Please help - online purchased product not accurately described

ana18

After much deliberation we have decided to buy a new toilet that we have seen in the flesh in our friends house. The website page for this particular product had two purchasing options (standard & soft close)and two little photographs bellow the main one implying they corresponded to the two different seats. One of the photographs was exactly what we have seen in our friends house, we knew she had 'soft close' option which is what we chose.

When it arrived the seat was not the same as pictured on the website. It was 'soft close' but not 'wrap over' even though the correct photograph of the desired 'wrap over' seat was on the front of seat packaging! It took about 10, 15 emails back and forth until we were sent a replacement seat with the description 'wrap over' on the receipt. However the same seat was inside yet again (with the 'wrap over' photograph on the pack) We continued exchanging emails with the company assuming that they had a batch of seats packaged in wrong boxes and after a lot of effort and time they finally admitted that this particular seat was actually discontinued and that we were sent what is being manufactured instead!

We are not happy as this is not what we wanted and if we knew that this was the case we would not have ordered this particular toilet in the first place. We have demanded the full refund as we would prefer to buy different looking toilet. They have refused us and are offering a goodwill gesture £20 saying that we have accepted and installed the toilet (which can't be returned after installation) The original cost of the toilet and the seat was close to £200. We have invested a lot of money and carefully chosen a product after a lot of deliberation to hopefully last us for 20 years. Please help, is there anything else we can do?

halibut2209

Why did you install it if it was wrong?

ana18

Because the toilet was all good as expected and exactly what we ordered, we realised that the seat was in the wrong box (correct photograph and different product inside). So we knew we wanted to exchanged the seat only?!

Bantex_2

Probably the best example of first world problems that I have heard in a while.

halibut2209

So you "assumed" you'd be fine to change the seat and went ahead and installed based on that assumption.

I'm afraid it looks like you have nothing to go on.

ana18

I thought we were only discussing first world problems here - sorry

Poppie68

I would take the £20 goodwill gesture and look around for another toilet seat. Nobody is going to give you a full refund for an installed loo...in the end it is just a loo seat and not worth getting worked up over.

ana18

Thanks, i realise it is only a toilet seat. I may be the only one who thinks it is a bit unfair to advertise and sell something that you don't have in stock and then just 'assume' that the replacement (possibly chepaer) is acceptable to everyone. Wrong items were packaged and described, a receipt is saying one thing while I received something different. If it was not 'just a toilet seat' am I wrong to think that some other people here would find this tiny bit unfair and not happy to receive??

visidigi

ana18 wrote: »

Thanks, i realise it is only a toilet seat. I may be the only one who thinks it is a bit unfair to advertise and sell something that you don't have in stock and then just 'assume' that the replacement (possibly chepaer) is acceptable to everyone. Wrong items were packaged and described, a receipt is saying one thing while I received something different. If it was not 'just a toilet seat' am I wrong to think that some other people here would find this tiny bit unfair and not happy to receive??

You installed it. At that point your argument is moot.