DFS sofa - failed repair w/in 6 mo. of purchase - exercise replacement rights under CRA 2015

h3ri

My goal is to get a replacement sofa from DFS under the Consumer Rights Act of 2015 as DFS have had one chance to repair the creaking on the sofa recliner and have failed. Thanks for your input in advance

I've read a number of threads here and the complaints resolver for the consumer rights act and reverse burden of proof. Below is a brief running history of events/dates.

Early November 2023: Bought a DFS sofa recliner online in early November 2023 and arrived late November 2023.

Late December 2023: The recliner began making a creaking noise when sitting/getting up over the holiday period. There are no kids or jumping on the sofa or any negligence.

Early January 2024: Reported the issue to DFS customer service who said they can only schedule in a service repair, which is scheduled.

Early-Mid January 2024: Service manager came and spends 1.5 hours trying to repair the creaking sofa. After screwing 30+ screws into the back of the recliner sofa the creaking noise has worsened/become louder. The service manager left without providing any kind of form/report, and said a replacement part needs to be ordered which has an 8+ week lead time that may/may not resolve the creaking noise with the sofa recliner.

Early-Mid January 2024: I did not hear from DFS regarding the report or replacement part being ordered, so I called DFS customer service and let them know about the consumer rights act of 2015 with the failed repair and asked for my case to be escalated to initiate a replacement sofa as the purchase is within 6 months and the first opportunity for repair has failed. DFS customer service unable to make any decisions and say the service team will be in touch with me.  

Mid-January 2024: I receive a phone call from a local store manager who basically says the buck stops with him whether I get a replacement or not and that he needs to follow procedure/process. This is where things get fishy/strange from DFS, essentially fabricating the service report and marking the failed repair as fixed/resolved. The local store manager lets me know that he spoke to the service manager that same day who tried to fix the sofa and has the report which shows that the creaking issue was resolved and no new part has been ordered. I explain the details regarding the failed repair on the service day and what happened. I am shocked when I hear that this is not the information the store manager has at hand on the report, which shows the issue was resolved. The store manager is unwilling to replace the item claiming they resolved the repair on the first instance, and that he needs to follow procedure and schedule in another visit with a service manager. He tells me he will try to get a supervisor with the service manager to oversee if they can fix the issue and then if they are unable to fix in the 2nd visit they can look at options to replace the item. I have reluctantly allowed to schedule in another service visit.

Looking back at the call, I think it is DFS standard procedure to call the customer a liar and say that they resolved the service issue so they do not fall foul of the consumer rights act and fabricate documentation that shows this kind of information.

I want to exercise my rights under the consumer rights act and obtain a replacement for this sofa recliner the same exact one that does not have the creaking issues present with the sofa. I referenced the consumer rights act of 2015 to DFS on the failed repair and that it is within 6 months and the onus is on them to provide reverse burden of proof. I am looking for advice on the best next steps including the worst case scenario.

• I am considering filing a freedom of information / data protection request with DFS to try and obtain the report, slim chance they’ll share it and if they do I’m sure it’ll be faked. I guess there’s no harm in trying.
• I am thinking of filing a request with the ombudsman, but without the proof on my end I am sure they will side with DFS who will undoubtedly have some kind of report they resolved the issue first time around and that this is a new opened issue. It is hard for me to write about a creaking issue as I don’t think I can submit an audio file on the Furniture Ombudsman complaint. Do you think I should go this route as my next step?
• My final resort will be to get in a furniture surveyor/assessment with a written report and file a small claims case? Where do I find one of these furniture assessors that write reports that stand up in court of law?

 

BoGoF

So how much dealings have you had with DFS that you can deduce it's standard behaviour to call customers liars?

You are jumping the gun a getting ahead of yourself now that you have agreed to a 2nd visit.

What makes you think a FOI/DPA request entitles you to see any report - it does not contain any personal data about you.

How did you pay for the goods? There may be other options on which to reject the goods if need be.

Jenni_D

BoGoF said:

So how much dealings have you had with DFS that you can deduce it's standard behaviour to call customers liars?

You are jumping the gun a getting ahead of yourself now that you have agreed to a 2nd visit.

What makes you think a FOI/DPA request entitles you to see any report - it does not contain any personal data about you.

How did you pay for the goods? There may be other options on which to reject the goods if need be.

Really? Are you sure? I would suggest that it is almost a certainty that it contains data pertaining to the OP ... their address for a start (at a minimum). So a SAR (but not an FOI) response should yield a copy of the service report.

But the "how did you pay?" query is very relevant ... if finance (which includes a credit card) was used for any part of the purchase then the OP may have a Section 75 route they can pursue.

BoGoF

Jenni_D said:

BoGoF said:

So how much dealings have you had with DFS that you can deduce it's standard behaviour to call customers liars?

You are jumping the gun a getting ahead of yourself now that you have agreed to a 2nd visit.

What makes you think a FOI/DPA request entitles you to see any report - it does not contain any personal data about you.

How did you pay for the goods? There may be other options on which to reject the goods if need be.

Really? Are you sure? I would suggest that it is almost a certainty that it contains data pertaining to the OP ... their address for a start (at a minimum). So a SAR (but not an FOI) response should yield a copy of the service report.

But the "how did you pay?" query is very relevant ... if finance (which includes a credit card) was used for any part of the purchase then the OP may have a Section 75 route they can pursue.

Maybe it would have an address but nothing to stop them redacting tbe actual report. Even if OP is provided with it and it's 'fabricated' as he believes then it doean't really help him as he has no evidence to the contrary.

Better sticking to actions that will actually help the cause instead of going into full blown rage mode.

Alderbank

h3ri said:

I have reluctantly allowed to schedule in another service visit.

You didn't have to, but you have agreed to give them another opportunity to repair.

You can't therefore do anything else unless that further attempt also fails

ArbitraryRandom

Jenni_D said:

BoGoF said:

So how much dealings have you had with DFS that you can deduce it's standard behaviour to call customers liars?

You are jumping the gun a getting ahead of yourself now that you have agreed to a 2nd visit.

What makes you think a FOI/DPA request entitles you to see any report - it does not contain any personal data about you.

How did you pay for the goods? There may be other options on which to reject the goods if need be.

Really? Are you sure? I would suggest that it is almost a certainty that it contains data pertaining to the OP ... their address for a start (at a minimum). So a SAR (but not an FOI) response should yield a copy of the service report.

But the "how did you pay?" query is very relevant ... if finance (which includes a credit card) was used for any part of the purchase then the OP may have a Section 75 route they can pursue.

A subject access request doesn't entitle you to documents that contain your information... it entails you to a copy of your personal information contained within those documents.

It may be more convenient to provide the complete document, but lAO may decide to exclude the service report anyway - as they are able to do with documents relating to ongoing negotiations where disclosure may prejudice the negotiation. 

h3ri

BoGoF said:

So how much dealings have you had with DFS that you can deduce it's standard behaviour to call customers liars?

You are jumping the gun a getting ahead of yourself now that you have agreed to a 2nd visit.

What makes you think a FOI/DPA request entitles you to see any report - it does not contain any personal data about you.

How did you pay for the goods? There may be other options on which to reject the goods if need be.

That's a fair point and I can only go on my experience in this instance and what I have been reading.

Do you think it's wise to cancel the 2nd visit? I think there's no harm in trying to obtain the report, how likely to obtain is another question - I would assume the report may have a customer name/address and order info/purchase.

The goods were bought on the 0% financing over 3 years ... 

h3ri

Jenni_D said:

BoGoF said:

So how much dealings have you had with DFS that you can deduce it's standard behaviour to call customers liars?

You are jumping the gun a getting ahead of yourself now that you have agreed to a 2nd visit.

What makes you think a FOI/DPA request entitles you to see any report - it does not contain any personal data about you.

How did you pay for the goods? There may be other options on which to reject the goods if need be.

Really? Are you sure? I would suggest that it is almost a certainty that it contains data pertaining to the OP ... their address for a start (at a minimum). So a SAR (but not an FOI) response should yield a copy of the service report.

But the "how did you pay?" query is very relevant ... if finance (which includes a credit card) was used for any part of the purchase then the OP may have a Section 75 route they can pursue.

@Jenni_D

Thanks for your reply it was bought on credit via 0% finance taking direct debit payments. 

h3ri

I appreciate all the responses and your time to respond. What do you think are some tangible outcomes and actions that I can take as next steps? 

Thanks

Jenni_D

If DFS give no joy then contact the finance company and raise a Section 75 claim ... S75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the finance provider jointly and severally liable with the seller for the performance of the contract. So any claim you have against the seller you have an equal claim against the finance provider.