Refund for structurally damaged ex-display couch?

Crequire

If you read this, thank you for taking the time out of your day to help. It's very much appreciated. Even a little bit of advice or a point in the right direction would be a great help.

What did you buy?
A five seater ex display corner sofa for £700

When did you buy it?
January/25/2017

Where from?
The name escapes me, I’ll edit this with the shop name later when I’m back home and I can look at the receipt. It was an independent furniture shop that has since mysteriously closed and relocated 10 or so miles away.
*EDIT* The name is "Our House Retail", based in London

How did you pay?
Debit card.

What went wrong?
The current situation is: The sofa my 60 year old mum bought only uses 2/3 of the sofa because she’s afraid of the damaged side. The position she has to sit in is causing her ever increasing pain in her legs and back.

Timeline of events:
- Nothing specific or noteworthy said about damage concerning the sofa before purchase. Only information given to my mum was that it was the display model and when shown the one on the floor it seemed in perfect condition.

- Sofa was delivered and installed in front room after great difficulty on the movers part to navigate it up stairs and through the doorway (it got wedged, in hindsight this is where we believe the damage occurred).

- We sign the form saying we’ve received the products, it’s very late so we just have a quick comfort test on the sofa before going to sleep.

- Next day when we have more time with the sofa it becomes apparent something isn’t quite right and we separate the corner sofa from its two interlocking parts and the damage is quite obvious, a large crack in the wood at the base of the sofas corner resulting in the lower side slat sitting on the floor rather than being connected to the back of the couch. If you’re having trouble visualising just image putting your weight into the back of the chair and having your left side support whilst your right shoulder would continue pushing back causing further damage to the chair.

- Within a 24 hour window of receiving the item I have contacted the shop and emailed them proof of the damage. Initially they blame us but we quickly are offered a replacement … BUT we must wait for the next shipment because they don’t have the same model in stock. Fine, no worries, they’re going to sort it out so we wait.

- 7 weeks comes around and the shipment is delayed for a further month, call back then.

- A month later we call and their phone no longer works. We go to the shop in person only to see it boarded up and clearly closed down.

- After a bit of worry we find they have a website with a number on there and we’re put through to a guy who was not the original salesmen but is a manager of their other store and he already knows all about our issue and says that he is handling it now. He’s really not cooperative and quite aggressive and begins to blame us for the damage and how it’s our fault, and that I shouldn’t have accepted it etc etc. Eventually he yields and says the shipment still hasn’t come through yet… Call back in a couple of weeks.

- All in all 4 or 5 months pass and we’re told the shipment has finally come through but our model couch wasn’t in the shipment like they expected.

- Now this guy really doubles down on “The couch is ex display you should have known there would be damage”

What are the vendors telling you?
—First they said they will replace it in 7 weeks, then 3 months, then 5 months just trailing us along with an ever increasing phone bill.

—Then they said shipment arrived but no new sofa in stock even though we waited all that time.

—Now they say we should have known it was damaged because it was ex-display and they don’t have to help us because of that.

What solution or remedy are you looking for?
We want a full refund for the time, worry, inconvenience, anxiety and absolutely the broken couch… I mean it’s being propped up against a wall for support for God’s sake! Surely there’s some laws and rights protecting us here.

lincroft1710

If the shop has "mysteriously" closed and relocated 10 miles away, is it the same company? For example if the sofa was bought from Falltobitz Furniture Ltd and the new shop belongs to Falltobitz Furniture (2017) Ltd as the original company has ceased trading, you have no-one to bring any action against.

SouthUKMan

Agreed with lincroft1710 above, your first step is to establish if you are dealing with exactly the same business - because if you're not, you're unlikely to get much further. Compare the name on your original paperwork with the name on a business card from the new business (get a friend to pop in and ask for one).

Realistically - given the broken promises and passage of time you've endured - I suspect the only way you will resolve this is through the small claims court. If you do have written evidence that the company offered you a replacement, then that is useful. But you need to rely on the law here - which states something like goods must be fit for purpose, as described and of reasonable quality for the price paid. Ignore the bluff about the "you should have known there was damage" line. You still have rights even though the sofa was bought as an ex-display item.

However accurately second guessing what a judge will rule is impossible. A judge might award full compensation of £700 or a judge might award some of the money taking into account a deduction for 'reasonable use' of the sofa (that would be harsh but possible). You will not be (or at least you are unlikely to be) compensated for worry / inconvenience etc. There is also the possibility that a judge will accept the evidence from the retailer that you signed to say the sofa was okay on delivery. In which case did the damage occur through fault of the user or was there a fundamental fault with the sofa? Again, impossible to second guess.

Another way to solve this is to have the sofa professionally repaired and to sue the retailer for the cost of the repair.

But this all depends on whether the business you're dealing with now is the same as the business you dealt with in January.

If you decide the only way to resolve this is through the small claims court, then there is a process that you have to go through in terms of putting the company on notice of your intention to take them to court unless they resolve the problem to your satisfaction within a reasonable time frame (you must specify clearly what you want and by what date). Send signed for delivery. It's a bit more involved than that, but that's the basics.

Crequire

Thank you both for the information, it's comforting to know there's at least a chance of some retribution. The name of the business is Our House Retail, you'll find google maps will show three branches in London and I've just had a look at more recent reviews and people have had identical issues to what we are experiencing.

The only documented contact would be the initial email I sent with pictures proving the damage on day 1. All communication from this point was on the phone. Wouldn't a judge deem all the calls to and from the shops number and the accumulated time of the calls to be sufficient enough to assume the calls were about the issue of the broken couch?

Before giving up on the shop there was a long argument about wanting written proof that we were to receive any form of compensation, when they sent us through the loop is when we lost all hope.

Crequire

How do I find out for sure that the shop has a legal connection? The logo is the same, the advertised name is the same, calling their numbers they will acknowledge that the branch that I bought from existed and has since closed, is it safe to assume I'm in the clear?

hollydays

Crequire wrote: »

How do I find out for sure that the shop has a legal connection? The logo is the same, the advertised name is the same, calling their numbers they will acknowledge that the branch that I bought from existed and has since closed, is it safe to assume I'm in the clear?

Are you actually reading the replies ?

Crequire

hollydays wrote: »

Are you actually reading the replies ?

What did I miss for you to ask that? I've read the replies multiple times. If you're referring to the reply asking to make sure it's the same company, I was just asking for clarification on how to truly know for 100% sure. I'd have thought what I said about the logo, name, numbers and branch would be enough to verify it's the same business.

unholyangel

OP is this the company in question?

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10210242

The good news is because you contacted them within 24 hours and agreed to their repair/replacement means that technically, you're still within the time limit for the short term right to reject.

The bad news is that you might have to go through the courts to enforce it and even involving the courts doesn't guarantee you'll get your money.

Try writing the store a letter before action giving them 14 days to provide a replacement or refund - although personally I'd forego the replacement and just say that as it has been approx 40 weeks and they have not yet supplied replacement goods, they are in breach of the requirement of providing the replacement within a reasonable time and without causing significant inconvenience therefore you are exercising your right to reject for a refund.