DFS - 7 weeks + for a refund what do i do?

daisydoom

Hello

To summarise : refund agreed on 15th of march for a mis advertised item / item picked up by DFS on the 22nd of March, now the 30th of April - No refund! 

Looking for advice as to who else I can report them to? and what else I can do.

Apologies if my writing is not very clear - I am dyslexic.

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Just looking for some advice  I bought a foot stool & sofa from DFS - amazing service in store/ item arrived exactly when it should (i.e I had a great experience with them!) . But the footstool which I bought to match in with the sofa - both advertised at the same height of 50cm - arrived and was actually 38cm so didnt match my sofa in height / it was also half filled with foam and very soft (I paid to upgrade the foam so it matched my sofa). I was looking for a "chaise effect" with the sofa & footstool
.
Issues reported on day of delivery - 19th of Feb

Service visit agreed for the 8th of march (first available slot) so they could check

Note: images had been sent etc with a tape measure clearly showing the size at 38cm rather than 50cm & also showing the best I could how soft it was - i.e you could push your hand down on it - and the dent would stay for about an hour as the stool had not been filled with the upgraded foam  - no one showed up - I called at 2pm and was told the visit was 100% on/ i called back at 5 and was told it was not...

Turned out footstool was not available at the height advertised at all. 

A refund was agreed on the 15th of March as the item could not be replaced/ item was collected from me on the 22nd of March . The terms say a refund will be done "usually" within 14 days. When this timescale passed - I got in touch & I have have continued to ask for & check the progress of this  - in emails I have been told 

I had been told 21 days/ 21 working days - 21-28 working days plus extra for the bank holiday - ive also been told the refund timescale is upto my bank ? (I have checked with my bank - monzo and they advised that most refunds would appear in a few days!) .

I called in on the 21st of April and was told it would be with me on the 28th of Aprl

The refund is to be split - a partial refund to my own bank account & the rest to my credit account (yup - no section 75 to be used!) .

Its now the 30th of April & I found out on Wednesday the 26th of April (I just had a feeling about this...)  that the refund had actually been "voided" and not put through correctly.

I am now going into week 7 waiting to be refunded.

The store have said they have redone this - but I have no information despite asking several times now - when i will receive this? there is no urgency on the side of DFS. It was to be escalated up & a manger was to call me last week - no one has. I have asked for compensation as well - again this has also been ignored.

Citizens advice/ trading standards have given me an ADR letter - which I have emailed in - but I have to allow 14 days for them to reply to this (this was emailed on Wednesday the 26th of April) 

I feel like I am going mad. I am so worried & stressed over this & I am banging my head on a brick wall.

Why can a company breach their own T&C with no implications? is there anyone else I can report them to ?

Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what else I can do? I emailed the CEO & they passed it to head office & all they said was "they will keep an eye on the progress" - no this will be done within 48hrs/ 7 days etc - nothing.

How is any of this legal - that a company can have their item back/ not refund you within any sort of reasonable timescale & not give you information as to when they will actually do this & breach their own terms?



Any advice welcome . 

screech_78

It’s poor service but not sure what the compensation is for. What are your losses? 

I would give them the 5 working days from when they’ve said they processed the refund (26th April?). That gives them until Thursday 4th May and see if it goes in.

When you say credit account, what do you mean? Do you mean finance? If so, you will have section 75 protection if the items were each over £100. 

Manxman_in_exile

As above, what exactly do you mean by "credit account"?

You might want to remind them of their legal obligations and tell them that you hope they don't want you to sue them.

"20  Right to reject...

...(15)A refund under this section must be given without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees that the consumer is entitled to a refund..."

Consumer Rights Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk)

daisydoom

Thank you

Credit account - I paid a deposit with my bank debit card, and then took out a credit agreement with DFS

I will contact the credit account people - thank you!

They confirmed a refund on the 15th of March

I found out on the 26th of April that they had not put the refund through properly so its not been done

Note I had been told 6 times that the refund was "on its way" and given different timescales to wait for this refund

- it was not on its way & never was  as it had not been done.

My losses are so far - a day off work using up a holiday day for a booked & confirmed service visit (that was also re-confirmed the same day when I call to check it was still on at 2pm), plus all the time I have spent chasing this querying this/ trying to get confirmation as to when to expect my refund.  all of which took time to write / time out of my day to do - if I had got my refund within the advertised timescale on their own terms & conditions - none of this would have been required

Thanks again - I just was not sure if there was someone that took on breaches of terms & conditions by companies  - but there doesn't seem to be.

Manxman_in_exile

daisydoom said:

Thank you

Credit account - I paid a deposit with my bank debit card, and then took out a credit agreement with DFS

I will contact the credit account people - thank you!

They confirmed a refund on the 15th of March

I found out on the 26th of April that they had not put the refund through properly so its not been done

Note I had been told 6 times that the refund was "on its way" and given different timescales to wait for this refund

- it was not on its way & never was  as it had not been done.

My losses are so far - a day off work using up a holiday day for a booked & confirmed service visit (that was also re-confirmed the same day when I call to check it was still on at 2pm), plus all the time I have spent chasing this querying this/ trying to get confirmation as to when to expect my refund.  all of which took time to write / time out of my day to do - if I had got my refund within the advertised timescale on their own terms & conditions - none of this would have been required

Thanks again - I just was not sure if there was someone that took on breaches of terms & conditions by companies  - but there doesn't seem to be.

People on here occasionally talk about taking complaints to the furniture ombudsman.  Whether they could help help with your complaint or not I don't know.  I also don't know if they're any good.

The Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman (fhio.org)

DFS appear to be members:  DFS - The Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman (fhio.org)

Failing all that suing (or threatening to sue them with a Letter Before Claim) in court is your last resort.

(If you paid by a debit card you might have a chargeback option, but that might become very complicated if the payment was split between your debit card and a "credit account")

daisydoom

Thank you - I had the clear payment split for a refund from DFS (i.e i have to get £350 back to my bank & then £269 back to the credit account with DFS) - i.e they are not disputing this refund in anyway - they are just not doing it...

It was clearly not as described and it was DFS that offered me a refund.

The issue is just they have not refunded me - as they made a mistake, lied for 6 weeks that they had put this refund through and only noticed when I checked on the 26th of April - that they actually hadn't done this properly!

I really appreciate that info - I'll see what I can raise with them

born_again

Have you spoken to the finance co about this?

For a chargeback on your debit card. You will need it in writing that DFS have refunded (deposit amount) on (Date) to card end (last 4) without that no chargeback right. You also have to allow 15 days from the date they said it was refunded before it can be actioned. If you have the above proof.

Manxman_in_exile

@born_again did you mean to say "You will need in writing that DFS have agreed to pay a refund… "?

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80026836#Comment_80026836

Have edited to add "IT"

No, they have to say "HAVE" refunded on a certain date.

As it is a chargeback for non receipt of refund.

"Agreed to refund" is open ended & not that they have.

The joys of chargebacks 🤗

Manxman_in_exile

But isn't the problem here that although DFS have agreed to refund, they haven't actually done so?

Are you saying a chargeback is not appropriate in this sort of case?

(Or have I completely confused myself again? 🙂 )

born_again

Only if the Op has in writing this.

 that DFS have refunded (deposit amount) on (Date) to card end (last 4) 

Regs state this is required.

As you can imagine getting that out of a retailer is not exactly easy. We have asked people to email retailer & ask.

Can you confirm that you have refunded £ amount on Date to card end 1234, if they reply & say yes. Then that is usable. As you can guess many do not reply.

Also it has to be within 120 days of them saing they have refunded.