DFS Supreme sofas

nurse1972_2

My husband & I entered into a credit agreement to purchase a 2 & 3 seater sofa set on 19th July.
Days after we encountered a serious financial issue.We contacted the credit company who stated DFS had to cancel the agreement not ourselves.We spoke with the salesperson on 25th July _ he said they could not be cancelled as the order was being processed / possibly on its way already (strange as days before we were told expect delivery in 10-12 weeks..... apparently takes a considerable time to make then ship them from the far East!!).He said he'd get the manager to call us later that day....he didn't.
We sent an email outlining our wishes, a copy of our contract & wrote .
That we believed we were covered under various acts such as Sale of Goods Act, Consumer Contracts Regulations & Consumer Credit Act.
The store manager has contacted us & stated we are not (& are not entitled to a 14 day cancellation period).He says that this is because the goods are specially"made to order".
He has also stated if we do not accept delivery of the items they will be taken back to store & we will be billed for the whole amount of £3615 regardless.
I thought I read somewhere that traders shouldn't start providing the service before the 14 day cancellation period has ended.
Can anyone advise us further please?????... we're aware time is ticking on.
To make matters worse we have seen worrying statements about the supreme sofas they supply....god knows what we'll get & potential problems if we're made to accept them

cono1717

You had the option to inspect the good in store so you don't get a cancellation period or a return period unless they are faulty - you do however have 14 days to cancel the finance agreement - the finance company were wrong in DFS having to cancel it - you can cancel it yourself.

However - you entered into a contract with DFS and as part of the agreement they say "You should consider your ability to maintain the repayments" which is appropriately vague on purpose as the consideration stems into things such as sudden financial issues.

DFS have the right to charge you for the goods by any other method if you refuse to pay by credit but you're best appealing to their better nature, don't go in with a head full of steam otherwise they won't help you because they don't need to.

Paully232000

Someone may come along and say I am wrong but I dont think they can use the 'made to order' argument as I think the legal definition of this does not cover products that are 'from a catalogue' that anyone can buy. The made to order definition is more to do with one off items and not off the shelf items so to speak which this sofa, which was chosen from the DFS range of sofas.

'Made to order', I am sure is about one off items, that are specifically, for example, designed and chosen by you.

unholyangel

Paully232000 wrote: »

Someone may come along and say I am wrong but I dont think they can use the 'made to order' argument as I think the legal definition of this does not cover products that are 'from a catalogue' that anyone can buy. The made to order definition is more to do with one off items and not off the shelf items so to speak which this sofa, which was chosen from the DFS range of sofas.

'Made to order', I am sure is about one off items, that are specifically, for example, designed and chosen by you.

Erm its a bit of a red herring anyway - the consumer contract regulations give 14 days right to cancel on distance & off-premises contracts except in certain circumstances. One of those circumstances is where the goods are clearly personalised or made to the consumers specifications.

Now some retailers try and tell you this means made to order goods are excluded - they're not. An item made up following an order by the customer where the customer has selected from options available is not made to the consumers specifications.

unholyangel

OP. there is no statutory right to cancel the contract for the sofas even if you have a cooling off period for the credit agreement (different if you were denied the credit though).

However this does not mean you cannot cancel - you can, just not without being liable for the other sides reasonable losses incurred (there is no entitlement to any amount that can be reasonably saved).

Start by noting to them that you will be using their failure to cancel your order when originally requested as proof of failure to mitigate their loss.

They know fine well it probably hasn't even started being made yet and thus, the only losses they probably have is perhaps a small admin fee. Look back at past DFS threads and you will see "you cannot cancel" is a favourite line of theirs - that they often backtrack on as soon as you send a LBA

ocean90

Harvey's cancelled our order and we cancelled with the finance company 10 days after signing our agreement. We were still in our cooling off period and found a much better option for us. Harvey's had no quibbles with this neither did Ikano there finance department. We had a 10 week wait for delivery. Surly the same must apply everywhere????

cono1717

ocean90 wrote: »

Harvey's cancelled our order and we cancelled with the finance company 10 days after signing our agreement. We were still in our cooling off period and found a much better option for us. Harvey's had no quibbles with this neither did Ikano there finance department. We had a 10 week wait for delivery. Surly the same must apply everywhere????

DFS use a number of different finance companies Ikano being one of them - it varies from store to store. Most stores I worked at used Barclays first, then Ikano then Moneyways as a third line if the other two failed.

OP DFS WILL ask you for a contribution towards the cancellation how much you choose to stand your ground is up to you. I know Unholyangel said above the suite isn't made yet and it's probably not however its likely gone to the manufacturer and will be in the process (they release it the day after an acceptance goes through)

Now - take from this what you will. In my 4 years of working there, there were plenty of cancellations, some accepted the contribution some stood their ground. One thing to note is in all my time there DFS never took anyone to court over it. BUT - that doesn't mean they are not entitled to do so.

nurse1972_2

Can you advise me what an LBA is please.
I emailed the manager offering to pay a cancellation fee but he hasn't replied to me at all. I've sent several emails hoping to appeal to his better nature but not received any correspondence at all....We're now more weeks on & I'm getting really worried.
To make matters worse ive seen more posts on forums from individual's who have purchased the suites & had awful problems with them (in some instances within days or weeks of delivery!!)7
Thankyou to everyone for your advice

bigbulldog

Why don't you go back into the store where you purchased them from if there not replying to your emails.??

cajef

nurse1972 wrote: »

Can you advise me what an LBA is please.

LBA = Letter before action.

Spank

It's a letter you send to them stating that if they don't sort things out you will take them to court.
This works most of the time as it's cheaper to pay up than to go to court.