Mattress supplier refusing to refund

TheSestren

I am hoping someone will be able to give me some advice on an unfortunate situation I seem to find myself in with an online mattress emporium.

I am a heavy person and was looking for a mattress supplier who specialised in bariatric mattresses - that is, mattresses designed for overweight/obese people. I found an online seller who has a special memory foam range that their website states is designed for people 25st and above and that these mattresses are designed to contour around your body and support your weight relieving pressure points.

The mattress was quite expensive, but I was willing to pay to get a good night's sleep, so I ordered on HP as the website had a 0% APR option and I felt I could make the repayments comfortably - pun not intended.

I received the mattress and to test it out we removed the outer packaging and laid down on it, fully clothed, to find it was almost completely solid. It was so hard it didn't move at all - no contouring to my body, no support or relieving pressure points, it was like someone put a padded cover on a slab of rock.

Obviously disappointed I contacted the seller asking initially for an exchange, to which they agreed but at a cost of £45. I explained that the mattress wasn't at all as it was described on their website and so I wasn't happy paying an exchange fee, especially not one so high. They initially refused, and it took several emails explaining that the quality of the mattress was unsatisfactory and that it essentially isn't fit for purpose. They eventually gave in and sent me a replacement plastic cover to repackage the mattress.

This took a few days and in that time I decided that I wanted to cancel and obtain a refund rather than exchange as the first mattress was not as expected and it was far too difficult to get them to agree a free exchange, I didn't want to be in that same situation again.

However, they refused to provide a refund quoting their T&Cs which state that once the packaging has been opened the mattress cannot be returned for health and hygiene reasons. I explained that I laid on the mattress for approximately 1-2 hours and since then it has not been used (it's standing in a spare room with its original plastic cover on) but they just keep reiterating that they cannot accept a return and point blank refuse to refund my deposit or cancel the HP agreement.

I am now at logger-heads with this company who regardless of what I say, refuse to accept my cancellation. All I get out of them is that I am only eligible for an exchange.

I take issue with this though, because I believe the mattress wasn't of satisfactory quality for the purpose their website described - which is to contour and support the body weight of someone 25st and above and to relieve pressure points. I am over 25st (unfortunately! :doh:) so fully expected it to provide the experience their website claimed it would.

I believe that is a sufficient enough reason to claim breach of contract for not being of satisfactory quality, but they disagree and tell me that it is not that I was misinformed, but that the mattress I selected does not meet my needs. Not sure how that makes it any better!! Their website says "this mattress is suitable if you fit X criteria" which I do. Surely that is enough to meet the legal requirement of unsatisfactory quality if the mattress does not perform as advertised?

I have been in contact with the Citizen's Advice Consumer Advice Helpline who told me to stop corresponding with the mattress retailer and only deal with the finance company. The adviser said to claim my right to cancel under the Supply of Goods Implied Terms Act by writing the finance company.

However, I spoke to the customer services manager at the finance company today who told me that they can cancel the finance agreement by enforcing my rights, but then the mattress retailer would pursue me themselves for the money owed and that they would be able to offer no assistance in the matter. My experience with the mattress retailer is that they are wholly unreasonable and aren't willing to acknowledge my complaint, so I asked her to attempt to resolve it as best she can, but that if nothing is done by the final day of the 14 day cool-off period then to go ahead and cancel the financial agreements as per my legal rights.

I feel a bit lost to be honest, my brain has been filled with an incomprehensible amount of consumer rights jargon is a matter of days and I find it so stressful waiting on their response - I just want it resolved.

I apologise for how lengthy this explanation was, I commend anyone who read it all and would appreciate any guidance given!

Thanks.

wealdroam

When the CAB told you to talk to the finance co., they probably weren't suggesting you cancel the finance agreement.

Under Section 75 of The Consumer Credit Act, the finance co. are equally responsible with the seller for performance of the contract, so perhaps CAB were hoping that the finance co. would organise the refund on your behalf.

MSE has written an article on Section 75, but Section 75 does not apply to Hire Purchase... but I suspect you didn't really buy the mattress on HP, but used a personal finance agreement.

Unfortunately, you may not have any right to return the goods.
The Consumer Contracts Regulations do allow for 'change of mind' type of cancellations, but there are exceptions for some goods.
One exception is: "in the case of a contract for the supply of sealed goods which are not suitable for return due to health protection or hygiene reasons, if they become unsealed after delivery".

To me, that looks like the seller is able to refuse a cancellation in your case... and a Section 75 claim with the finance company would also fail.

I would say your only course of action is to accept the seller's offer of an exchange. Even that is probably more than he need do, so if you upset the seller, it is possible that he might be able to withdraw that offer too.

TheSestren

Even if the mattress doesn't meet the quality advertised and is not fit for the explicit purpose they say it is for?

agrinnall

wealdroam wrote: »

I would say your only course of action is to accept the seller's offer of an exchange. Even that is probably more than he need do.

But I think the OP is rejecting the mattress under SOGA as it's not as described, so the seller has no choice other than to provide some redress. I'd push for a refund myself.

bris

agrinnall wrote: »

But I think the OP is rejecting the mattress under SOGA as it's not as described, so the seller has no choice other than to provide some redress. I'd push for a refund myself.

Says who? The definition of a mattress is subjective, whats good for one person is not always good for another, it may be exactly as described, just the OP doesn't like it.

TheSestren

bris wrote: »

Says who? The definition of a mattress is subjective, whats good for one person is not always good for another, it may be exactly as described, just the OP doesn't like it.

This is a quote from the website describing the mattress I purchased:

"[Made from] a durable high density foam which will mould to your body’s contours and provide fantastic pressure relief, distributing weight evenly to ease pressure on heavier areas of the body."

On the page detailing information about the bariatric range:

"If you weigh over 24 stone (152kg) or have a body mass index of over 35 then a bariatric mattress is recommended to ensure that your whole body is supported correctly."

They explicitly recommend this mattress for people over a certain weight, and then claim it will mould to your body's contours and provide pressure relief.

As I mentioned in my original post, the mattress was so hard it barely moved. I suspect it is designed for much heavier people than 24st.

PenguinJim

TheSestren wrote: »

They explicitly recommend this mattress for people over a certain weight, and then claim it will mould to your body's contours and provide pressure relief.

But perhaps not in the first hour.

A lot of mattresses need a couple of nights (at least) to "break in". I would suggest also doing some research on your specific mattress type and material to see if others had the same problem, but found it much better after a couple of days.

Pinkypants

TheSestren wrote: »

Even if the mattress doesn't meet the quality advertised and is not fit for the explicit purpose they say it is for?

Not fit for purpose, that's one hell of a claim.

Selling High heel stilettos to play football in would be not fit for purpose.

As for a mattress, can you lie on it, "could" you sleep on it. Answer is yes.

As others have said mattress description and your interruption of that may differ, but it's just that, a personal view of the situation.

This is why so many normal mattresses are sold as medium to medium firm, what's firm to one may be medium to someone else.

How hard is firm, is firm rock hard like the floor, it's very very subjective indeed.

TheSestren

Pinkypants wrote: »

Not fit for purpose, that's one hell of a claim.

Selling High heel stilettos to play football in would be not fit for purpose.

As for a mattress, can you lie on it, "could" you sleep on it. Answer is yes.

As others have said mattress description and your interruption of that may differ, but it's just that, a personal view of the situation.

This is why so many normal mattresses are sold as medium to medium firm, what's firm to one may be medium to someone else.

How hard is firm, is firm rock hard like the floor, it's very very subjective indeed.

As I mentioned, its a bariatric mattress specifically designed for heavy people - it is designed, supposedly, for people over a certain weight, I had reasonable expectation that it would do this as I am over the minimum weight threshold as detailed on their website. The mattress is effectively designed to fit a certain purpose, use by a specific type of person. It had features designed for their use.

Your analogy of a highheel is incredibly unhelpful. Think of it like this. You buy a car because it has certain features included, these features are what you specifically wanted this model of car for - the car is marketed for these features. These features cost more, so you pay the extra to ensure the car does exactly what you want. When you get the car, those features don't work. You complain to the dealership, saying this car doesn't do what you said it would so it's not fit for the purpose you advertised it for. Would you be happy if the response was "hey, it's still a car - can you sit it in, turn the wheel and travel? Yes, so its fit for purpose!"

That's just not reasonable at all.

Edit: Perhaps fit for purpose isn't the right complaint, but certainly not of satisfactory quality is.

The website does not mention that it is firm, and when I contacted their customer services they called it "the firmest mattress we sell". I think that information should be clear on their website but it absolutely is not. They list other mattresses by firmness, but this mattress had no firmness rating on their website - surely its not unreasonable in that situation to assume it is NOT a firm mattress???

George_Michael

Pinkypants wrote: »

Not fit for purpose, that's one hell of a claim.

Nice bit of selective quoting there.

The OP didn't simply state that the mattress wasn't fit for purpose. What they did state was that it wasn't fit for the purpose that the retailer stated (ie, that it will fully support someone who is 24 stone and that it will mould around their body).
A small difference to you maybe, but not to someone who bought the mattress because of a specific advertising claim.

Pinkypants wrote: »

As for a mattress, can you lie on it, "could" you sleep on it. Answer is yes.

If a kettle was sold as being able to boil a litre of water in 2 minutes but in reality took 6 minutes to do this, would you think that anyone who bought one wouldn't have the right to reject it?
After all, you could still use it to boil water so what's the problem?

TheSestren

George_Michael wrote: »

If a kettle was sold as being able to boil a litre of water in 2 minutes but in reality took 6 minutes to do this, would you think that anyone who bought one wouldn't have the right to reject it?
After all, you could still use it to boil water so what's the problem?

That's a far more elegant analogy, thank you. Yes of course it still functions as a mattress - it's as you say, a key feature that they advertised and my entire reason for purchasing this specific mattress just does not work like they said it would.