John Lewis damaged and urinated on my property.

prowla

Damiansc said:

Nearly a month ago I bought a fridge from John Lewis. Firstly paid for a 3 man team but only 2 came and wanted to dump it outside as they are short staffed. 
Long story short they made my gf talk to their boss to accept responsibility for any damages caused if they bring it in. 
They badly dented my new almost £1000 fridge, dragged it over a wooden floor and caused severe damage to it which will be over £1000 to fix.
The icing on the cake is one of the delivery drivers was caught CCTV urinating in my garden. 
A month on and I've been told driver is sacked and they've offered £145 refund. 
I'm getting nowhere with John Lewis and not sure where to go from here. They blame panther logistics which are their subcontractors. 
20+ emails, 3 telephone conversations and nothing happing.
Is it time to contact a solicitor? Any help would be appreciated.

It's irrelevant whether it was JLP or their partner; your contract is with them and it's their issue if they've sub-contracted.

TimSynths

Nice floor- looks great so I hope you get this resolved and fixed.

Damiansc

Here is JL latest email not really shocked anymore!-

Dear Mr ****

I hope you're well.

It's great to hear that LG have got in touch and offered a replacement.

You're absolutely correct and your contract is with us but I'd like to note our website does explains that items, such as yours, are delivered by the suppliers own chosen courier and they themselves are managed directly by the supplier, however I do understand as Panther have refuted the claim that they have caused the damage there is nothing we can do to change this outcome.

I'd advise that the best way to move forward would be to either contact Panther again to have the case looked at again or if you wish to take further then to contact your home insurer.

Kind Regards

P**** *******
Partner & Case Manager
Customer Services Distribution

John Lewis & Partners
Hamilton Contact Centre

Aylesbury_Duck

Time to put the LBA in to John Lewis.

Damiansc

As you can see from above email they have no interest if fixing this situation. Wish I never bought the fridge from them! 
Been researching about what to do. A few of you have said an LBA which seems to be good suggestion, just wondering if a section 75 would be appropriate as I paid on a card? 

macman

No. S75 works well in a straightforward case when goods or services are paid for and fail to arrive, or are faulty, but in a case where the actions of a subcontractor have caused the issue, it's much more complex, and JL will dispute the claim. The card providers' liability would not cover the floor damage, only the fridge damage, and the latter has already been resolved by the offer to replace it.
Put in an LBA giving them 14 days to pay for the damage, and include written quotes.
JL should hang their head in shame if so called 'case managers' are sending out emails demonstrating a complete lack of training in the most basic aspects of consumer law and their responsibility for the actions of their sub-contractors. It's the sort of response you'd expect from the corner shop, not a national chain. Copy your LBA in to Sharon White as well. She won't see it, but someone in the exec office may act on it.
I'm still trying to get my head round why LG have offered to replace the fridge, since they have no liability for this whatsoever-unless Panther are their subcontractors, rather than JL?

Aylesbury_Duck

Would a section 75 claim provide the resolution you're looking for, though, even if it were successful?  If you want to claim the costs of the damage to your flooring, that would be small claims action rather than S75, I would have thought.

I'd put the LBA in to JL and see what happens next.  Far better to deal with the whole thing in one go than to start fiddling around with card companies, I'd have thought.

Jenni_D

S75 could apply if it was a credit card you used. (Just stating the obvious because you only said card).

S75 gives you an equal claim against the credit provider as you have against the seller. Whether this stretches to including the CC company as a co-defendant to a court claim I don't know.

Manxman_in_exile

Slightly off topic but I'm confused by this from JL:

Damiansc said:

... but I'd like to note our website does explains that items, such as yours, are delivered by the suppliers own chosen courier and they themselves are managed directly by the supplier, however I do understand as Panther have refuted the claim that they have caused the damage there is nothing we can do to change this outcome...

I've never bought anything online from JL so maybe it's my ignorance here, but what do JL mean by "items, such as yours, are delivered by the suppliers own chosen courier and they themselves are managed directly by the supplier"?  Has the OP purchased from JL or some other "supplier"?  Were the couriers acting as JL's agents or as agents of this other "supplier"?

And whenever I've bought white goods from JL (in store) they've always been delivered by JL - not some dodgy delivery company.

Or am I just being thick?

Aylesbury_Duck

Manxman_in_exile said:

Slightly off topic but I'm confused by this from JL:

Damiansc said:

... but I'd like to note our website does explains that items, such as yours, are delivered by the suppliers own chosen courier and they themselves are managed directly by the supplier, however I do understand as Panther have refuted the claim that they have caused the damage there is nothing we can do to change this outcome...

I've never bought anything online from JL so maybe it's my ignorance here, but what do JL mean by "items, such as yours, are delivered by the suppliers own chosen courier and they themselves are managed directly by the supplier"?  Has the OP purchased from JL or some other "supplier"?  Were the couriers acting as JL's agents or as agents of this other "supplier"?

And whenever I've bought white goods from JL (in store) they've always been delivered by JL - not some dodgy delivery company.

Or am I just being thick?

I've bought appliances from them online and they've been delivered by JL people on a JL lorry.  It seems to me that in the OP's case, JL are just handling the payments and that all other aspects of the contract are fulfilled by the supplier.  It looks like JL is trying to wriggle out of their obligations because even if they are just accepting the payment and passing everything else onto the supplier, it's JL with which OP has the contract and therefore, JL are ultimately liable for the goods, the delivery and the damage.

I presume they've gone down the "subcontracting" route to cut costs.