Worktop woes 😭 What are my rights?

sandy1267

Head_The_Ball wrote: »

If you paid with a credit card and the total was over £100, then you may be able to use Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act to get your money back from the Credit Card Company.



Google or search MSE for more details as I am not fully up to speed on all the details.

Good luck.

Payment was debit card, they don't accept PayPal or credit card, I can see why!

theonlywayisup

If they aren't responding, then you have a couple of options:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/visa-mastercard-chargeback re your payment card

or

sending an LBA (letter before action).

sandy1267

theonlywayisup wrote: »

If they aren't responding, then you have a couple of options:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/visa-mastercard-chargeback re your payment card

or

sending an LBA (letter before action).

thanks everyone.

theonlywayisup I was of the understanding from your previous link that once I'd sent the template letter telling them they are in breach of the consumer rights act, that they had 14 days to respond?

Xmas is ruined, as I have no cooking facilities now, and I've still had to pay the fitter a full day's work ☹️ I haven't asked for a refund, but for a replacement, so how they can say I've damaged them is beyond me 🤷!♀️ I've gained nothing but expense and inconvenience

Furts

sandy1267 wrote: »

Thanks martinsurrey,

I wasn't too lazy �� I had to help the driver myself as they sent one person to carry the lot, so he put them down where I had room, unfortunately he put them down on the rounded edge, which is where the damage is, they were also stacked side by side, I didn't have a hope in hell of checking them as it would mean lifting and pulling them out, I'm simply not strong enough to do that.

Unbelievable! You are arguing you did not damage them yet here you are admitting you helped store them on the leading edge - which is wrong, create damage - which is wrong, and not stack them flat - which is also wrong.

Regardless of the Law, you have entered a contract with an internet type supplier. Your choice, but you could have received proper service, and proper rights by using your local diy shed, or your local builders merchant. You chose not to do this.

Your terms said you had to assist with the delivery, your terms said do not arrange kitchen fitting until the goods were checked and your terms said delivery was only onto the kerbside. Hence it was not the delivery drivers responsibility to take the worktops indoors. OK, this goodwill gesture has backfired, but the driver should have refused to do this.

Regardless, you were managing this operation. If you cannot mange matters, then the common sense decision would be a supply and fit kitchen installation. After all, that is what the vast majority of consumers choose, with countless good reasons for doing so.

All round I am siding with andyhop.

sandy1267

Furts wrote: »

Unbelievable! You are arguing you did not damage them yet here you are admitting you helped store them on the leading edge - which is wrong, create damage - which is wrong, and not stack them flat - which is also wrong.

Regardless of the Law, you have entered a contract with an internet type supplier. Your choice, but you could have received proper service, and proper rights by using your local diy shed, or your local builders merchant. You chose not to do this.

Your terms said you had to assist with the delivery, your terms said do not arrange kitchen fitting until the goods were checked and your terms said delivery was only onto the kerbside. Hence it was not the delivery drivers responsibility to take the worktops indoors. OK, this goodwill gesture has backfired, but the driver should have refused to do this.

Regardless, you were managing this operation. If you cannot mange matters, then the common sense decision would be a supply and fit kitchen installation. After all, that is what the vast majority of consumers choose, with countless good reasons for doing so.

All round I am siding with andyhop.

Is there a way to stack worktops? I wasn't given any instruction on this (I've never purchased a new kitchen before)
The delivery driver knocked on the door and said I must help him carry them in, so I did.
The website states that an able bodied person must be available to assist the driver in carrying the worktops, therefore I assume they mean into the house.
The delivery driver decided where the worktops should go and how they should be stacked, being that he does this as a job, I trusted he'd know what he's doing, seeing as I've never taken this task on in my life, I would expect them to realise I wouldn't know what I'm doing.

So, Thankyou for your unhelpful comment, T&C's, procedure, policy or whatever else does not overturn the law, which states I am in the right.
You'd do well to look into wednesbury unreasonableness, you'll learn a lot from that.

I will keep everyone updated as to the outcome, which will now be in the new year unless I get a Christmas miracle

david1951

sandy1267 wrote: »

unfortunately he [correction - "we"?] put them down on the rounded edge, which is where the damage is

How likely do you think it is that the damage was caused during this action?

Do you know if they were they stacked the same way in the delivery truck?

A court will assess this on the balance of probabilities. If they decide that the damage was most likely caused when it was put down in your living room (on the wrong edge, as you say), they will then need to decide who's fault that is. That basically comes down to who was negligent. Did you have instructions as to how to store it? Do you think it would be common sense to store it flat, or at least not on its leading edge? Should the driver have known this and advised you? These are the sort of questions the court will look at.

The fact that you don't know how to position it goes both ways. Yes, they should have told you, but if you ordered a fridge would you have been concerned about it being upside-down for two weeks, even if the delivery guy put it that way?

sandy1267 wrote: »

My builder started to fit the worktop when I said to him it's smashed up on the underside of the rounded edge, so he started to work using a different one

It doesn't help that the builder (apparently) started working on them before first checking that they weren't damaged. What's to say he didn't damage them? The court will likely ask this question as well.

By all means proceed as advised above and see what the company say, but don't take it for granted that you will succeed with a refund if you pursue this through the courts.

david1951

sandy1267 wrote: »

T&C's, procedure, policy or whatever else does not overturn the law, which states I am in the right.
You'd do well to look into wednesbury unreasonableness, you'll learn a lot from that.

I hope this works out for you, but it isn't clear cut by any stretch of the imagination.

The law is on your side if you can prove (on balance of probabilities) that the damage was most likely caused either before you got it (very difficult/impossible) or as a result of the company's or delivery driver's negligence (more likely, but still not easy).

I don't see how wednesbury unreasonableness is relevant...?

Furts

sandy1267 wrote: »

The delivery driver decided where the worktops should go and how they should be stacked,

As david1951 says it is by no means clear cut. Consider this statement. They are your worktops, going in your home, ordered by you and paid by you. You are the customer, so you are in control.

Yet...a) You assisted with the worktops possibly being damaged by placing them on their leading edge yet you did not prevent this nor did you register any concerns about this to the driver at the time.

b)you claim the delivery driver was in control of your home environment. So where is your sense of responsibility? Where is your duty of care to yourself?

The Court might strike an analogy with any other building product and ask some fundamental questions. Be it a brick, a block, a sheet of plasterboard, an internal door, or whatever, all require competence to off load and store. You admit you did not have the competence (for this read knowledge) so why did you undertake the task? On the balance of probabilities it is likely you damaged the worktop.

You say I am being unhelpful. I say you do not like the answers I am giving because they do not fit your preconceived ideas of total innocence on your part.

missprice

sandy1267 wrote: »

Is there a way to stack worktops? I wasn't given any instruction on this (I've never purchased a new kitchen before)
The delivery driver knocked on the door and said I must help him carry them in, so I did.
The website states that an able bodied person must be available to assist the driver in carrying the worktops, therefore I assume they mean into the house.
The delivery driver decided where the worktops should go and how they should be stacked, being that he does this as a job, I trusted he'd know what he's doing, seeing as I've never taken this task on in my life, I would expect them to realise I wouldn't know what I'm doing.

So, Thankyou for your unhelpful comment, T&C's, procedure, policy or whatever else does not overturn the law, which states I am in the right.
You'd do well to look into wednesbury unreasonableness, you'll learn a lot from that.

I will keep everyone updated as to the outcome, which will now be in the new year unless I get a Christmas miracle

Yes worktops and many many other things are supposed to be stored flat and not ever on edge. And Away from direct heat sources and not in extreme cold. It's a thing you should have known.

The delivery driver may also deliver plants/parcels/windows/doors/turf/TVs/roof tiles/etc etc do you expect him to know how to store every last thing he could potentially deliver, even though you don't?

I suspect you will not win this. Maybe better and more productive to go source some new worktops and get them fitted before Christmas and save your energy for something else.

sandy1267

david1951 wrote: »

How likely do you think it is that the damage was caused during this action?

Do you know if they were they stacked the same way in the delivery truck?

A court will assess this on the balance of probabilities. If they decide that the damage was most likely caused when it was put down in your living room (on the wrong edge, as you say), they will then need to decide who's fault that is. That basically comes down to who was negligent. Did you have instructions as to how to store it? Do you think it would be common sense to store it flat, or at least not on its leading edge? Should the driver have known this and advised you? These are the sort of questions the court will look at.

The fact that you don't know how to position it goes both ways. Yes, they should have told you, but if you ordered a fridge would you have been concerned about it being upside-down for two weeks, even if the delivery guy put it that way?



It doesn't help that the builder (apparently) started working on them before first checking that they weren't damaged. What's to say he didn't damage them? The court will likely ask this question as well.

By all means proceed as advised above and see what the company say, but don't take it for granted that you will succeed with a refund if you pursue this through the courts.

thankyou ... lots to think about there.
I didn't really think about it, as he must do this all day every day I assumed he knew what he was doing?
No instruction from the retailer or courier on stacking, I have sent the retailer a photo of how they were stacked to prove I couldn't have lifted them to check but they haven't mentioned the way they're stacked. (No 'this way up' sticker etc)
The fitter wouldnt necessarily have seen the damage, as it was all on the underneath of the rounded edge, except the first worktop which was clearly smashed up at the end - it was only when I ran my hand over it that I noticed, as we started checking the other one, we realised It was the same.
My contract is with the retailer not the courier, that's between them to sort out if the retailer believes it to be the couriers fault, however they have already blamed me ... and going by reviews, it seems it's a theme to send damaged goods then blame the customer