sofa taken away:


"Ordered sofa 26/06/2013
Wrong Sofadelivered 19/08/13 by 2x intimidatingdelivery drivers who made my 35 week pregnant partner feel intimidated in herown home. We ordered a left hand facing Austin sofa inCharcoal and were delivered a right hand facing Alistair sofa in Graphite.
My partner tooka day off work£100 lost.
Sofa wasmeant to be delivered and assembled but they dropped it in the room and walkedoff. Not removing the transit caster wheels and therefore marking my brand newwool twist carpet and underlay.

They alsoleft their signature machine in our house but my partner shouted after them andinformed them of this because we are not dishonest people unlike your company.

Phonedcustomer services team at 4pm but were told the manufacturer was shut so wouldhave to phone tomorrow.

Went intostore and complained. I told them I could bring the Sofa back to them and theycould refund me in store, they told me this was impossible as I was due the refundfrom the manufacturer ( I have looked up my consumer rights and this is wrong)
And thattold me they don’t have the storage facilities in store to hold the sofaalthough they have a 30,000sqm unit and I have a 14ft living room.

Got toldover the phone that I would be getting £50 compensation in gift vouchers whichI find a joke as my partner had to take a day off work to wait for the sofa tobe delivered, and is going to have to take another day off work for thecollection of the wrong sofa. £50 doesn’t cover half a days work and why wouldI want gift vouchers to spend with a company I have lost all faith in.

Another hourof my time wasted, just what I need with a baby due in 5 weeks time.

Spoke withthe duty manager Mike Timbury in Woking and the Asda direct customer servicesteam around 7pm on 19/08/13 Spoke to Kurt and Chandre.

They told me their manager Tamsin would be phoning me 8:30amon the 20/08/13 as the manufactures open at 8:00am and she wouldarrange a collection of the wrong sofa.

Didn’t receiveany phone calls on the morning of the 20/08/13 at 8:30am like I was informedwas going to happen so i waited until 10am. Phoned up at 10am and spoke to thecustomer services advisor? Charine, she told me her manager was on the phone tothe manufactures and she was going to ring me within half an hour to tell me when the wrong sofa was beingcollected.

Waited 45 minutes

Didn’treceive a phone call so phoned back on a different number encase they weretrying to get hold of me on the number they told me they told me they wouldring me back on. Got put through to someone but was unable to catch their name.They were rather unhelpful so I asked to speak to their manager, they left meon hold for 15 minutes before the line went dead.

15 minutes @ 14p a minute =£2.10

Arrow XL

Had avoicemail left on my phone by Susan from Arrow XL

at 10:52amtelling me the below.

Hello I havespoken to Emily and she’s given me your number. I’m very sorry she had problemswith the driver. I will put in a driver complaint about this. Also told me thatthe driver will be getting interviewed and we will find out the outcome of theinterview.

In terms of thewrong item delivered if that item was addressed to you we have received thewrong item from Asda. And you will need to contact Asda to arrange acollection. IF you need to contact me I am on 01905 461362 and I’m here until 1pmtoday.

I tried tophone Susan back at 11:10 on the number stated and it sounds like an office andI can hear people speaking in the background but there is no one picking up thephone.

Finally gotthrough at 11:20 . speaking to Susan and she told me that she’s not surprisedthat the delivery drivers forced a signature and it’s not a rare occurance. Shealso informed me she didn’t know why Asda had told her to phone me as I neededto sort the collection of the wrong sofa out with Asda and Asda had no reasonto give her my number. She was the most helpful and informative person I havespoken to through this whole situation and she doesn’t work for Asda. She worksfor a delivery company Arrow XL.

Phoned AsdaDirect back at 11:40AM and got through to Danni, gave her my complaintreference number and she put me on hold for 15 minutes. She came back and toldme the collection company would be contacting me to arrange collection. Iinformed her Asda are the retailer and that they told me this would happen 2hours ago and didn’t happen so she needed to sort it out with them. She put meback on hold for another 15 minutes.

When shereturned she informed me the collection company will be contacting me “sometimetoday” to arrange collection of the wrong sofa and receive a full refund. I asked how longthe refund would take and I was informed it would be 7-10 working days afterthe sofa was collected. What am I meant to do in the mean time and where mypregnant partner is meant to sit as we got rid of our old sofa the day beforethe wrong one came.

I askedDanni what compensation I was entitled to, she said she can’t deal with thatand she will need to escalate it to her manager. (As if it’s notescalated enough?)

I asked tospeak to her manager but was told she was unavailable. I told her I wanted tospeak to someone who can deal with it and she said she would find someonesenior to herself for me to speak to. After another 5 minutes on hold Dannireturned to the phone claiming she had spoken to her senior colleague supportMary Anne and she informed Danni that compensation can’t be talked about untilthe matter is resolved.

I acceptedthis as I realised I wasn’t going anywhere and asked when the company will becontacting me to arrange collection of the wrong sofa, she said before close ofbusiness tonight 20/08/13

37 minutes @ 14p a minute =£5.18

TO BECONTINUED…..While my partner is 2 weeks from being full term"

Sorry for long post but just wanted to get all the details in..... Any advice on what to do?!?!
We're now out of pocket for this sofa, and have an unwanted sofa taking up so much of our living room at the moment... (the wrong sofa was massively bigger than the one we ordered and takes up all the space!)

Thanks x[/QUOTE]
Quoted OP just in case;)


What are you OP 35 weeks or 38 weeks pregnant?

If you partner was with you then there were two of you in the house - so no reaosn to fele intimidated and what did the do to make you feel intimidated?

malchish

After 5 unfriendly, sarcastic reply by all the same regulars on here,
I hope you dear OP won't get scared and intimidated by such response. Those people seem to find it necessary to reply without any helpful tips but with criticism... well, there is a reply that may help:

1) Document all inconvenience
2) Make sure you have a documental evidence of lost wages (if your employer allowed you a day off work without you losing income, then loss of income will be not in the equation)
3) Wait until they collect the wrong sofa
4) Sue for all losses in Moneyclaimonline, siting your credit card provider as a respondent alongside Asda (if you paid by credit card). Ask for all losses, including the telephone calls, reasonable compensation for time spent dealing with the case (£9 an hour at least), loss of wages, etc
5) before you sue, make a screetshot of the filled in Moneyclaimonline form and send a letter before action to asda and to your credit card provider, including the printout of the screen shot with your letter. Send by recorded or special delivery (cost of this to be claimed as well). they will pay what you ask for, unless you ask for more than is reasonable.
6) For anyone who is trying to be unfriendly to you on this forum, please look at the log of their posts - so you can see whether those people sit on here to help consumers or to scare them away. So you will know which post you could trust.
7) Do not worry, you will win the battle with Asda, just relax for now and do not let this take your life over - this little war can last about 5-6 weeks at least. Enjoy your family and happily do the right steps and wait how Asda will have to do what you ask.
best wishes

George_Michael

malchish wrote: »

It is nice to know that monitoring and replying to my posts seem to take fulltime work for some people - they make sure they are there to react as soon as I appear.

It must be nice to have such a high opinion of yourself to think that people come here just to respond to your posts.
In case you didn't notice, jacques chirac was already posting on this thread before you appeared.

Valli

malchish wrote: »

After 5 unfriendly, sarcastic reply by all the same regulars on here,
I hope you dear OP won't get scared and intimidated by such response. Those people seem to find it necessary to reply without any helpful tips but with criticism... well, there is a reply that may help:

1) Document all inconvenience
2) Make sure you have a documental evidence of lost wages (if your employer allowed you a day off work without you losing income, then loss of income will be not in the equation)
3) Wait until they collect the wrong sofa
4) Sue for all losses in Moneyclaimonline, siting your credit card provider as a respondent alongside Asda (if you paid by credit card). Ask for all losses, including the telephone calls, reasonable compensation for time spent dealing with the case (£9 an hour at least), loss of wages, etc
5) before you sue, make a screetshot of the filled in Moneyclaimonline form and send a letter before action to asda and to your credit card provider, including the printout of the screen shot with your letter. Send by recorded or special delivery (cost of this to be claimed as well). they will pay what you ask for, unless you ask for more than is reasonable.
6) For anyone who is trying to be unfriendly to you on this forum, please look at the log of their posts - so you can see whether those people sit on here to help consumers or to scare them away. So you will know which post you could trust.
7) Do not worry, you will win the battle with Asda, just relax for now and do not let this take your life over - this little war can last about 5-6 weeks at least. Enjoy your family and happily do the right steps and wait how Asda will have to do what you ask.
best wishes

I just KNEW this was a troll thread!

malchish's advice is to go in all guns blazing...as per!

Now trot along to the Jo Malone thread and put your oar in there, too!

Valli

malchish wrote: »

It is nice to know that monitoring and replying to my posts seem to take fulltime work for some people - they make sure they are there to react as soon as I appear.

.

We have a rota, dontcha know!