Mattress return

gregch

Hello, we've just had a new mattress delivered. We ordered it from the company over the phone, having tried the same model of mattress in the company's showroom. The mattress that's arrived is nothing like the one we tried, it's much, much firmer. I don't believe that's down to our bed frame, which is a recent Ercol sprung slat model pretty much the same as the one we tried the mattress on in the shop.

So... I'm given to understand that whether or not there's a defect with the mattress, because we bought it over the phone, we can (within 14 days from delivery) reject it, arrange for its return, and seek a refund. (I bought it on a credit card so presumably could request the card company to reclaim the funds??)

But... they seem like a decent company, the one in the showroom was really nice (we tried it at length, on four occasions, before we ordered!) and I'd like to work with them to find a solution. My preference would be to try and get it replaced with one hopefully more like the showroom one... but if they agree to this, what happens if the replacement is the same, or worse?? presumably we couldn't then reject it because it'll be more than 14 days from the delivery of the original one???

Any insight welcome!!!

shaun_from_Africa

gregch wrote: »

So... I'm given to understand that whether or not there's a defect with the mattress, because we bought it over the phone, we can (within 14 days from delivery) reject it, arrange for its return, and seek a refund. (I bought it on a credit card so presumably could request the card company to reclaim the funds??)

What you have stated above is incorrect.
Despite buying over the phone, you don't have the normal right of cancellation for most goods bought over a distance as you had previously visited the retailer in question and viewed the goods and this invalidates the 14 day right of cancellation.

If the mattress is faulty then you can reject it for a full refund but if the retailer disputes this, you will have to prove that a fault exists.

zoob

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

What you have stated above is incorrect.
Despite buying over the phone, you don't have the normal right of cancellation for most goods bought over a distance as you had previously visited the retailer in question and viewed the goods and this invalidates the 14 day right of cancellation.

If the mattress is faulty then you can reject it for a full refund but if the retailer disputes this, you will have to prove that a fault exists.

100% right answer

gregch

Can that be right? The whole problem is that what's been delivered isn't the same as what we tried in the showroom, ie the goods we viewed aren't the goods delivered (which have come straight from the factory). Also, according to the distance selling rules, I think in order for the company to rely on the goods having been first viewed in person, that has to have been noted as part of the sales contract, which it wasn't. Could be wrong, maybe I've misread or misunderstood.

zoob

If they’ve delivered you the wrong item then of course you entitled to have it changed or your money back

shaun_from_Africa

gregch wrote: »

Also, according to the distance selling rules, I think in order for the company to rely on the goods having been first viewed in person, that has to have been noted as part of the sales contract, which it wasn't. Could be wrong, maybe I've misread or misunderstood.

If the mattress differers from the one in store then you have the legal right to reject it for a refund but as already stated, the retailer could ask you to prove that it is different.

There is nothing in the legislation (The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013) that states that anything about the retailer having been visited or the goods previously viewed must be on the sales contract.
All it has is the definition of a distance contract which is:

a contract concluded between a trader and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/5/made

gregch

Well, this very website's own summary of those rules says your rights to cancel don't apply:

If you have examined the goods in a shop then ordered from the same retailer online and this inspection was specifically noted as part of the purchase contract

So either MSE just made that up, or it might be in a different part of the regs than the bit you're looking at?

You seem pretty certain, though! - so you're probably right. I guess I'll speak to the company and see what resolution they propose, and take it from there.

gregch

zoob wrote: »

If they’ve delivered you the wrong item then of course you entitled to have it changed or your money back

Well it has the same name but looks like they changed the spec.

Labsuper

gregch wrote: »

Well it has the same name but looks like they changed the spec.

...or the one in the showroom has softened in use by customers?

unholyangel

gregch wrote: »

Well, this very website's own summary of those rules says your rights to cancel don't apply:

If you have examined the goods in a shop then ordered from the same retailer online and this inspection was specifically noted as part of the purchase contract

So either MSE just made that up, or it might be in a different part of the regs than the bit you're looking at?

You seem pretty certain, though! - so you're probably right. I guess I'll speak to the company and see what resolution they propose, and take it from there.

Well I think the point MSE are trying to make is that the retailer is likely to have no idea whether you've visited their premises unless you gave them any details voluntarily.

Of course, it would also be fraud to make a statement you knew to be untrue to profit or expose someone else to loss.

But the part of what has been quoted to you (that you were replying to) is correct. Note this part specifically:

with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;

Exclusive use of distance communication...and "up to and including" when the contract is included, not just when the contract is concluded.

gregch

unholyangel wrote: »

Well I think the point MSE are trying to make is that the retailer is likely to have no idea whether you've visited their premises unless you gave them any details voluntarily.

Of course, it would also be fraud to make a statement you knew to be untrue to profit or expose someone else to loss.

But the part of what has been quoted to you (that you were replying to) is correct. Note this part specifically:


Exclusive use of distance communication...and "up to and including" when the contract is included, not just when the contract is concluded.

Wow that escalated quickly... all I wanted was some impartial advice about my options, I queried that MSE's guidance differed from a regular poster's interpretation, and now I'm being accused of fraud??

OK, I give up. I'll just have to write off the £2,000 I paid and forget about it - even though the product that's been delivered to me is nothing whatsoever like the one(s) I tried in the showroom or was described in the brochure and on the company's website. It's just my tough luck, and I need to just suck it up... and if I don't it's because I'm trying to perpetrate fraud, apparently.

I'm sorry I asked. I'll speak to the company and just hope they are nicer people to deal with than the MSE forum!