Fitted Wardrobes Disaster

jim8888

Hi
We recently moved house and decided to fit out one of our bedrooms with fitted wardrobes. We chose a reputable company to do this (Hammonds) and paid a substantial amount to have the work done.
Unfortunately the job was rushed and we complained about the finish. Hammonds sent out an inspector and decided that it was so bad they'd rip the whole lot out and reinstall them. They couldn't do this work immediately though, and we had to wait a further six weeks for this to happen. This meant that other work we had planned for new flooring and painting & decorating couldn't be completed and necessitated two visits from each of these tradesmen to finish the dressing room once the wardrobes were refitted. 
Hammonds at the outset stated they'd compensate us for the inconvenience, delay and stress this situation caused. They have now offered us £350 for this (the wardrobes cost £7k in total). I think this is pretty poor but told them that I'd accept it if they also covered the consequential cost incurred on the flooring and decorating (which I estimate to be another £300). Hammonds are stating £350 in total is what they will pay.
I am pretty annoyed with this and wonder what next steps I can take? Should I complain to Trading Standards? I have legal insurance on our home, so could I/should I contemplate going a legal route for adequate recompense? Or are there any other options I could consider? 

sheramber

What costs have you incurred by the delay? You could ask to be recompense for these.

Any 'compensation' is a goodwill gesture. There is no regulation as to how much it should be.

You can try to negotiate a higher amount , but remember you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar.

There is the riask they will withdraw the offer.

Aylesbury_Duck

It seems that their offer covers your actual losses of £300 plus a goodwill gesture of £50.  That doesn't seem particularly unreasonable to me.  It sounds like you've tried to negotiate more, so if that's their final offer your choice is to accept it or not.  If you don't accept it, they'll presumably withdraw the offer and if you then tried action through small claims, you'd have to explain why you felt £350 wasn't enough, and I don't think you've got a good argument there.