Is this legal? I feel so deflated.

DisabledAndSad

I don't have a lot of money due to being disabled but I treated myself to a riser/recliner disabilities chair from Livewell in their sale for Christmas. It arrived on the 9th and since that time it's just caused me nothing but pain. It's so uncomfortable. (I have osteoporosis and arthritis)

I reached out to them explaining that I spent everything I had to buy this chair and that it just hurts my body so much. I've given it chance but I'm just in daily pain from using it hoping to hear a little compassion from a company that deals in disabilities. 

Well they replied with this:

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Thank you for contacting Livewell. ​I am sorry to hear that the chair is not suitable. You are still within your 14 day returns window, so you do have the right to return if required. However please please be advised that because the item is no longer in a new and unused condition, a charge for wear and tear will be made, as the item will not be able to be sold in a new and unused condition. Also, because you no longer have the original product packaging, collection of the item would cost £90.00 and you would be refunded minus this charge, along with any further charges for wear and tear.  If you would still like to return the goods, please confirm and we'll begin the process of this, if required. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions or concerns.  Best Regards,  Livewell Team 
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(context: the cardboard bin men took my box away and they said it costs £90 for a specialist courier to collect it now as stated in T&C) 

So basically I can return it but they will probably only return a pittance of what I paid (£350) because £90 will come off plus whatever they decide to take for wear and tear.

So I'd be without a chair and without most of my money, or I can be in pain and make do.

I don't know what to do, I just feel sad and deflated. It's hard enough trying to get by with the pain and little money. This just put the cherry on an already crap cake for me. 

I already know I'm basically stuck with this now until I can save another few hundred pounds (maybe by next Christmas) but I just wanted to vent mostly. 

Thank you for listening. 

DisabledAndSad

This was my initial email to them if interested... 

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Hi,

I need a bit of help. I received my chair last week but every day since I've sat in it I've had the most awful back and neck pains. 

I bought this chair because of my osteoporosis and arthritis hoping that it would be better for me than a regular chair. 

I don't know what to do, I spent every penny I had spare on this chair and it just seems to be making me very poorly. I don't understand it. It's making my spine hurt, my kidney area hurt and my neck very stiff. 

Could you please offer some advice on what to do because I just feel very sore and sad. I've tried my best to give it a chance but I'm just waking up in agony every day since using it.

I don't even have the box for it anymore because the cardboard bin men have been and taken it. 

I just feel deflated and beaten, my disabilities are bad enough and this was supposed to be a little light for me amongst the discomfort. 😔

I just don't know what to do. Is there anything at all you can do to help me? 

TELLIT01

I sympathise with the OP but equally understand the retailers position on the matter too.  Most distant selling agreements require items to be returned unused and in their original packing.  Just how somebody is expected to know if a chair is suitable without using it is an interesting question.  The charges don't seem unreasonable as I suspect it's a 2 person job to uplift a rise and recline chair.

DisabledAndSad

It cost £9.99 for the original next day delivery and they sent one man to deliver it (60kg on a fork lift loaded pallet) he needed help to unload it but obviously I couldn't. So he struggled.
I don't see how £10 delivery equates to £90 return delivery. 

Aylesbury_Duck

DisabledAndSad said:

It cost £9.99 for the original next day delivery and they sent one man to deliver it (60kg on a fork lift loaded pallet) he needed help to unload it but obviously I couldn't. So he struggled.
I don't see how £10 delivery equates to £90 return delivery. 

Presumably the actual cost of the original delivery cost is factored into the price of the chair.  The return cost is a more accurate reflection of actual cost.  £90 for someone to drive to you, uplift the chair, return it to store and then re-package for re-sale seems reasonable.  £10 would never cover the cost.

DisabledAndSad

They won't repackage for resale, they want to charge me a wear and tear fee on top of the £90 but that fee would be decided once they got it back. So it could well cost a lot more than just £90 for me to return it. The chair cost me £350.

Alderbank

On Livewell Today's website under Returns it says

Keep your packaging
As part of our returns process, we allow you to unpack the product and inspect it to ensure that it is as you expected. We advise you to do this carefully and keep all original packaging as any damage caused may reduce your right to return the product for a full refund. If you have used the product or had it installed, we may not be able to sell it to another customer. The extent to which you can handle the goods is the same as it would be if you were assessing them in a shop.

It looks like the special packaging is needed to protect the chair in transit. In a similar way, washing machines have special packaging to protect the drum in transit.

They give clear details of their recommended return process. They don't profit by that - it is a deal between you and the carrier. As TELLIT01 and Aylesbury_Duck say it is probably reasonable for what is involved, but you are free to get other quotes from other carriers.

Livewell don't specify chairs specifically for any health conditions and indeed a chair which helps one disabled person might be totally unsuitable for another. Did your OT assess you and advise you to buy this particular chair?

DisabledAndSad

There wasn't anything special about the packaging, it was just a huge box and I only have a small home. I had to put it out with the cardboard.

No it wasn't recommended it, I just read the description and it's the first time I've been able to afford one due to the sale so I bought it.

It's very hard to assess a chair when you have health issues unless you've sat in it for a while. 

cattie

You need to bear in mind that many company delivery charges are actually subsidized by the company as it actually costs more to send than the buyer is charged. Items sent on a pallet tend to be quite costly.

Although I empathise with your situation regarding comfort of the chair, I do feel that the fact that you can return the chair (albeit not have the whole amount you paid refunded) is something to be thankful for.  When you order furniture online without having tried it out for comfort first, you really are taking a chance as what is comfortable to one person may be quite uncomfortable to somebody else. I'd take the refund as offered & consider it a lesson learned.

DisabledAndSad

cattie said:

I'd take the refund as offered & consider it a lesson learned.

I have no idea how much they will take for wear and tear fee though, I could end up with no item and barely any money remaining. 

Maybe I could just try to sell it. 

Undervalued

TELLIT01 said:

I sympathise with the OP but equally understand the retailers position on the matter too.  Most distant selling agreements require items to be returned unused and in their original packing.  Just how somebody is expected to know if a chair is suitable without using it is an interesting question.  The charges don't seem unreasonable as I suspect it's a 2 person job to uplift a rise and recline chair.

As this was distance selling the OP is entitled to inspect the goods to a similar extent as would have been possible in a shop. A shop would presumably have had a display model the OP could have sat in? So there is an argument to be made that he has only done that.

The packaging is more difficult as, to be fair, the firm do specifically advise that it should be retained in case there is a need to return.

I wonder if this is one of those occasions where a "hard luck" (sorry to use that phrase) story to a newspaper would pay dividends?

Also, might a relevant disabled charity be able to exert some pressure on the OP's behalf?