Harveys delivery policy

lyndaod

I ordered a sofa from Harveys which was due end of Nov but won't be ready till early Dec. Can live with this but we tried to book in delivery for a Saturday but they don't have one until Jan.

Then they told us if we don't have it delivered within 2 weeks of it being ready that they will charge us storage fees. We have booked it in and I will have to take time off work (unpaid as no holiday left) but I was wondering if they were within their rights to do this?

When we ordered it we said it would need to be a Saturday delivery and the guy said that was fine but no mention of struggling to get an appointment or fees if we couldn't get one.

DoaM

What can you prove in writing? (Email is OK). If everything was verbal then it's "he said/she said".

lyndaod

sorry, prove what in writing?
I am trying to find out if they can charge storage fees if you don't have a sofa delivered in 2 weeks when they can't offer weekend appointments.

BoGoF

What does the t and c's say about storage fees?

lyndaod

my partner was in charge of the order and he can't remember where he put the contract! I know that is our fault and I should have taken it from him as he is not reliable but I had never heard of this before so was surprised. I just wondered if this is normal practice and I just wasn't aware of it.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

We do not hold or store goods, therefore failure to accept the reasonable delivery dates offered to you could result in a charge of £25 per week to cover expenses. All charges must be cleared prior to the delivery of goods. Should the failure of delivery be either due to Harveys, or by an event beyond our control, we will take responsibility of storing the goods until a suitable delivery time is re-arranged.

If they put something in writing saying your order required a Saturday delivery they won't have just cause to charge the fees.

The only question I might raise is:

All delivery times quoted at the time of order are estimated and therefore cannot be guaranteed. Whilst we will make every effort to deliver within the estimated delivery time, occasionally deliveries may be affected by factors beyond our control.

They appear to be stating they can change the delivery date without penalty but expect you to pay storage fees when they change the date and it doesn't suit you.

From what I've read on here contracts should be balanced so whether this is unbalanced I don't know.

lyndaod

found terms online

"We will contact you where applicable to arrange delivery and to ensure that full payment has been made prior to your Order being delivered.We will offer you an initial delivery slot but if this is not acceptable we will offer you a maximum of two reasonable alternatives. We reserve the right to charge a storage and/or a redelivery charge in the event you do not reasonably accept delivery. If you are not going to accept delivery yourself, you must notify us in advance of the nominated adult who will take delivery."

"We do not hold or store Goods, therefore if you fail to accept the reasonable delivery dates offered to you, then, except where this failure is caused by our failure to comply with these terms and conditions or by an event beyond our control;

(a)We will store the Goods until delivery takes place and may charge you a reasonable sum currently £25 per week to cover expenses

Any such charges must be cleared before delivery will take place."

lyndaod

who decides what is a reasonable delivery date?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

lyndaod wrote: »

who decides what is a reasonable delivery date?

Ultimately a judge in a small claims court.

If you take the later delivery, they impose the fee and you refuse to pay they will either:

Hold the sofa until you pay the storage fees
Deliver the sofa and recover the fees
Deliver the sofa and decide it's not worth recovering the fees

My bet would be on the first one and for one party to dispute the fees they'd have to take the other to small claims.

If your paperwork mentions Saturday delivery was required anywhere I'd point this out to them as you'd be accepting the earliest delivery slot they offer in accordance with the order details.

If the paperwork doesn't mention Saturday deliver was required it might be easiest all round to accept their weekday delivery at the cost of a work day.

DoaM

lyndaod wrote: »

sorry, prove what in writing?

With respect, I thought that would be obvious since it was you that said:

lyndaod wrote: »

When we ordered it we said it would need to be a Saturday delivery and the guy said that was fine but no mention of struggling to get an appointment or fees if we couldn't get one.

If that was only verbal, and there was nothing in writing to confirm a Saturday delivery, then you'll struggle to prove that this was a contractual requirement.

BoGoF

Thing is, I'm sure a Saturday is fine for the delivery guys but probably is the most popular day requested.

Personally I wouldn't expect them to store it for weeks.......nor would I want to. Who knows what conditions it will be kept in.