Habitat Compensation for cancelled deliveries

k4te

Hi,

We are hoping someone can help a little.

We bought a Habitat corner sofa, we received part of the sofa, and then at delivery were told they didn't have the rest and they had to find it.

To cut a long story short. Habitat eventually told us they found the remaining part, and over the course of a few weeks they scheduled 2 delivery dates and cancelled both the morning of the delivery stating they didn't have the remaining part. Then after much calling, complaining and more chasing they made a third delivery, it was delivered 2 hours late.

We spent a month with only part of our sofa, making numerous phone calls to chase up, various occasions making arrangements to be available for the additional delivery days etc etc

We were offered £100 in vouchers for habitat, we declined this and were insulted, then offered £100 cash. This was a £3,500 sofa.

We have now made a full written complaint regarding the mess, we have highlighted 3 days of consequential loss for the additional time taken off work as they could not and would not supply us with a Sunday delivery, not to mention the time and stress for the mess and calls we have had to make.

To add to the mess, the sofa was different measurement to the measurements given in-store on print outs, and we paid a delivery fee event though this should have been free (orders over £500)

Habitat have now offered us £150 total cash compensation. They have told us they do not pay for consequential loss and we should have arranged the further deliveries for days we are not at work!

Has anyone experienced complaining to Habitat and got any further than this?

IAmWales

Distress, really?

What are your actual losses, and are they reasonable?

steampowered

Have a read of http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/delivery-rights#court

If everything is as you say, it sounds like you have been well and truly messed around.

I would forget about claiming for distress.

I would however be tempted to issue a 'letter before action' followed by a small claim against them for the days off work. 1/260 of your annual salary per day of annual leave for a full time worker is an appropriate amount.

k4te

Thanks for your replies. Sorry, that meant stress. As we were furnishing our entire house, as well as renovating and moving house. Our issue is that it was avoidable additional stress that we should not have had to encounter. That was not caused by ourselves and was caused by incompetence by Habitat.

Thanks a lot for the link, that is where i started with our complaint, (really helpful) however they seem to feel their compensation is adequate and they don't pay consequential loss, they also blamed us saying we should have taken delivery on our day off (Sunday) - of which we couldn't get a delivery scheduled in with them at any point even when asking.

We have lost out on 3 days earnings, we are not here to claim a fortune. At initial discussion we asked for £300 in Habitat vouchers which they declined.

We have also just not sort legal advice too.

We just want a suitable resolution to a situation that shouldn't have occurred, and time that we shouldn't have had to spend on something that could have been resolved promptly by the retailer.

Thanks again for your replies.

steampowered

You don't need formal legal advice for this.

A suitable resolution can be obtained by issuing a formal 'letter before action' followed by a small claim through the moneyclaimonline system. It sounds scary but it is actually very easy.

You can't claim for stress. But you can claim for the wasted 3 days earnings.

The reality is that Habitat are very likely to settle as soon as the claim hits their doormat. If they don't, it sounds to me like you'd have a very good chance of the judge taking your side.

If you are not prepared to issue a small claim, then I'm afraid Habitat will be able to walk all over you and you will just have to live with whatever Habitat offers. Whether that happens to be £1 of vouchers or £1000 in cash.

k4te

steampowered wrote: »

You don't need formal legal advice for this.

A suitable resolution can be obtained by issuing a formal 'letter before action' followed by a small claim through the moneyclaimonline system. It sounds scary but it is actually very easy.

You can't claim for stress. But you can claim for the wasted 3 days earnings.

The reality is that Habitat are very likely to settle as soon as the claim hits their doormat. If they don't, it sounds to me like you'd have a very good chance of the judge taking your side.

If you are not prepared to issue a small claim, then I'm afraid Habitat will be able to walk all over you and you will just have to live with whatever Habitat offers. Whether that happens to be £1 of vouchers or £1000 in cash.

Thank you so much for your reply and the information. It's really appreciated!