Can I get compensation for poor service and mental distress

Undervalued

RSD7a said:

Thanks for the time taken writing these helpful replies and pointers. 

As I understand it, the consumer Rites act, when purchasing services says suppliers should offer

reasonable care and skill, 

within a reasonable time,

at a reasonable price. 

Surely a  seven month timescale to install a kitchen is by no means reasonable.

Aside from calculating time spent chasing them up to finish the job, which while it adds up isn't going to be that significant, is there no other way of prising an ex gracia payment out of them in recognition of their truly appalling service and the disdain with which we were treated once our money was in their pockets?

Legally - no not really beyond a modest amount for your wasted time.

You might be able to "shame" some gesture of goodwill out of them if the issues were publicised on social (or traditional) media. However, be careful. It is not unknown for companies to fight back and they could potentially make a claim against you if any of your claims cannot be substantiated.

Unlike the USA our courts generally do not award much beyond your actual financial losses. Just like in employment cases etc it is very very difficult to prove that any mental health issues, even if medically documented, were as a direct result of the dispute and not partially or largely caused by other life issues. A doctor can diagnose the patient's condition but he only has the patient's account of what they claim caused the problem. 

HampshireH

MalMonroe said:

Hi, if you paid by credit card, what about considering a Section 75 claim?

There's a fairly new article just been published on this very site about it -

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/

I made such a claim a few years ago for only £700 for a pile of junk (or, as the car dealer said, a used motor). It took a few months but I ended up receiving not only a full refund of £700 but also compensation of £250 and a bouquet of flowers from the credit card company. So I think it's always worth having a go. 

And I actually DO feel that mental distress should be compensated for. Too many people, sadly, dismiss it as being unimportant when it isn't.  Any business that discounts 'mental distress' is not a business I'd be happy dealing with.

You might also be interested in this info -

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2014/10/i-got-23k-back-under-section-75-after-paying-just-200-on-credit-card/

It's old and the circumstances were different to yours but it highlights the importance of not giving up. I'm afraid (no, I'm proud!) to be one of those people who are like a dog with a bone and I won't give up. Ever. Until it's over and I've been offered the correct solution.

Anything is worth a try and in my experience, if you don't give up the rewards can be excellent. 

Good luck to you, you've been treated abominably by Wren.

Why did the credit card company compensate you £250 and buy your flowers?

It wasn't their fault and they had no obligation to compensate you?

Genuine question as I've not come across them doing this before.

Aylesbury_Duck

You are very unlikely to get a response. This poster's modus operandi is to post sympathetic sentiments the OP will probably be pleased to read, followed by misleading and often totally incorrect advice.  They never return when it's reasonably challenged.

user1977

Aylesbury_Duck said:

They never return when it's reasonably challenged.

They used to have in their signature a comment that they tend never to return to threads, so it's possible they are blissfully unaware about how wrong much of their advice is.

plumb1_2

RSD7a said:

I've made a section 75 application which was rejected. A quote from their letter:

Section 75 is an evidence-based process which relies upon documentation provided by our customers to allow us to establish a breach of contract or misrepresentation of the service to be provided by the merchant. Upon review of the documentation provided, I am unable to uphold your claim.

 

Make a placard ( no abuse , just facts ie 7 months to fit a kitchen) and stand outside the showroom, you might get press attention ? 

LeRedoute

HampshireH said:

MalMonroe said:

Hi, if you paid by credit card, what about considering a Section 75 claim?

There's a fairly new article just been published on this very site about it -

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/

I made such a claim a few years ago for only £700 for a pile of junk (or, as the car dealer said, a used motor). It took a few months but I ended up receiving not only a full refund of £700 but also compensation of £250 and a bouquet of flowers from the credit card company. So I think it's always worth having a go. 

And I actually DO feel that mental distress should be compensated for. Too many people, sadly, dismiss it as being unimportant when it isn't.  Any business that discounts 'mental distress' is not a business I'd be happy dealing with.

You might also be interested in this info -

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2014/10/i-got-23k-back-under-section-75-after-paying-just-200-on-credit-card/

It's old and the circumstances were different to yours but it highlights the importance of not giving up. I'm afraid (no, I'm proud!) to be one of those people who are like a dog with a bone and I won't give up. Ever. Until it's over and I've been offered the correct solution.

Anything is worth a try and in my experience, if you don't give up the rewards can be excellent. 

Good luck to you, you've been treated abominably by Wren.

Why did the credit card company compensate you £250 and buy your flowers?

It wasn't their fault and they had no obligation to compensate you?

Genuine question as I've not come across them doing this before.

It didn't happen.

Like pretty much every one of MalMonroe's anecdotes.

Why on earth the mods of this site allow people to post obvious (and at this point deliberately) misleading advice without restriction but pile on anyone who says something that has even a whiff of being "mean" is beyond me. It makes the moderation look like a joke and makes the forums a totally unreliable source of advice.

MattMattMattUK

RSD7a said:

LeRedoute said:

RSD7a said:

Thanks for the time taken writing these helpful replies and pointers. 

As I understand it, the consumer Rites act, when purchasing services says suppliers should offer

reasonable care and skill, 

within a reasonable time,

at a reasonable price. 

Surely a  seven month timescale to install a kitchen is by no means reasonable.

Aside from calculating time spent chasing them up to finish the job, which while it adds up isn't going to be that significant, is there no other way of prising an ex gracia payment out of them in recognition of their truly appalling service and the disdain with which we were treated once our money was in their pockets?

It's not, but you let it drag on for 7 months.

You could have rejected it, but you didn't.

You're really at the mercy of the company as to what they'll give you.

Thanks for these comments. I would say
1. Wren was the party who "let it drag on". We were pursuing them relentlessly.
2. I rejected the kitchen several times. After 7 months the kitchen had been fixed.
3. Yes I am at their mercy.

I'm getting close, now, to leafleting  customers in their showroom in order to get some attention .

You let it drag on because you did not formally reject it in writing, then take action via the court.
You were not at their mercy, you are now because of your previous actions.

RSD7a said:

sheramber said:

We purchased a Wren kitchen in March 2022, paid in full, (almost £20k) at their insistence prior to installation which began on 2nd May 2022.

You could have gone elsewhere. You did not need to buy from them.

That sets a new standard.

Just because you do not like an answer does not mean that it is wrong. 

GingerTim

user1977 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

They never return when it's reasonably challenged.

They used to have in their signature a comment that they tend never to return to threads, so it's possible they are blissfully unaware about how wrong much of their advice is.

Drive-by posting!

Gavin83

screech_78 said:

As someone who deals with high level complaints, we pay very little attention to “mental distress”. We hear it every single day and it wears thin. I’m sorry to sound harsh. 

This. We get loads of threads on here from people who have suffered 'stress' due to the circumstances and expect compensation for it. Like a lot of issues in the modern world the term is now so overused it's lost all meaning. It's more likely to get the backs up of the people dealing with it more than anything which is never a good idea.

No one suffers genuine stress due to some issues with a kitchen and if they do they've clearly got far bigger issues than the kitchen itself. People add it on as they feel it makes their claim more valid and they might get a bit more money out of it when it reality it often has the opposite effect.

screech_78 said:

When discussing goodwill gestures, I don’t take into account what a customer earns (some will try to say they should be reimbursed their hourly rate for sending an email). I don’t see why someone who earns £50 an hour should get more for sending an email than someone that earns £10 an hour as everyone’s time is valuable so that’s a no go for me. 

That makes sense. The only exception should be if someone has had to take extra time off work to deal with the issues in which case they should receive the salary they've lost out on. However efforts should be made to mitigate this.

In answer to the question at hand I agree with the majority. Ultimately anything beyond your out of pocket expenses is down to goodwill. The whole idea of goodwill is that it's discretionary and therefore you can't force them to pay it. It's also a good idea to be realistic in what you ask for as a goodwill payment. If you go overboard they're more likely to just dismiss your complaints entirely rather than come up with a figure.

Speak to them, ask them if they'll offer you some compensation for the time and effort it's taken to get this resolved and see what they say. If they ignore you then I really don't think it's worth taking any further unfortunately.

screech_78

Gavin83 said:

screech_78 said:

As someone who deals with high level complaints, we pay very little attention to “mental distress”. We hear it every single day and it wears thin. I’m sorry to sound harsh. 

This. We get loads of threads on here from people who have suffered 'stress' due to the circumstances and expect compensation for it. Like a lot of issues in the modern world the term is now so overused it's lost all meaning. It's more likely to get the backs up of the people dealing with it more than anything which is never a good idea.

No one suffers genuine stress due to some issues with a kitchen and if they do they've clearly got far bigger issues than the kitchen itself. People add it on as they feel it makes their claim more valid and they might get a bit more money out of it when it reality it often has the opposite effect.

screech_78 said:

When discussing goodwill gestures, I don’t take into account what a customer earns (some will try to say they should be reimbursed their hourly rate for sending an email). I don’t see why someone who earns £50 an hour should get more for sending an email than someone that earns £10 an hour as everyone’s time is valuable so that’s a no go for me. 

That makes sense. The only exception should be if someone has had to take extra time off work to deal with the issues in which case they should receive the salary they've lost out on. However efforts should be made to mitigate this.

In answer to the question at hand I agree with the majority. Ultimately anything beyond your out of pocket expenses is down to goodwill. The whole idea of goodwill is that it's discretionary and therefore you can't force them to pay it. It's also a good idea to be realistic in what you ask for as a goodwill payment. If you go overboard they're more likely to just dismiss your complaints entirely rather than come up with a figure.

Speak to them, ask them if they'll offer you some compensation for the time and effort it's taken to get this resolved and see what they say. If they ignore you then I really don't think it's worth taking any further unfortunately.

Yes, of course. Out of pocket expenses are a completely different scenario for us and we require evidence of those costs. For goodwill gestures though, I couldn’t care less what someone earns. 

I do understand that the OP paid a lot of money and this dragged on, but mental distress seems a major stretch. Like I said, I didn’t have kitchen for almost 9 months. We bought a tabletop hob and already had a slow cooker and air fryer so it wasn’t a major issue. Inconvenient? Yes. Mentally distressing? Not in the slightest.