B&Q kitchen issue what are my rights?

helen01234

I bought a B&Q oak veneer kitchen approx 3 years ago. Sadly I dont seem to be able to find my receipt.

The problem is all the doors and actual units the veneer is peeling very very badly from the bottom of the doors and units and the wood is swelling. The kitchen looks awful and is in a terrible state.

It has taken me several emails and a telephone call by the most unhelpful customer care representative to be told I have to go to the furniture ombudsmen and get a report done on the kitchen. They have told me it is guaranteed for 6 years but it is in my responsibility to pay for a report doing to determine if the problem is a manufacturing fault.

I cant afford to pay for a report and also they wont make clear who the report needs to be done by! They have been so unhelpful and are putting every barrier in my way so I dont continue with the complaint.

Does anyone have any advice please?

The following information was emailed to me:
With regards to your query, Under the sale of goods act, once a period of six months from purchase has passed, the onus is on the customer to prove that the product was not of satisfactory quality and that the product has not suffered from environmental conditions or misuse that may have caused the damage. It is within your rights to have a report conducted to ascertain what caused the damage to the product and forward that on to us for our consideration.

May we assure you that complaints of any sort are taken very seriously and every effort is taken to learn from these experiences to prevent any similar occurrence in the future.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience, we trust that you will remain a valued customer at B&Q.

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Does anyone have any advice on how to take this further? Do I have to get a report done to take this further?

Thanks in advance

DevCoder

As it is past 6 months then yes, its up to you to prove it was defective.

You would need a report from an expert, a report by a furniture inspector would probably be best, not sure if you can get kitchen fitter experts who will do a report.

helen01234

krisdorey wrote: »

As it is past 6 months then yes, its up to you to prove it was defective.

You would need a report from an expert, a report by a furniture inspector would probably be best, not sure if you can get kitchen fitter experts who will do a report.

A furniture inspector? So a builder or similar to do a report wouldnt suffice then?

lovinituk

As above, they have correctly quoted the Sale Of Goods Act. Its your responsibility at this stage to prove that the fault was a manufacturing fault rather than damage caused by yourself for example.

Your only option would be to try and take it to the small claims court but they have SOGA on their side so without your report proving an inherent fault, you would probably stand little chance of winning.

molerat

http://www.thefurnitureombudsman.org/expert-inspections
£125 and if they find in your favour the cost of the inspection can be added to the claim.

DevCoder

helen01234 wrote: »

A furniture inspector? So a builder or similar to do a report wouldnt suffice then?

Not really, molerat has linked to the best solution.

helen01234

Its the £350 report thats for kitchens according to the link. No way I can afford that!

Kind of stuck with a falling apart kitchen then

bloss0m

If the wood is swelling sounds like its due to water/moisture ingress perhaps from a damp environment or one that suffers from condensation.

DevCoder

Yes, chipboard and mdf both swell when expose to water/moisture. It would be down to what is causing the laminate coating to de-laminate.

At the base of the units, you normally have kick boards.

In a kitchen environment you should really have these sitting in a plastic runner so that any water on the floor doesnt get into the kick board and then go up through the bottom of the unit.

helen01234

bloss0m wrote: »

If the wood is swelling sounds like its due to water/moisture ingress perhaps from a damp environment or one that suffers from condensation.

We dont have condensation or damp in our kitchen. It isnt swelling as such. I have added a photo to show. Its only happening to the kitchen cupboards and nothing else. It hasnt happened to the wall units only the floor ones.

lovinituk

I think your facebook settings are set to private as we can't see the image. Try setting just that image to public.