Awkward furniture company won't give refund, advice needed

patchesohoulihan

Hi,

I'm after a bit of advice. We ordered a chair online and paid for it via Paypal. It took sometime for the chair to be ready for dispatch (it's not a custom made job or anything), which was fine. But when it was eventually shipped to us it was via a delivery company who would not give notification of delivery until the day it was due to be delivered. In our case the only notification we got of an attempted delivery was from our neighbour, no card or message.

Needless to say that we were out at work on the day of delivery, so phoned to arrange delivery for another date, 4 days later, when we would be in. During that time the furniture company recalled the item so when our arranged day came around, the item wasn't there. We have never received the item.

We have asked the company for a refund but they are refusing to refund our (quite large) delivery charge, stating that once the item had been dispatched that "service" had been honoured. As far as I can see I am entitled to ask for a full refund up to seven days after I have received the item. Since I have never received it, I assume this is still the case.

The company say that, according to their Ts & Cs they do not have to refund us the delivery charge. They have offered to redeliver the item at no extra cost, but the same thing is likely to happen again. I have sent them a version of the standard Distance Selling Regulations letters floating around but they still refuse to refund the money.

We would like a full refund. Is it worth pursuing with legal action?

Thanks

hollydays

Do you have a link to their site

patchesohoulihan

I'm not allowed to post links apparently. But the company is Milan Direct. They come up first if you do a search.

hollydays

It is listed on companies house but says it originates in Australia.


http://www.milandirect.co.uk

They say delivery can take 1-5 days and they send you an email with tracking number, if tracking is available.on eBay they said they ask for a phone number-did you provide one.

But what you seem to be saying is they are offering to redeliver but you are refusing this?
I see they no longer sell on eBay. They only accepted paypal on there.
How long is it from placing your order to the first delivery and the next offer of delivery?

aldredd

Tried raising a dispute with Paypal?

patchesohoulihan

aldredd wrote: »

Tried raising a dispute with Paypal?

It's too long for that. Order was placed (and money taken) at the beginning of Feb.

patchesohoulihan

hollydays wrote: »

They say delivery can take 1-5 days and they send you an email with tracking number, if tracking is available.on eBay they said they ask for a phone number-did you provide one.

But what you seem to be saying is they are offering to redeliver but you are refusing this?
I see they no longer sell on eBay. They only accepted paypal on there.
How long is it from placing your order to the first delivery and the next offer of delivery?

Yes, we gave them a phone number. No tracking is provided with the courier they use. You can not find out when the delivery will take place unless you phone the delivery company on the morning of the day the item is due to be delivered, which you have no way of knowing in advance. You can not specify a day for delivery unless they have attempted delivery. When we did this Milan Direct recalled the item before out redelivery could take place.

Order was placed at beginning of feb and delivery was attempted on 20th March. If we ask them to redeliver we'll have the same problem with their delivery company of not knowing when to be in. Apart from this I think I'm legally entitled to a full refund as I have not yet received my item (under the 7 day rule) but I'm not sure.

hollydays

Hmm ...............

patchesohoulihan

hollydays wrote: »

Hmm ...............

My thoughts exactly! I'm happy I admit I'm wrong I'm just not sure that I am!

arcon5

What was the agreed time frame? If you both haven't agreed to take more than 30 days then the contract can be considered as never having been entered into as per distance selling regulations. Thus monies need returning.

As you've discovered enforcing this is a whole different story which by the sounds of it will involve the small claims court and a letter before action.

patchesohoulihan

They give a delivery estimate on their site which it ended up exceeding and they kept pushing it back. I'll check if it was originally within 30 days or not.

I've sent them the letter threatening court action and giving them 30 days to refund my money. They have replied saying that they won't so do I wait until the end of 30 days or just start the small claims procedure now (if I do it!)