Failed repiar/replacement on sofa

beefturnmail

In dispute with a furniture company - bought a sofa which was faulty on delivery 18 months ago.  This was replaced buy replacement developed a similar thought after about 1 year of use.  A repair was attempted but fault is still present.  So now I'm asking for a refund, but the company want to send an independent technician out again to verify the fault is still present and are saying they will take the sofa immediately if it is and issue a refund - this is despite me sending them a video which clearly demonstrates fault is still there.

Am I right in thinking that I can ask for a price reduction (and keep the sofa) rather than reject the sofa entirely (since two attempts at repair/replacement have been made from original sofa)?

Do I have to agree to (another) visit from a technician?  - the technician is from a 3rd party company but are they really 'independent' if arranged by the furniture company?

Aylesbury_Duck

I think you should agree to another visit, so they can verify the fault exists.  If you don't like the verdict you could pay for your own inspection.

If they offer a full refund after 18 months that's a pretty good offer.  You an ask for a price reduction, of course.  They may not oblige.

mr_stripey

Is there an outcome you'd prefer here? Collecting the sofa and getting a full refund or retaining the sofa and getting a discount?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

After 6 months they can request you show the fault, it depends on what the fault is, something obvious to the eye is just that, something more technical and usually you are looking at an independent inspection so letting them look is free to you and as above if you don't agree you can always get someone independent out to have a look. 

If it's a full refund that's a good offer, they can deduct for use, no idea how long a sofa should last these days.

A price reduction is an alternative remedy of your choice (i.e you can insist on a reduction and keep the goods over a refund), usually it is to reflect the difference between what was paid and what was received. If you paid for a 3 seater and received a 2 seater that's easy to calculate, if you plan to independently fix a fault the company can't/won't then a reasonable cost of repair seems an easy calculation as well. If you plan to simply live with the fault then it's harder to quantify and you'd have negotiate over the amount.  

beefturnmail

OK thanks - I think ideally I'd like a reasonable discount and to keep the sofa - only so that I have something while I find a replacement.   I feel a sofa should last close to 10 years before developing a fault, and I've only had it just over 1, so I'd be looking for a discount to reflect almost all the cost. 

Fault is loud creaking and movement in the frame by the way. 

 Maybe I will take the offer of another visit from the technician as you say - but only to verify that the fault exists rather than agreeing to another repair attempt - though I have already sent them a video which clearly demonstrates the fault - I'm suspicious they will try to claim its due to misuse (which it isn't).

beefturnmail

Just to update, I had the independent report out again.  They agree it's a manufacturing defect, but are saying its a new/different fault to that which arose before on the replacement sofa, and want to repair again.  I'm not sure I'm happy about this and really just want some sort of refund now.     

Does anyone know how it works with the 'one chance of repair/replacement' under the Consumer Rights Act before being able to reject- I've already had a replacement and 1 repair of the replacement, do I have to allow them one chance for each new fault that arises?

HillStreetBlues

They get one chance to repair the sofa it's not broken down. Working on their methodology  it could have 100 different faults and they get to have 100 repairs.

ArbitraryRandom

As above, they only get one chance to repair OR replace before you can opt for either a discount to keep the faulty sofa or a refund (reduced by the time you had use of it when it wasn't faulty/awaiting repair) OR to let them try again to fix it. 

If it's helpful, you can quote this at them: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24 (point 5)

beefturnmail

So I rejected the sofa, they agree its a manufacturing defect (as per the independent report) but saying that as it's after 6 months, they can deduct for usage and that they get to choose the method for doing so.   They're saying they will do this by dividing the purchase price by the warranty period (2 years), take off the usage and reimburse for the remaining amount. 

 They've calculated usage to include the 6 month period when I was waiting for the replacement sofa (I did still have the original sofa).   Whilst I accept there will be some deduction for use as after 6 months, this doesn't seem very fair (essentially its saying the sofa is worthless at the expiry of the warranty period).   Is there any guidance or case law anywhere on how deduction for use should be calculated when refunding under final right to reject?

Lizzie2995

I think the correct way of doing this is to calculate over 6 years, certainly not over 2 years. 

pinkshoes

I'd expect a sofa to last for 8 to 10 years so if you've only had it for 18 months I'd be wanting at least an 80% refund!