Sofology Cancellation

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

JetpackVelociraptor said:

I have had a grand total of one person attempt to argue that a piece of furniture that's returned to the store has not been delivered and therefore can't be charged for the return, but as I pointed out to them at the time, had they wanted to have it left on the doorstep in the rain the option was there.

@JetpackVelociraptor

Interesting info  

Return fee for cancelled online orders is always acceptable (assuming correct info given) or you delivering the goods to a location the customer doesn't find ideal is fine but for the part of your post in bold how does this tie in with passing of risk 

(2)The goods remain at the trader’s risk until they come into the physical possession of—

(a)the consumer, or

(b)a person identified by the consumer to take possession of the goods.

If the customer is present should you leave it on their doorstep? 

Just to add to this, 3 scenarios

1) Trader tries to deliver but can't (no one home, etc), doesn't meet the customer and goes away with the goods, in this instance I don't see they can charge for redelivery under the CRA.

2) Trader attempts to get goods to say the living room but can't as they don't fit and says either we leave it where we can (which is delivery) or you can breach the contract and pay our costs (which includes the delivery), This seems fine to me.

3) As suggested above it's left somewhere without the customer being present, I guess the customer would at some point come into possession of it but until then risk stays with the trader so if the trader drops it by the front door at 10am, it pours down at lunch and the customer comes home at 5 after work then the trader would be responsible for the damage caused by the rain. 

JetpackVelociraptor

@the_lunatic_is_in_my_head I'm not a solicitor myself, but we've a few solicitors look over our terms over the years and this has not been flagged as an issue. The last I heard from the one person who raised it as a complaint was that they were going to raise it with trading standards. About four weeks later I received a letter from TS saying they'd spotted a discrepancy in our website terms and conditions which wasn't delivery related and was immediately corrected, so clearly they looked through them and saw nothing wrong with it.

For scenario 1, I think most companies take steps to avoid this problem rather than running full tilt into a situation where they have to work out what to do about it! I know our customers get several calls relating to their delivery prior to arrival and on the day, and we don't charge for people rearranging their delivery date. I can honestly say I've never had a customer just fail to be there when their furniture is due for delivery. This does however happen with parcels, but parcel delivery companies will generally leave a card and offer to redeliver or arrange customer collection free of charge.

For 2, this scenario is probably going to describe 99% of all situations where furniture is delivered to a customer.

For 3, when I said "left on the doorstep in the rain", I was talking about a situation where the customer is present so honestly I have no idea about that. It would be pretty ridiculous for someone to do a doorstep delivery of a sofa without the customer literally being there at the time! As you say, if it were stolen or damaged in the meantime then there's no one to blame but the retailer.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

JetpackVelociraptor said:

@the_lunatic_is_in_my_head I'm not a solicitor myself, but we've a few solicitors look over our terms over the years and this has not been flagged as an issue. The last I heard from the one person who raised it as a complaint was that they were going to raise it with trading standards. About four weeks later I received a letter from TS saying they'd spotted a discrepancy in our website terms and conditions which wasn't delivery related and was immediately corrected, so clearly they looked through them and saw nothing wrong with it.

For scenario 1, I think most companies take steps to avoid this problem rather than running full tilt into a situation where they have to work out what to do about it! I know our customers get several calls relating to their delivery prior to arrival and on the day, and we don't charge for people rearranging their delivery date. I can honestly say I've never had a customer just fail to be there when their furniture is due for delivery. This does however happen with parcels, but parcel delivery companies will generally leave a card and offer to redeliver or arrange customer collection free of charge.

For 2, this scenario is probably going to describe 99% of all situations where furniture is delivered to a customer.

For 3, when I said "left on the doorstep in the rain", I was talking about a situation where the customer is present so honestly I have no idea about that. It would be pretty ridiculous for someone to do a doorstep delivery of a sofa without the customer literally being there at the time! As you say, if it were stolen or damaged in the meantime then there's no one to blame but the retailer.

Thanks @JetpackVelociraptor

All sounds reasonable  

I think when OP and Sofology found out the sofa didn't fit that is the point at which the cancellation of the contract should have occurred rather than them taking the sofa back and leaving OP to decide. I appreciate in such an instance the delivery people might suggest the sofa would fit through a window or such if the customer wanted to have a think about it and arrange another delivery which would be perfectly reasonable however, despite the costs, I don't think a redelivery fee should apply (under the CRA), the trader really has a choice, cancel and keep costs/profit from the payment or permit a second delivery to keep the sale but suffer the second delivery cost. 

One thing seems clear (with Sofology) they don't promise to deliver a sofa to your room of choice, where as with beds (which they say require assembly so presumable always fit through the house) they do offer to do this which I think leaves both the customer and the trader with the option to perform delivery and then the customer can figure out how to get the sofa from where it is left into their house/living room/whatever themselves.  

Mr_SM

I am in a similar position we purchased the sofas in store and provided the dimensions to our door and hallway to the salesman who was adamant the sofas would fit as long as we have 2m height which we do.  Upon delivery the guys couldn't get the sofa through the front door and had to return the sofas back.  Now Sofology want to charge me cancellation fee but i feel we were mislead as we had provided them the dimensions and told the sofa would fit.  We even to be on the safe side paid extra for a split sofa for peace of mind even when the salesman said we didn't need to based upon our dimensions we had provided him.  Any advice or guidance.  

Aylesbury_Duck

Mr_SM said:

I am in a similar position we purchased the sofas in store and provided the dimensions to our door and hallway to the salesman who was adamant the sofas would fit as long as we have 2m height which we do.  Upon delivery the guys couldn't get the sofa through the front door and had to return the sofas back.  Now Sofology want to charge me cancellation fee but i feel we were mislead as we had provided them the dimensions and told the sofa would fit.  We even to be on the safe side paid extra for a split sofa for peace of mind even when the salesman said we didn't need to based upon our dimensions we had provided him.  Any advice or guidance.  

Speak to your card provider for help.  I suspect what's happened is that while the dimensions of the door and hall are helpful, if they don't account for the depth of the door frame, you can't "turn" the sofa adequately even if theoretically there's room to accommodate it.  If the store didn't ask for all appropriate dimensions then the problem is theirs, especially if having received the dimensions you gave them* they confirmed all was well.

*I assume your measurements were correct? 

Mr_SM

Yes measurements were correct.  The salesman said the height is the only factor they care about and the guys can get anything in aslong as you enough height.  But clearly that didn't happen, it never came through the front door even...i paid on a debit card a deposit with the rest on finance agreement.  

Alderbank

Sofology is in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 section 10, Goods to be fit for particular purpose.

This section applies to a contract to supply goods if before the contract is made the consumer makes known to the trader (expressly or by implication) any particular purpose for which the consumer is contracting for the goods.

The OP made it very clear that the sofa must fit the dimensions he provided to the salesman.
The sofa didn't fit so Sofology has breached the Act and the OP is entitled to a full refund.