Furniture Village. Do Not Buy In-store!!

john8solo

Hi all, I just need to make this point clear! Do Not Buy In-store!
Go to the store, have a look around, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website. It's your choice obviously, this is my advice, here's why:
Furniture Village: After a few visits we chose two couches totalling 2.2k. We bought them in-store, lovely sale staff made us coffee and made us very welcome, 1st name terms and everything. After the first day at home with our new couches, we found that they are not very comfortable at all! Feeling fatigued after sitting on them for an hour or so. They look brilliant but turns out they're not comfortable after a longer sit down. This is not something we picked up on after a 20 mins sit in the store. 
We decided to return and go with another option....
We called the store to ask about the returns process and everything changed. 
The same staff we met in the store have changed their tone suddenly and are being curt with us and rude.
The man said to my wife "It's not like returning a dress love, you buy in-store and sales are final, this is a known process across the country". 

Online it states You can return! We're told this is because when you buy online, you've not had the opportunity to try the item first, so you have the right to return it. 

It seems mad to us that we are now stuck with a new expensive sofa that isn't nice so sit on after an hour or so. We weren't looking for a refund, we just wanted to change for another couch. 

They said they told us while we were signing the paper work, that in-store sales are non-refundable! We do not remember this, and feel that if this was made clear!!!, We would have purchased online instead, where we would have some consumer rights!! 
We understand now, that it's not in the interest of the stores sale staff, to make it very clear as they are on commission. 
It's such poor practice!! If they had their customers happiness at heart, they could have given us the option to change the sofa for something else, and we're all happy. Instead of my leaving this review.

Unfortunately for us, this isn't the first time this has happened!! 
We had the same problem with a Television we bought from Currys a few years ago.
We purchased in-store, found once home after a day or so, that we didn't like the menu interface or layout, and they wouldn't take it back. But on-line we could have returned. 

So our advice, Do not buy in-store.
Regards and hope this helps. 

jon81uk

That’s the same with all retailers. By law you can cancel and return (at your own cost for change of mind) for off-premises sales. But buy in store and it is assumed you had an opportunity to inspect the goods in store. 

However if it’s deemed you handled goods more than you would in store then they can reduce the value. Plus you may need to pay for the return. 

Alderbank

john8solo said:

Hi all, I just need to make this point clear! Do Not Buy In-store!
Go to the store, have a look around, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website. It's your choice obviously, this is my advice, here's why:

If you go to the store, have a look round, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website your consumer rights are exactly the same as if you buy in-store.

You seem to believe that your consumer rights for any purchase are that you can buy from a shop, use them however you wish then just return them.

As @jon81uk says, that's not at all how consumer rights work.

cannugec5

You knew this a few years ago when you discovered your rights after buying a TV in store that you didn’t like? 

So what made you make the same mistake again, now claiming you didn’t know you could simply change your mind? 

What will be the third item you try to return for a change of mind? 

tightauldgit

Alderbank said:

john8solo said:

Hi all, I just need to make this point clear! Do Not Buy In-store!
Go to the store, have a look around, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website. It's your choice obviously, this is my advice, here's why:

If you go to the store, have a look round, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website your consumer rights are exactly the same as if you buy in-store.

That's actually a really good point. Although I'm not sure how an online retailer would know/be able to prove that you went to a store and tried the item first unless they had a record of your visit.

Complete aside but I wonder based on that if an online shop could put in their T&Cs or online order that 'by placing an order on this site you confirm that you have visited our store and tried the item in advance' and short-circuit the right to cancel? 

born_again

tightauldgit said:

Alderbank said:

john8solo said:

Hi all, I just need to make this point clear! Do Not Buy In-store!
Go to the store, have a look around, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website. It's your choice obviously, this is my advice, here's why:

If you go to the store, have a look round, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website your consumer rights are exactly the same as if you buy in-store.

That's actually a really good point. Although I'm not sure how an online retailer would know/be able to prove that you went to a store and tried the item first unless they had a record of your visit.

Complete aside but I wonder based on that if an online shop could put in their T&Cs or online order that 'by placing an order on this site you confirm that you have visited our store and tried the item in advance' and short-circuit the right to cancel? 

Bet most people will drop (themselves in it) that in, in their complaint. Looked & tried one instore & this is nothing like 🤣

john8solo

jon81uk said:

That’s the same with all retailers. By law you can cancel and return (at your own cost for change of mind) for off-premises sales. But buy in store and it is assumed you had an opportunity to inspect the goods in store. 

However if it’s deemed you handled goods more than you would in store then they can reduce the value. Plus you may need to pay for the return. 

This isn't what the staff said. They just said no returns. Would have been happy to talk about it with them, pay for returns or any fees incurred within reason. 

john8solo

born_again said:

tightauldgit said:

Alderbank said:

john8solo said:

Hi all, I just need to make this point clear! Do Not Buy In-store!
Go to the store, have a look around, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website. It's your choice obviously, this is my advice, here's why:

If you go to the store, have a look round, see something you like or want, then leave the place and buy from the website your consumer rights are exactly the same as if you buy in-store.

That's actually a really good point. Although I'm not sure how an online retailer would know/be able to prove that you went to a store and tried the item first unless they had a record of your visit.

Complete aside but I wonder based on that if an online shop could put in their T&Cs or online order that 'by placing an order on this site you confirm that you have visited our store and tried the item in advance' and short-circuit the right to cancel? 

Bet most people will drop (themselves in it) that in, in their complaint. Looked & tried one instore & this is nothing like 🤣

I'm not looking for a way around the problem. I bought the sofa in the shop, i want to return the sofa to the shop. They wouldn't accept a return because we bought from the shop. They would have taken the return if we had of purchased online. 
This is what they said.
So don't buy in-store. 

john8solo

john8solo said:

jon81uk said:

That’s the same with all retailers. By law you can cancel and return (at your own cost for change of mind) for off-premises sales. But buy in store and it is assumed you had an opportunity to inspect the goods in store. 

However if it’s deemed you handled goods more than you would in store then they can reduce the value. Plus you may need to pay for the return. 

This isn't what the staff said. They just said no returns. Would have been happy to talk about it with them, pay for returns or any fees incurred within reason. 

We did have an opportunity to inspect the goods in-store. But their is a difference between trying it out in the store for 20mins, and sitting at home for many hours.... If we had purchased online, we could have tried the sofa for a whole two weeks and been within rights to return according to furniture villages rules.
So buy online, you have more rights.

jon81uk

john8solo said:

jon81uk said:

That’s the same with all retailers. By law you can cancel and return (at your own cost for change of mind) for off-premises sales. But buy in store and it is assumed you had an opportunity to inspect the goods in store. 

However if it’s deemed you handled goods more than you would in store then they can reduce the value. Plus you may need to pay for the return. 

This isn't what the staff said. They just said no returns. Would have been happy to talk about it with them, pay for returns or any fees incurred within reason. 

That's what I said too, by law you have no right to return if you are buying in-store as it is assumed you had an opportunity to inspect the goods in store.

But buying off-premises such as online/phone where you have not been able to inspect in-store then you have 14 days to cancel but you may need to pay the cost to return. For example Furniture Village state it may be up to 25% of the value of the item.

john8solo

cannugec5 said:

You knew this a few years ago when you discovered your rights after buying a TV in store that you didn’t like? 

So what made you make the same mistake again, now claiming you didn’t know you could simply change your mind? 

What will be the third item you try to return for a change of mind? 

I don't like your tone, you're not being very constructive. 
Have you not made the same mistake twice before you lucky person!
I hope there will not be a 3rd time...
After the 10's of items we have purchased, the ones I've listed here are the only ones we've had issue with.