DFS usage charge

cono1717

Wee Scoot, ultimately if you are not happy with the advice given on this forum then you can raise a case with the furniture ombudsman who will likely tell you the same thing everyone here has. If DFS have damaged a certain part of the sofa upon delivery then it makes sense they repair that part and not the entire couch?

Using the car example it seems like if you took the car in for a engine repair and as a result they scratched the bonnet you'd want a whole new bonnet and not for them to just fix the scratch??

CardinalWolsey

OP - you seem to be focusing on the perception that DFS are charging you for the refund. They are not. They are reducing the refund to reflect the usage of the product that you have had.

Let's walk through the maths:

You paid £1900, 22 months ago.
What's the reasonable expectation of the lifetime of a sofa from DFS? DFS themselves quote a 15 year guarantee, although that's for the frame and springs. "Stitching" only gets a two year guarantee. So for this scenario, let's cut it down the middle and say a reasonable expectation for the sofa is 8 years, or 96 months.
You don't say how long the sofas were away being repaired, but lets assume a month, and lets assume another month lost due to other repairs being undertaken - so 20 months usage.
20 months is ~21% of 96 months.

So on a straight linear basis, taking in to account your 20 months usage as being roughly 20% of the expected lifetime of the product, a refund less 20% seems reasonable.

That would mean you now have £1900 - 20% = £1520 to buy a new sofa.

You don't mention whether or not you took out their credit for the sofa. Will they clear the credit and give you cash back for the rest? On a four year interest free no deposit deal that would likely be in the region of 22 months at £40/month (£1900/48=£40/month) = £880 paid, leaving an outstanding balance of £1020 (£1900-£880), and therefore cash due to you of £500). That would mean in real terms your £1900 sofa has cost you £380 for your 22 months ownership, or £17/month.

TLDR;

Take the refund, but accept no more than a 20% reduction.

To get the most bang for your buck, say you'll accept a credit note for the store if that is for the full value (i.e. not reduced for usage). If you're happy to buy a replacement in DFS, they may accept this offer as it will cost them less than a cash refund (because of the margin they make on the sofas that they sell). They may not offer this though if you are perceived as a "difficult customer". So talk sweetly with them

wee_scoot

problem solved, full refund credit note

MB69

Good result.

pmduk

MB69 wrote: »

This is your right AFTER the 30 day period!

If you don't want to go down the MCOL route, then you can try consumer ombudsman : https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/consumer It is free and they can take a case against a retailer and do some investigation. They know the law and they can then advice you. They will write to the retailer and ask for explanation and then make a decision based on that.

Ignore this. Dfs is not part of this organisation. They are signed up to the Furniture Ombudsman

Zandoni

wee_scoot wrote: »

problem solved, full refund credit note

I'd suggest that your originals sofas were made of bicast leather, when you use your credit note do some research on leather types.
https://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leather_Types