Wardrobe part delivered, opened to discover package missing - not sure of rights re return/repair

Mega_Maniac

Hi,
So let me outline a basic timeline of what has happened, and what I hope to be able to happen:
-Ordered Wardrobe from Maison Du Monde
-2 months later a package is delivered
-We open the package and remove all the items, at which point we discover that there are missing parts
- These parts should have been delivered in a second package, which we discover has been 'lost'
- Retailer Maison Du Monde simply says they will collect it and refund - no options given for partial refund so we can fix this ourselves or pay carpenter.
- Problem being the wardrobe is out of its packaging, will be virtually impossible for us to repack ourselves safely (let alone the 'labour' required to do this, which we should not be responsible for)

Apart from anything else, our preference is strongly to seek a partial refund - not only have we waited 2 months for this to even arrive, but it has been a ghastly waste of energy and resources shipping it to us to then just ship it back. I also really don't know that Maison Du Monde should be asking us to repack this wardrobe for them which is a waste of our time, we wont be able to do safely and may cause them to blame us for shipping damage and seek to charge us for such a thing. 
As Maison Du Monde are offering to collect it (provided we repack it ready for the courier) I'm not sure they are doing anything 'wrong' per se. It's just a horrid position to be left in after waiting so long for something to arrive.
Am I fighting a losing battle here, and should just stick it in the box and send it back, or is it worth trying to fight this with them?

JJ_Egan

Try their Facebook page .

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

You could point them to 

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24/enacted

(5)A consumer who has the right to a price reduction and the final right to reject may only exercise one (not both), and may only do so in one of these situations—

(a)after one repair or one replacement, the goods do not conform to the contract;

(b)because of section 23(3) the consumer can require neither repair nor replacement of the goods; or

(c)the consumer has required the trader to repair or replace the goods, but the trader is in breach of the requirement of section 23(2)(a) to do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer.

The appropriate amount would depend on what's missing but for example the cost of the replacement parts may be reasonable but the cost of a carpenter to fit parts which aren't exactly the same may not be. 

Just to add their Facebook looks active so a comment there may help if they are still saying no to a part refund.

Mega_Maniac

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

You could point them to 

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24/enacted

(5)A consumer who has the right to a price reduction and the final right to reject may only exercise one (not both), and may only do so in one of these situations—

(a)after one repair or one replacement, the goods do not conform to the contract;

(b)because of section 23(3) the consumer can require neither repair nor replacement of the goods; or

(c)the consumer has required the trader to repair or replace the goods, but the trader is in breach of the requirement of section 23(2)(a) to do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer.

The appropriate amount would depend on what's missing but for example the cost of the replacement parts may be reasonable but the cost of a carpenter to fit parts which aren't exactly the same may not be. 

Thanks for this, so as they have not offered a replacement, even though they are still selling the product - so at the moment there is no 'cost of replacement' as offered by them - the only price I can come up with is to have a carpenter make these parts, something I can also get a quote for. As I read more about this it seems that the consumer rights are on our side, and that we can demand they fullfill their part of the contract, rather than just refund the item.

Mega_Maniac

Could I also ask - this website is UK facing, with GBP as a currency and charged in pounds. But they are a french company. Could I just clarify that they are in fact still bound by the UK regs?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Having a quick look the T&Cs suggest governed by French Law, although the principles of consumer rights should be the same, the finer points may differ.

If they still have it available a replacement would be the best answer all round for both sides really. 

Mega_Maniac

I see, at what point is a website considered to be selling under UK regulations? For all intents and purposes their website appears to be a UK one - UK VAT included in price, price in pounds. I understand I will probably find the same protections in EU law applying to France, but I just wonder exactly what regs I should be quoting.

Mega_Maniac

Just to add, I have now emailed the UK European Consumer Centre as they seem to be the right people to outline my specific rights with regards to purchasing from an EU company not in my own country.

Mega_Maniac

Also did some email sleuthing (sending emails to likely address candidates until I got on that didn't bounce) and found the email for their CEO and head of customer service UK. Long shot, but I once resolved a long running complaint with British Gas by doing this so you never know!

davidmcn

Mega_Maniac said:

I see, at what point is a website considered to be selling under UK regulations? For all intents and purposes their website appears to be a UK one - UK VAT included in price, price in pounds. I understand I will probably find the same protections in EU law applying to France, but I just wonder exactly what regs I should be quoting.

Does it actually say "UK VAT" anywhere? I can only see references to "VAT", and given everything else is explicitly French, I would have thought that's French VAT (which, for the meantime at least, means you shouldn't be charged additional VAT when it gets here). The fact they quote the prices in Pounds doesn't mean much, you can travel to France and be charged in GBP if you want. Terms and conditions are very clear that you're contracting with a French company and that the relevant jurisdiction for the contract is France, and even helpfully quotes your French statutory rights.

Mega_Maniac

davidmcn said:

Mega_Maniac said:

I see, at what point is a website considered to be selling under UK regulations? For all intents and purposes their website appears to be a UK one - UK VAT included in price, price in pounds. I understand I will probably find the same protections in EU law applying to France, but I just wonder exactly what regs I should be quoting.

Does it actually say "UK VAT" anywhere? I can only see references to "VAT", and given everything else is explicitly French, I would have thought that's French VAT (which, for the meantime at least, means you shouldn't be charged additional VAT when it gets here). The fact they quote the prices in Pounds doesn't mean much, you can travel to France and be charged in GBP if you want. Terms and conditions are very clear that you're contracting with a French company and that the relevant jurisdiction for the contract is France, and even helpfully quotes your French statutory rights.

I don't really agree that the website is in any way explicitly French - it would be very easy to purchase something there and have no idea that you were purchasing from a French company, especially if you don't read through their terms, which man do not (obviously, the name is French, but this doesn't mean much).
However, they are very explicit in the terms attached to the invoice and in their terms and conditions, so I'm very happy to accept that my understanding of what rules apply where when selling/buying on line was not accurate. 
FWIW we were very much aware it was a french company at the time, although not that they were trading from France, their stock levels, availability and prices are all different on their French website. 

Unfortunately the ECC have replied to say that in both UK and French law it is not up to the consumer to choose what form of 'making things right' they choose. So long as the seller sorts it out.
Looks like our only fight here is to say that this has not been at 'no inconvenience' to us, and refuse to repack it or even move it at all from where it is. 

Emailing their CEO got their goat up, which was quite amusing. They emailed back from an email we could reply to in response (customer.service@maisonsdumonde.com) and said "Please do not email our CEO and head of customer service"