Faulty sofa

Grey1966

Hi, I'm after some advice, bought 2 two seater sofas from furniture village, we had issues with 2 of the arms and we got a price reduction of £800 to keep them, we took the offer however within a month of having the sofas there was a big creaking noise from one of the sofas when sat upon or shifting position, this was inspected 3 times and they tried to fix the issue but to no avail, I contacted fv and they offered a refund, or to go to the store and see if there was another suite we liked and whatever the price difference was they would ask for more money or give us money if cheaper, or they would give us a brand new reorder. After going into the shop we didn't see anything else so decided on a total reorder. At yhe end of Jan I received an email from them saying our sofa has been ordered I immediately emailed back asking if it was 2 sofas but got no reply, about a week ago I received a message that our sofa was ready for delivery, I again rang the fv and they said only one was ordered, I told them it should have been 2 sofas, a phone call later from fv they now say if we wanted both sofas we would have to pay £800 I told them that this wasn't the agreed deal in January, I have had several emails going each way me stating that the agreement was fir both sofas replaced and them saying I need to pay £800, now just to recap this was for a completely different fault not for the fault that is the problem now and that they agreed to replace both sofas and no mention of any money being paid and are now going back on this saying we need to pay if we wanted both sofas. Advice required as to where we stand please.
I know long rant but it's been a headache from day 1.

Aylesbury_Duck

Grey1966 said:

Hi, I'm after some advice, bought 2 two seater sofas from furniture village, we had issues with 2 of the arms and we got a price reduction of £800 to keep them, we took the offer however within a month of having the sofas there was a big creaking noise from one of the sofas when sat upon or shifting position, this was inspected 3 times and they tried to fix the issue but to no avail, I contacted fv and they offered a refund, or to go to the store and see if there was another suite we liked and whatever the price difference was they would ask for more money or give us money if cheaper, or they would give us a brand new reorder. After going into the shop we didn't see anything else so decided on a total reorder. At yhe end of Jan I received an email from them saying our sofa has been ordered I immediately emailed back asking if it was 2 sofas but got no reply, about a week ago I received a message that our sofa was ready for delivery, I again rang the fv and they said only one was ordered, I told them it should have been 2 sofas, a phone call later from fv they now say if we wanted both sofas we would have to pay £800 I told them that this wasn't the agreed deal in January, I have had several emails going each way me stating that the agreement was fir both sofas replaced and them saying I need to pay £800, now just to recap this was for a completely different fault not for the fault that is the problem now and that they agreed to replace both sofas and no mention of any money being paid and are now going back on this saying we need to pay if we wanted both sofas. Advice required as to where we stand please.
I know long rant but it's been a headache from day 1.

I can see where the confusion came in, because the complaint was about one sofa in the first instance (ignoring the older issue with the arms which was resolved with a price reduction).

However, it seems pretty simple to unpick.  You made a completely new order in store.  What does the paperwork for that order say?  One sofa, or two?

Grey1966

Hi, thanks for the response, the agreement was over the phone,which are recorded as they did say at one stage they would listen to and they said it was a mistake and should have charged me the £800. I told them that they should honour the original agreement  and now they haven't replied, well as yet they haven't.
Cheers

Aylesbury_Duck

Grey1966 said:

Hi, thanks for the response, the agreement was over the phone,which are recorded as they did say at one stage they would listen to and they said it was a mistake and should have charged me the £800. I told them that they should honour the original agreement  and now they haven't replied, well as yet they haven't.
Cheers

You're welcome, but that hasn't answered what's probably the important question.  What does the paperwork/email say for the re-order?  One sofa, or two?  And at what sum?  

Grey1966

Hi. 
There is no paperwork for the reorder, all this was done over the phone, the calls are recorded at they're end, I can categorically say there was no mention of having to pay any money and the order was for a full reorder of both sofas due to colour match as it would be a different batch from the sofas we have. 
Cheers again.

Manxman_in_exile

Tricky one.

If I had been dealing with this I wouldn't have wanted to rely solely on a 'phone conversation with Furniture Village.  I'd have wanted to confirm what had been agreed by email or in writing.

@Grey1966 - if there's a recording of the conversation and it's perfectly clear what was agreed (and it's what you think was agreed) then put it to FV that you were acting in good faith and relied upon (and trusted) what the FV employee told you over the 'phone.

But unfortunately this is exactly the sort of situation that leads to this sort of confusion.

tightauldgit

Complicated because if they've promised you something they should honour what they've promised you. If they've offered you a solution over the phone and you accept that solution and they admit it (which it seems they do?) I don't see how they can now say 'oh we mis-spoke and we're changing the deal'

On the other hand, I don't see that you are legally entitled to 2 sofas replaced under your consumer rights if only 1 sofa has a fault. 

This is why it always makes sense to get a written confirmation of what is actually being agreed. 

Grey1966

Thank you for your replies, I've received an email this afternoon from fv they say they have listened to the phone conversation and admit that it was agreed they would replace both sofas, however they're adamant they would still want the £800 if they replace both because we took a price reduction for a previous fault on the sofas, (not the current fault that we are arguing about now)
Cheers again. 

Manxman_in_exile

tightauldgit said:

... On the other hand, I don't see that you are legally entitled to 2 sofas replaced under your consumer rights if only 1 sofa has a fault...

Yes - that makes it doubly complicated.

Is there some statutory provision somewhere allowing the consumer to reject all of a matching set if there is a fault with a part of the set?

Or am I making that up?

Grey1966

I don't know to be honest. 

km1500

you repay them the £800 they gave you - that puts everyone back to square one

They then remake you two new sofas.