Bought damaged drawers, 24 hrs have passed

unholyangel

sheramber wrote: »

Consumers have a right to a reasonable opportunity to examine goods
and reject them if faulty.

The company may argue that 24 hours os a reasonable opportunity

BigBopper wrote: »

Ultimately it may be down to a court to decide what's reasonable.

It used to be you had a reasonable opportunity to examine goods (under sale of goods act which applied to sales made on or before the 30th september 2015)

You now have 30 days ( under the consumer rights act which applies to sales made on or after 1st october 2015).


ETA: even under Sale of goods act, 24 hours is unlikely to ever be considered reasonable where goods are delivered at a distance.

Chris842

Hi,

I tried to ring them today, at about 3pm. I spoke to a secretary who said she'd get someone to call back. The call back never came.

I'm going to try again tomorrow, but looking at the reviews on here (https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.allurefurnishing.co.uk), this is what a lot of people get told, and noone calls back, and the reviews say their customer service is very difficult to get a hold of.

How should I proceed if I cant get hold of them? Small claims court?

Also, I started to put the wardrobe up today, and have found fault in one part within that (the metal thing that the drawers slide up and down is bent).

Chris842

Update...

I had emailed on Monday the 9th in the morning, and this reply came through about 24 hours later:

Good morning,

Could you please supply relevant images of both the item and the packaging for the item displaying any damage.

If the outer packaging was damaged in any way this must be reflected when signing for the item as stated in our terms as this is requested by carriers and any claim for carrier damage is invalid if not signed for as damaged.


Kind regards

Allure Furnishing

Sent from my iPhone

Just noticed as I write this that it was sent from an iphone. It sounds unusual for customer services to use a phone to email people.

That evening, on tuesday, I sent them an email with the pictures and telling about the wardrobe in my last fault. I asked for an exchange of the chest of drawers again, and asked them to replace the part (drawer runner) from the wardrobe. (it was actually two emails, because all the pictures wouldn't fit in a single email).

Its now Thursday evening and I've had no reply.

My next email... should I send it today or give them longer? Don't think I'm going to get a reply now.

My next email is going to quote the above government documentation, and say I'm going to seek legal advice if they don't respond within X days. Following the advice of the MSE page, which says the following:

The court will expect you to have already made your claim in writing, giving the other person a reasonable amount of time to reply (you should specify a time limit in your complaint letter). You should also warn them that you'll take court action if they fail to reply within the given time. You never know, just saying this may be the kick up the bum they need to cough up.

Appreciate any advice with these questions, or anything else, thanks

unholyangel

What you're referring to is a letter before action/letter before claim.

You shouldn't send it via email though. And if you're going to send one it should be by post (and getting a certificate of posting). Title it as above (letter before action), keep it simple and straight to the point - if you need to include any supporting evidence/documents, you can do so on separate bits of paper. Something like (you can google for templates if you're really stuck):

On x date you ordered x item for x price, y item for y price and z item for z price. They were delivered x date and you contacted them on x date to make them aware that xyz (the problems in brief). They are in breach of contract and you are requesting they replace the faulty parts or issue a full refund for the entire order and arrange to collect the items at their expense.

If you do not receive a satisfactory response from them within 14 days from the date of the letter, you intend to issue proceedings against them without further notice at which time you will be claiming all reasonable costs incurred as a result of their breach.



Personally I'd perhaps send them the link to the guidance and also advise them that misleading consumers about their rights can amount to a criminal offence so they may want to seek legal advice before responding - sometimes that can help, more so if they're denying consumer rights based on ignorance rather than arrogance.

You might also try your local trading standards. They don't usually get involved for 1 complaint but they have been known to have a sort of informal word with business owners now and again.

[Deleted User]

You have every right to return these goods. They are damaged, it doesn't matter (in terms of your rights) what damage there is to the outside of the box, what you signed for (no delivery driver on the planet will wait while you inspect every part of a three item flat pack package). Its just time wasting tactics, knowing most customers will give up. They know their terms and conditions are useless.

I would suggest getting the money back that you did pay by card, then start dealing with Rakuten, sending photos to ask them how you get your points refunded. Be as much of a pain to the company as they intend to be with you.