Sofology 2023 T&C

Haydn1971

Hi, we paid a deposit on a sofa from Sofology last Saturday, we needed to double check the size, which we eventually did on the Sunday evening, but I couldn't make a call to them due to a busy day on the Monday, that involved a 457 mile work related trip.  Rung them on the Tuesday morning, at about 70hrs after the order and was told that any changes needed to be made in the first 48hrs, after that, there is a 40% charge on the change.  After several calls, e-mails and a visit to the store, Sofology has "offered" to make a change for 20% of the value, or £260.  The deposit was £160.  I'm currently staggered at the rigid adherence to the 48hrs and feel that the 40%, even 20% charge is unreasonable.  I've asked for a change, they won't do that, I've asked to cancel, they say I can't.  When I said that I wasn't prepared to pay for a four seater sofa when we wanted a three seater and wouldn't accept delivery, I was told that I'd have to take that up with their delivery team.  Currently staggered at the T&C, the unreasonable terms and the blinkered approach to customer service - Has anyone had this recently and what was the outcome.   Thanks in advance. 

tacpot12

I don't think the terms are unreasonable, and I think you might have a hard time persuading a judge that they are. It's reasonable to expect customers to prioritise any amendments to an order they have placed. sS far as I know, sofa firms make the sofas to order, and once you place an order, it goes into a system where they plan to have the right parts made, and the right fabric/leather taken off the warehouse shelves. The system is optimised to reduce costs, and a change means having to re-run the optimisation which they can't do too often.

The 40% charge is clearly meant to be a disincentive for customers changing their mind "willy-nilly".  However, 40% looks to be an unreasonable charge, but 20% does not. Such charges are supposed to reflect the true cost to the supplier of having to make the change. I don't see how Sofology can justify a 40% charge after 70 hours. If the sofa is within a week of production, then a 40% charge might be more approriate.    

If you have ordered a four seat sofa, and it won't fit. I think your only option is to jump at the offer of £260 to change to the three seat you wanted (and that will fit). You cannot turn away the sofa you have ordered and not expect to pay for it. 

Alderbank

I assume you bought the sofa in store?

You say you've asked to cancel, they say you can't.
You can insist on cancelling, i.e. breaking the contract. Since this is a consumer contract they are entitled to claim only the reasonable expenses they have actually incurred until the point when you cancelled. These will be various admin costs plus manufacturing costs. It takes weeks to manufacture a sofa so I would not have thought the costs after one or two working days would be very much. However they might have a case that their costs so far are that £260 they are asking for.

HillStreetBlues

Haydn1971 said:

Hi, we paid a deposit on a sofa from Sofology last Saturday, we needed to double check the size,

Did you state this when ordering? and you would be busy Monday?

SiliconChip

And what were you doing that prevent you making the measurement between getting home on Saturday and before the store closed on Sunday? [I'm making an assumption that it was open on Sunday, I've checked my local one and it is, and I've never come across any sofa company that doesn't open on as many days as it possibly can]