Faulty door replaced by manufacturer - what about fitting?

tightauldgit

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

cba123 said:

Thank you but the door was ordered by my husband on his Howdens account, the customer paid Howdens directly.

That does complicate matters somewhat. 

I've not seen an answer as to how this works exactly, if the customer had just gone to Howdens themselves then it would be no different to going to say B&Q really however I would suggest as your husband ordered the door and most noticeably it was through his account it could be taken that the contract to supply the door was between Howdens and your husband meaning the customer had a contract for the door between themselves and your husband despite the customer paying Howdens directly. 

If your husband spends a fortune with Howdens they might offer something to keep him as a customer, no harm in asking. 

Ultimately if Howdens won't pay for the fitting it does seem the correct thing for your husband to refit the door without charging the customer as they appear to be the "innocent" party in all this. 

If it can be shown the contract for the door supply is between Howdens and the customer then consumer rights would apply to the customer but they are going to have a hard time getting Howdens to agree to that, I appreciate the cost of lost time but if the customer voiced their dissatisfaction publicly does that not cost more in the long run or equally does a happy customer not earn further business through word of mouth? 

Not sure on the legalities but if the door was bought on their account it might be regarded as the OP's husband as having supplied the door anyway? They might be obligated to fix it? 

user1977

tightauldgit said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

cba123 said:

Thank you but the door was ordered by my husband on his Howdens account, the customer paid Howdens directly.

That does complicate matters somewhat. 

I've not seen an answer as to how this works exactly, if the customer had just gone to Howdens themselves then it would be no different to going to say B&Q really however I would suggest as your husband ordered the door and most noticeably it was through his account it could be taken that the contract to supply the door was between Howdens and your husband meaning the customer had a contract for the door between themselves and your husband despite the customer paying Howdens directly. 

If your husband spends a fortune with Howdens they might offer something to keep him as a customer, no harm in asking. 

Ultimately if Howdens won't pay for the fitting it does seem the correct thing for your husband to refit the door without charging the customer as they appear to be the "innocent" party in all this. 

If it can be shown the contract for the door supply is between Howdens and the customer then consumer rights would apply to the customer but they are going to have a hard time getting Howdens to agree to that, I appreciate the cost of lost time but if the customer voiced their dissatisfaction publicly does that not cost more in the long run or equally does a happy customer not earn further business through word of mouth? 

Not sure on the legalities but if the door was bought on their account it might be regarded as the OP's husband as having supplied the door anyway? They might be obligated to fix it? 

Yes, I would say being bought on the trader's account makes it a B2B contract (and certainly not "purchased directly by customer" which is what the OP originally told us!), so up to husband to sort out with Howdens how his time is going to be recompensed.

RefluentBeans

Yeah - I echo what others have said. I assume as the door is just a straight replacement that it should be a drop in replacement. I’m guessing that the all the work for the frame should be okay? 

Unfortunately this is the cost of doing business. I’m sure your partner can try and get some money back from the supplier for the cost of his time, but this depends on the terms of your business account as to what you can make them pay and what they are willing to pay as a gesture of goodwill. 

If this was the consumer on the board we’d be telling them to get your partner involved as it’s your partner is who the contract is with. I’d say to assume that you will lose a few hours pay, and try and schedule it around another small job to avoid losing a whole day of pay. It sounds like the door is still functioning so can potentially wait for a week or so to allow you to schedule the job for the customer.