Woodworm in furniture

k1333333333

I bought a brand new piece of furniture in April, discovered it is infested with woodworms. The company that I purchased it from refunded me for the piece of furniture and told me to dispose of it and I will be compensated for disposal. I rang a pest control company to ask them to get rid, they came and looked at the furniture and it was a lot worse than I had thought (I’d only seen two tiny holes) inside was was worse. The pest control company said I’d need my bedroom treated to be cautious. Have wooden flooring, could have spread. 

Can I ask the company that sold me the furniture to compensate me for this also? 

Alderbank

k1333333333 said:

I bought a brand new piece of furniture in April, discovered it is infested with woodworms. The company that I purchased it from refunded me for the piece of furniture and told me to dispose of it and I will be compensated for disposal. I rang a pest control company to ask them to get rid, they came and looked at the furniture and it was a lot worse than I had thought (I’d only seen two tiny holes) inside was was worse. The pest control company said I’d need my bedroom treated to be cautious. Have wooden flooring, could have spread. 

Can I ask the company that sold me the furniture to compensate me for this also? 

 The pest control company said I’d need my bedroom treated to be cautious easy money for them.

Is your house damp and unheated?
Woodworm thrived in houses which were very different from today. It will not do well in modern dry, centrally heated homes.

Can I ask the company that sold me the furniture to compensate me for this also? 

 It depends. Most woodworm holes are flightholes from long departed insects. Were you and they aware that the furniture had live woodworm? Did you make clear to them if the furniture would be going into rooms which are cold and damp?

k1333333333

Thanks for reply.

they were not aware that they were selling me furniture that had woodworm, no. 

Fruitcake

I don't know if the furniture supplier would be liable for further costs beyond the refund and cost of disposal. In my opinion, they acted reasonably in that respect. If you didn't check with them before agreeing to treat your house for woodworm, and/or you didn't check the infestation was still active, you might struggle to get the full cost refunded. You could ask for a contribution towards the cost as a gesture of goodwill, and supply a copy of your receipt for the treatment, but I think you would have difficulty proving the furniture supplier acted negligently. Sorry.

Have a look at the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and perhaps have a chat with the CAB, but don't get your hopes up.

born_again

k1333333333 said:

I bought a brand new piece of furniture in April, discovered it is infested with woodworms. The company that I purchased it from refunded me for the piece of furniture and told me to dispose of it and I will be compensated for disposal. I rang a pest control company to ask them to get rid, they came and looked at the furniture and it was a lot worse than I had thought (I’d only seen two tiny holes) inside was was worse. The pest control company said I’d need my bedroom treated to be cautious. Have wooden flooring, could have spread. 

Can I ask the company that sold me the furniture to compensate me for this also? 

Why ring a pest co to get rid of the furniture?

Do your local council not take rubbish, or are you not able to take to a local tip?

DullGreyGuy

k1333333333 said:

Can I ask the company that sold me the furniture to compensate me for this also? 

You can ask but ultimately it would be up to you to prove it's necessary if you want to fight them if they say no. I'm with the others here that the "to be cautious" just means they are trying it on to get more money out the job. At a minimum they'd really need to be saying it's prudent to do it rather than cautious and ideally would be saying it's necessary.

We had furniture delivered once that was riddled with woodworm holes, we just wrapped it up, stuck it in the porch way and the seller recollected it a few days later. 

sheramber

Were the pest control company touting for business?

Afourteen

Take the furniture to tip, most wood at tips is burnt or treated in such a way as to kill off woodworm. Did see any fine wood dust (Frass) in the vicinity of the furniture before you moved it outside? If you haven't then you should be OK. 
If have seen Frass then do you have bare wood floors etc - then a bottle of 'Soavq' treatment is around £50 - make 25litres. It's Aqueous based so doesn't have a bad small. 

The comment about woodworm not doing well in modern houses is an old wives tale - w.worm doesn't do well cause a lot of modern house timber is treated.