Issue with flat pack furniture - B&Q

jeanniejelly

Hi,
I ordered a whole new bathroom from B&Q back in the summer, it was delivered as requested, but, due to several unforeseeable delays connected to the pandemic, my plumber was unable to start fitting until 2 weeks ago.  The purchase is over 30 days but less that 6 months old, was made on credit card and all item have been stored in my spare room in the packaging it was delivered in since in arrived.  In addition, when one of the deliveries arrived, the driver noted on the delivery note that one of the boxes containing one of the vanity units was damaged but we didn't start construction of the units until last week as we would've had nowhere to put them. 

Last week we started to construct one of the vanity units and after attaching the 2 sides to the cross brace turned the unit upside down to fit the bottom piece and noticed that the sides of the unit were water damaged and the veneer was bubbling and peeling away from the carcass, we also discovered that there were no drawer runners in the box and there was evidence on other pieces that the unit had been constructed before (screw holes drilled etc) so surmised that this was a unit that had been returned to the store as faulty and re-delivered to us in error.  I took photos of the damage and contacted B&Q expecting a relatively quick resolution but, no.  They are basically refusing to exchange the unit as it has been partially constructed and say that this means I deemed it 'fit for purpose'.  Is this right? It doesn't seem right?  Aside from the fact that we literally can't use the unit as we can't fit the drawers without runners, I don't want a damaged item in my brand new bathroom but I'm stuck as the other 2 matching units we ordered had already been fitted at the point we noticed the damage.  After several brush offs by the B&Q 'Customer Service team', my complaint has been escalated but do I have a leg to stand on here in law?  Would my credit card refund me as I'm outside 30 days?  Any help/advice would be much appreciated as, I'm confused by what my rights are in this situation.
Thanks
Jean

rob7475

Have you tried visiting the store that delivered it to see if they can help?
If they are not being helpful (delays in installation should be expected during a pandemic), you've got a couple of options:
1. keep pestering head office until they hopefully agree to replace.
2. Do they still stock the unit in store? I'm not saying you should do this but could you go and buy a unit to discover it's got missing drawer runners and damaged sides? Get it returned and just take a refund rather than replacement.

Doozergirl

Are you allowed to take it into store? 

I had a terrible time on more than one occasion with Ikea online but the issues have been resolved immediately in store. 

Worth a go? 

jeanniejelly

Thanks for your replies.  I was certainly going to try one or the other of your suggestions but I unexpectedly received a call from a very nice man in thr B&Q Vendor team who advised that they were handling my complaint as it had been escalated to them and Customer Services shouldn't have been getting involved.  Anyway, they're sending me a new unit which is all I really wanted so the issue is (hopefully) resolved.  The moral of the story, make an official complaint as Customer Services are pretty rubbish.