DFS sofa fault and repair saga

Haveaquestionaboutenergy

Hi!

I bought a sofa from DFS (online, debit card, delivered April 2022) and a couple of months after it was delivered I noticed it wobbles when people sit down or stand up. I notified DFS and they sent out a service manager. He looked at the sofa and he tightened all the legs (they were loose) but the sofa still wobbled. After the service manager gently suggested that 'it might just be the model' I said that I still wasn't happy and couldn't live with a wobbly sofa. The service manager said he'd write a report that the sofa is still wobbly but unsure of the fault and he'd also contact the manufacturer and ask about possible reasons for the fault. The manufacturer replies saying that perhaps the legs have been installed incorrectly and that new legs should be dispatched. This doesn't sound right to me but DFS says I then have to wait for new legs (~ 4 weeks) to be delivered and for the service manager to come back out and change the legs.

Skip to last week and the service manager returns to my house to change the legs. When he flips it over to change the legs he looks into the sofa and finds that there is a gap (2 - 3 mm) between two lengths of wood that make up the sofa frame. No doubt these should be firmly attached. He says he's now confident that this is the cause of the wobble. So he doesn't change the legs and says that he needs to write another report. He thinks he could fix it using expanding glue (I am kind of horrified that I would be stuck with a glued together sofa) and that the repair would take a few hours to complete in my home.

I now want a refund. The sofa is poorly made and I don't think this repair would bring the sofa to the required quality to be satisfied. They've since contacted me to try to arrange the repair. I've read the consumer rights act and I think (but I'm not confident) that the second visit from the service manager (with the replacement legs) should constitute the one repair that the retailer can attempt before a consumer has the right to refuse the goods. So my question is... does this seem right? Can I push back and insist on a refund, even if DFS want to repair the sofa? If so, what's the best way to enforce my rights?

Thanks

screech_78

They didn’t complete the repair so they are still allowed one chance resolve. If no luck after that, then yes, you can reject for a refund (after 6 months this can be reduced to take account of ownership). 

Haveaquestionaboutenergy

screech_78 said:

They didn’t complete the repair so they are still allowed one chance resolve. If no luck after that, then yes, you can reject for a refund (after 6 months this can be reduced to take account of ownership). 

Hi,

Out of interest this your opinion or does it have a basis in the case or the legislation?

tasticz

let them do the repair, as long as it is not visible then whats the problem? if it's not resolved after that then you can use it as leverage to ask for refund

Manxman_in_exile

screech_78 said:

They didn’t complete the repair so they are still allowed one chance resolve. If no luck after that, then yes, you can reject for a refund (after 6 months this can be reduced to take account of ownership). 

An alternative view might be that DFS have already had one attempt at a repair, but that it failed, and therefore the OP is entitled to a full refund, the failed repair being within 6 months of purchase.

What seems to have happened is that DFS sent out a "service manager" who was unable to diagnose the fault correctly and the manufacturer suggested that the sofa may have been assembled with the wrong legs.  After the "correct" legs have been delivered, the service manager begins to fit them, but during this process they discover that the fault is something entirely different and requires a different and separate repair from that which they told the consumer.

I'd suggest that attempting to fix the "correct" legs can be interpreted as a failed repair of the one repair DFS are allowed before the consumer is entitled to a refund.  The fact that DFS' service manager is not competent enough to diagnose the fault correctly is not the consumer's problem.

Haveaquestionaboutenergy said:

screech_78 said:

They didn’t complete the repair so they are still allowed one chance resolve. If no luck after that, then yes, you can reject for a refund (after 6 months this can be reduced to take account of ownership). 

Hi,

Out of interest this your opinion or does it have a basis in the case or the legislation?

The law is here:  Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk).  The bit I have referred to above is in s24(5)(a).  A new sofa should be stable, not wobbly, so it doesn't conform to contract, therefore the seller has one attempt to repair or replace, and if that doesn't work the consumer is entitled to a full refund within the first 6 months.

Whether DFS' failure to fix the sofa first time amounts to a failed repair or not is a matter of opinion, and the OP will probably need to argue the point with DFS.

tasticz said:

let them do the repair, as long as it is not visible then whats the problem? if it's not resolved after that then you can use it as leverage to ask for refund

I would not be satisfied with a glued repair carried out by a service manager who failed to diagnose the fault in the first place.

I'd want a refund.  (Or a replacement if that was what I wanted and DFS would prefer that to a refund)

sheramber

He looked at the sofa and he tightened all the legs (they were loose) but the sofa still wobbled.

Is that not the first repair?

Haveaquestionaboutenergy

I have an update from DFS which I have found interesting so I thought I'd post here for some further advice on my response.  I emailed them to state that I was exerting my right to refuse the goods due to the failed repair attempt (the second visit). This was their response.

I can see from the notes that you first contacted us on 18/07/22 just over two months after delivery as the legs hadn't been fitted correctly, We came out to assess and tightened up the feet on the 26/07/22 to which the job was then settled. 

You have then stated that the feet were still wobbly so we have then contacted the supplier who has said that it is possible they were not fitted correctly at the point of installation. We proceeded to then order up a full brand new set of feet to resolve the issue. Once the appointment was made we came out and the service manager has advised that we need to re-book the call for 2 hours to have this fully resolved and the furniture put back to showroom condition. 

We would be looking for the opportunity to resolve this as this is a different issue entirely, If however this did not resolve the issue fully then of course we would need to look at an alternative course of action which would be either cancellation with a full refund or a reselection to alternative furniture.

I find this bizarre. They're stating that the initial visit was successfully resolved (!?) and that the wobble is a separate issue. This feels like bad faith. The discussion about contacting the manufacturer happened DURING the first visit from the service manager. this means that the fault was not resolved. They are trying to say that I raised a separate issue during (or after) the initial problem was resolved. Or are they saying that the legs and the frame are different issues?

Either way I will go back and restate my position. Any help in framing that would be appreciated.

Incidentally, I have also investigated the problem under the sofa more closely and the long lengths (where the feet are attached) and the short lengths of the frame are not attached to at all, in any of the corners. The suggested repair is to use expanding foam glue in these butt joints (a screw would be impossible at the right angle) and this would make a very weak joint. I'm actually amazed they've made it this way.

Haveaquestionaboutenergy

sheramber said:

He looked at the sofa and he tightened all the legs (they were loose) but the sofa still wobbled.

Is that not the first repair?

The more I think about it, the more I think they've had a couple of attempts at this. They were just very wrong about the source of the issue.

Manxman_in_exile

See what others think before you reply to DFS, but these are my thoughts (I'm sure others will disagree with some or all of them).  If you use them to respond to DFS, put it into your own words:



Re our earlier correspondence about my faulty sofa blah blah...

Thank you for your email dated dddddddd in which you confirm that you have already made one attempt to repair the wobbly legs.  Despite what you claim, that repair did not settle the issue and was a failure as the legs continued to be unstable and the sofa continued to wobble.  That is why I complained to you again on ddddddd...

s24(5)(a) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) gives a trader one opportunity either to repair or to replace faulty goods that do not conform to contract.  If that opportunity fails to resolve the issue (which is the case here) then the consumer is entitled to reject the goods, and if that rejection is within 6 months after delivery, the consumer is entitled to a full refund without any reduction.

You will note that the legislation is quite clear and says nothing at all about a trader being able to enjoy a second opportunity to repair a different issue or fault.  That cannot have been the intention of Parliament otherwise the more faults an item had then the more attempts at repair a trader would be allowed!   No - the legislation only permits a trader to have a single attempt at repair and if that fails the consumer is entitled to reject the goods.  

I am now exercising my final right to reject the sofa for a full refund, that refund to be paid without undue delay and in any case no later than 14 days from today.  Please contact me to arrange collection of the wobbly sofa.



I'm not a lawyer but you could try that on them for starters.  Before you do so, see what others say.  I may be wrong on the law!

I'm assuming that as you say delivery was in April that you are still just within the 6 months for a full refund.  Can you confirm that?

Manxman_in_exile

Haveaquestionaboutenergy said:

sheramber said:

He looked at the sofa and he tightened all the legs (they were loose) but the sofa still wobbled.

Is that not the first repair?

The more I think about it, the more I think they've had a couple of attempts at this. They were just very wrong about the source of the issue.

Yes - you and @sheramber might be right.

The service manager came out, tightened the legs, didn't work.  Got new legs, came out a second time to fit tham and then realised the problem was a totally different issue with the frame.  Yeah - could be interpreted they've already had two attempts.

Incorporate it into my suggestions in the previous post

cymruchris

Manxman_in_exile said:

See what others think before you reply to DFS, but these are my thoughts (I'm sure others will disagree with some or all of them).  If you use them to respond to DFS, put it into your own words:



Re our earlier correspondence about my faulty sofa blah blah...

Thank you for your email dated dddddddd in which you confirm that you have already made one attempt to repair the wobbly legs.  Despite what you claim, that repair did not settle the issue and was a failure as the legs continued to be unstable and the sofa continued to wobble.  That is why I complained to you again on ddddddd...

s24(5)(a) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk) gives a trader one opportunity either to repair or to replace faulty goods that do not conform to contract.  If that opportunity fails to resolve the issue (which is the case here) then the consumer is entitled to reject the goods, and if that rejection is within 6 months after delivery, the consumer is entitled to a full refund without any reduction.

You will note that the legislation is quite clear and says nothing at all about a trader being able to enjoy a second opportunity to repair a different issue or fault.  That cannot have been the intention of Parliament otherwise the more faults an item had then the more attempts at repair a trader would be allowed!   No - the legislation only permits a trader to have a single attempt at repair and if that fails the consumer is entitled to reject the goods.  

I am now exercising my final right to reject the sofa for a full refund, that refund to be paid without undue delay and in any case no later than 14 days from today.  Please contact me to arrange collection of the wobbly sofa.



I'm not a lawyer but you could try that on them for starters.  Before you do so, see what others say.  I may be wrong on the law!

I'm assuming that as you say delivery was in April that you are still just within the 6 months for a full refund.  Can you confirm that?

I'd certainly go with that...