Nectar Mattress Issue

Landor

After 15 months of using a Nectar Mattress we noticed a lack of support where we sleep and a ridge in the middle. This sagging meant that we sleep at an angle and it feels like you’re rolling out of bed. If you look through the Trustpilot reviews it seems that a lot of people experience this.
When I reported it to Nectar they sent round an inspector from HomeServe. He took measurements with a level to see the level of sagging but he said it was within the tolerances. However, when he laid on it and said he could feel the ridge and slope so I though it would be fine.
However, Nectar refused to do anything about it as all measurements are within their tolerances but, regardless, you can’t sleep on it so clearly the tolerances are rubbish and not set by people who have to sleep on it.
If you look at all the people who have complained about this there is a stock response from Nectar about it being within tolerances and they are bound by that report so won’t do anything.
This can’t be right! We cannot sleep on the mattress and have relegated it to the spare room but now people who stay with us say they feel like they’re falling out! I can’t afford another mattress having laid out £550 for this Nectar one so it’s a ridiculous situation.
I have actually booked in another inspection as they said they can do one every 6 months but I’m pretty sure it will be the same response.
I am thinking about going through the “small claims court” but am concerned that they will just refer to this “independent” report and I will automatically lose as they have sent out this company to carry out the inspection.
However, as I’ve said, regardless of the tolerances, it is just not fit for purpose any more after only 15 months. Surely a mattress should be expected to hold it’s shape longer than this.
Does anyone have a view on this as to whether it’s feasible for me to make a claim? I’ve Googled the issue in case there is anyone else trying to make a claim like this but can’t find anything.
Any help would be most appreciated.

Aylesbury_Duck

You need another report to state that it's inherently faulty/unsuitable.  Without it, you aren't likely to succeed in court.

Landor

Aylesbury_Duck said:

You need another report to state that it's inherently faulty/unsuitable.  Without it, you aren't likely to succeed in court.

I got back to them and asked:

1. What specific tests will be performed and what measures will be used to assess against?
2. What independent body has signed off on the parameters they test against to ensure they are fair and equitable for both parties?
3. If I was to get my own report, what bodies would they recognise.

Their response:

1. Tests are performed by HomeServe who are used by the British Home and Furniture Ombudsman and are part of the UKs most trusted furniture repair network.
2. I can get my own report, however, they will only follow through on the report from HomeServe.

Despite 2 follow up emails they still haven’t answered my questions directly. I continue to chase for those.

Also, I can’t find the ombudsman they refer to. A quick search found the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman (fhio.org) but neither Nectar nor their parent company, Resident Home UK, seem to be a member! One good thing is that I didn’t actually know about this ombudsman so now have them as a fall back.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

OP I would suggest their inspection was correct in that the mattress meets their tolerances however their tolerances don't necessarily reflect your consumer rights, your position would be that the goods do not conform to the contract in terms of durability. 

What you'd need is an independent inspection and if that resulted in a different opinion* you'd present that to the retailer you purchased from along with a letter before action (templates on Google). 

As they have refused to repair or replace** you'd be looking at the final right to reject in order to claim the cost of the independent inspection plus the purchase price minus use. Mattresses typically come with long guarantee times so the length of the guarantee might indicate the mattress lifespan, otherwise it's typically 7 to 10 years. 

*Within the first 6 months it is taken the goods did not conform, after 6 months it isn't taken and you may be required to show the goods did not conform at the point of delivery. This doesn't mean a fault had to be noticeably present at the time, with durability you are saying the quality of the materials were not sufficient to last the lifespan of the product and their premature failure has now visibly manifested. Small claims is decided on the balance of probability so you don't necessarily need to prove 100%, merely articulate that your usage of the mattress is as expected for the average household yet the goods have still failed before their time.

**This assumes you purchased directly from Nectar, if you purchased from somewhere else you should approach them first. 

The company may not want to go to the trouble of attending small claims, you could send a letter before action now, disputing their tolerances and requesting a resolve. If that didn't work then get your independent inspection, send the letter again with the report attached and lastly decide whether you actually wish to go down the small claims route if there's still no resolve. 

Independent inspections and small claims may be headaches you don't wish to suffer but taking the time to send a letter for the sake of say £400+ is a no brainer  

Aylesbury_Duck

Landor said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

You need another report to state that it's inherently faulty/unsuitable.  Without it, you aren't likely to succeed in court.

I got back to them and asked:

1. What specific tests will be performed and what measures will be used to assess against?
2. What independent body has signed off on the parameters they test against to ensure they are fair and equitable for both parties?
3. If I was to get my own report, what bodies would they recognise.

Their response:

1. Tests are performed by HomeServe who are used by the British Home and Furniture Ombudsman and are part of the UKs most trusted furniture repair network.
2. I can get my own report, however, they will only follow through on the report from HomeServe.

Despite 2 follow up emails they still haven’t answered my questions directly. I continue to chase for those.

Also, I can’t find the ombudsman they refer to. A quick search found the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman (fhio.org) but neither Nectar nor their parent company, Resident Home UK, seem to be a member! One good thing is that I didn’t actually know about this ombudsman so now have them as a fall back.

Not much to add to the excellent advice above, but just to say that on the bolded part, they are wrong.  They may not willingly follow up on your independent report, but your consumer rights mean that if that report suggests there is an inherent fault, they should offer a solution.  If they don't, you will probably be able to force one through small claims action.

Landor

Great advice @Aylesbury_Duck and @the_lunatic_is_in_my_head , thank you so much.

tightauldgit

Landor said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

You need another report to state that it's inherently faulty/unsuitable.  Without it, you aren't likely to succeed in court.

I got back to them and asked:

1. What specific tests will be performed and what measures will be used to assess against?
2. What independent body has signed off on the parameters they test against to ensure they are fair and equitable for both parties?
3. If I was to get my own report, what bodies would they recognise.

Their response:

1. Tests are performed by HomeServe who are used by the British Home and Furniture Ombudsman and are part of the UKs most trusted furniture repair network.
2. I can get my own report, however, they will only follow through on the report from HomeServe.

Despite 2 follow up emails they still haven’t answered my questions directly. I continue to chase for those.

Also, I can’t find the ombudsman they refer to. A quick search found the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman (fhio.org) but neither Nectar nor their parent company, Resident Home UK, seem to be a member! One good thing is that I didn’t actually know about this ombudsman so now have them as a fall back.

These seem like good questions to ask. I would be pressing on whether this Homeserve report is actually an independent report - they may well be an independent body but if they are applying the criteria that Nectar set as to what is and isn't acceptable then that's not independent. So the question is whether those criteria are some industry standard or otherwise independently determined or whether it's simply Nectar saying 'if it's within these criteria we won't do anything'

If it's reasonably easy for you to get your own independent report I would be tempted to do so and then use that to tell Nectar that they need to so something or the next step will be court. That's of course assuming that your report confirms your point of view.

tightauldgit

Interesting that I'm resurrecting this and one that I already replied to but I'm also having similar-ish issues with Nectar now. Mattress is sagging in the middle and uncomfortable. My mattress is just under 3 years old while their own website says mattresses should last 12-15 years. 

Sent them a complaint this morning specifically stating that I am raising a claim under Consumer Rights Act rather than warranty for the reasons given above (they'll send out a Homeserve engineer to write up a report but the parameters of their warranty mean they'll be within their rights to say 'no fault') - and they are just flat out refusing to do anything other than under warranty. Looking at the terms there's stuff in there that seems bizarre to me like a sag only counting if it's more than 4cm deep which seems huge on a mattress. 

Not sure whether to keep pushing back or take the inspection under protest and see what they say but I'm pretty sure the report would simply be a waste of time - not least of all because there aren't any appointments for weeks. 

Thoughts? I've given them the whole 'your warranty doesn't supersede my consumer rights' spiel and asked them to refer it to someone more legally qualified. 

Part of the issue is that the only redress offered under warranty is for them to replace the mattress and I really don't want another new one as I'm not really a fan anyway - I'd rather just get a partial refund and buy something I'm happier with.  

born_again

After 3 years you are going to have to get a report anyway, & pay for it. If you are thinking of consumer rights route. But they are against retailer & not manufacture.

Might as well let it go down warranty route.

tightauldgit

born_again said:

After 3 years you are going to have to get a report anyway, & pay for it. If you are thinking of consumer rights route. But they are against retailer & not manufacture.

Might as well let it go down warranty route.

Retailer and manufacturer are same in this instance though. My concern would be once a report is made in line with their warranty terms it's going to be difficult to undo that when they inevitably say there's no fault that meets their warranty terms.  

I've no problem with them doing an inspection if they want to but I'm not happy with being told I have to sign off on the report based on their warranty terms. 

Maybe spent too long on here and just being argumentative with them but it's pretty frustrating when they just flat out lie that you MUST go down the warranty route. 

tightauldgit

Sooooooo.... after 3 or 4 sniffy emails back and forward and asking for my complaint to be referred to someone who understood the Consumer Rights Act and nodding to the threat of Trading Standards and court, Nectar have come back to me and simply agreed a full refund for the item and it will be collected next week. 

Hard to say if I'm happy with Nectar or not on this one - their initial responses were all wrong and I could easily have been fobbed off, on the other hand the final resolution is more than I was entitled to so they've gone above and beyond. Feels like if the front line staff were a bit better trained they could have easily gotten a 10/10 on this, as it stands it was more of a 6/10