Display table sold as seen

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

How deep is the scratch OP?

Marble should be able to be professionally repaired.

On the one hand you’d be entitled to a price reduction or the other it seems a lot of headache to save £150, on the other hand the shop sounds awful, they either have no clue on their obligations or worse they do but are putting a potential loss of a few quid over your rights by trying to fob you off.

She can’t take it back because she can’t sell a table with a scratch, is that comical or tragic? 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

screech_78 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

screech_78 said:

The problem here is that OP isn’t after a refund or a discount. They want a brand new table for the same price paid as the display models. 

Happens a lot to us. We sell shop floor markdowns and then they arrive with an extra scuff or damage. The customer kicks up a fuss, demanding we give them a brand new replacement when we’re offering a full refund of what they paid instead. They never get their way. 

Out of interest what kind of mark down do display models typically get in comparison to cost price? 

It all depends on the reason they’ve been marked down. Some are customer returns so just opened and inspected, therefore there will only be a small discount. Some are display models and will have a higher discount and then there’s things like fridge freezers where they might have a dent in the back. They’ll never be sold for less than cost price but then we make very little on electrical items anyway. Profit margins are tiny. They’re huge on furniture etc but difficult question to answer as depends why they’re marked down. 

Thanks for that, it's was more idle curiosity than anything else. 

I appreciate you get a lot of chancers, delivery of a replacement may be expensive or stock may be limited but in an instance were a customer purchases a display model that's genuinely damaged before delivery, the transaction stays in the black with delivery accounted for and there's a steady supply from the supplier does it not make business sense to replace their order?

A refund means no profit obviously, if a replacement retained some profit that seems preferrable. The company would have to collect and resell the display model either way. 

screech_78

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

screech_78 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

screech_78 said:

The problem here is that OP isn’t after a refund or a discount. They want a brand new table for the same price paid as the display models. 

Happens a lot to us. We sell shop floor markdowns and then they arrive with an extra scuff or damage. The customer kicks up a fuss, demanding we give them a brand new replacement when we’re offering a full refund of what they paid instead. They never get their way. 

Out of interest what kind of mark down do display models typically get in comparison to cost price? 

It all depends on the reason they’ve been marked down. Some are customer returns so just opened and inspected, therefore there will only be a small discount. Some are display models and will have a higher discount and then there’s things like fridge freezers where they might have a dent in the back. They’ll never be sold for less than cost price but then we make very little on electrical items anyway. Profit margins are tiny. They’re huge on furniture etc but difficult question to answer as depends why they’re marked down. 

Thanks for that, it's was more idle curiosity than anything else. 

I appreciate you get a lot of chancers, delivery of a replacement may be expensive or stock may be limited but in an instance were a customer purchases a display model that's genuinely damaged before delivery, the transaction stays in the black with delivery accounted for and there's a steady supply from the supplier does it not make business sense to replace their order?

A refund means no profit obviously, if a replacement retained some profit that seems preferrable. The company would have to collect and resell the display model either way. 

Again, will depend on how much it was marked down by in comparison to the normal selling cost. Usually what is more likely to happen is say something is damaged further before delivery, we’ll either offer a full refund or a contribution towards a brand new replacement. 

Whilst it might seem like good service to offer a brand new replacement, depending on profit margins we’d actually be losing more money by taking the hit on a brand new item. 

And there’s setting a precedent also. Without saying who I work for (although some posters may guess from posts I’ve commented on), our customers can be extremely entitled. It’s our own fault as we’ve created the monsters but sometimes you have to draw a line. 

mic141100

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

How deep is the scratch OP?

Marble should be able to be professionally repaired.

On the one hand you’d be entitled to a price reduction or the other it seems a lot of headache to save £150, on the other hand the shop sounds awful, they either have no clue on their obligations or worse they do but are putting a potential loss of a few quid over your rights by trying to fob you off.

She can’t take it back because she can’t sell a table with a scratch, is that comical or tragic? 

It's not a deep scratch but it's right in the centre of the table and is pretty obvious. 
It's adversely a few scratches together as though there's been something placed on the table and moved around.
I've been advised by a specialist repair company that it should be able to be buffed out by hand but as yet I've been unable to find anyone who can do this (and I believe that's what the furniture company is also looking into).

I would be more than happy for a refund on the table even if it means we have to pay full price for the chairs as this would still be a £750 refund.

I think part of my main issue at this stage is how I've been treated by the company.

I accept that things happen but it's the way issues they are dealt with that's important to me.  The fact that she accused us of doing it, even saying we must have had a small child in the house drawing stars on it and then lying about when it was covered as she told me firstly it was the night before delivery and there was no scratches and then changed this upon me sending proof to the day we paid for it 5 weeks before delivery is the main issue for me as she is trying to do whatever she can to get out of doing anything at all whether that be getting a repair or refunding.

She just keeps telling me it's my fault for 'accepting' the table on delivery and that I've basically given up any rights I had in doing so despite contacting her within 2 days and providing proof the scratch was present on delivery

Appliance_engineer

Sounds like classic bait & switch.

deannagone

Googled 'can scratched marble be repaired' and came up with this, it sounds like matt marble can be repaired https://www.stone-repairs.com/how-to-remove-a-scratch-from-marble/