Refund for a Duravit Bath

SplashingAroundForever

Hello, I would really appreciate some help and advice please.
I am remodeling a bathroom in my home and I chose a lovely big Duravit bath to fit into it.  Unfortunately, despite the fact it is a very large bathroom, my internal staircase is small and has very bad access and the bath simply will not get upstairs.  The workmen decided this by looking at the bath - they took the lid off the box but they didn't try to get it upstairs as they were 100% confident it would not go and told me to get a refund and wanted me to be able to say it had not been unboxed, which it had not.
The company (Duravit) will not take the bath back nor give me a refund.  They will not engage whatsoever other than to say it was a special order.  It does not say anywhere on their website this was a special order and I was never told that it was ordered especially for me.  Surely they must evidence this on their product pages in order to clarify what they are stating and refuse the refund?
Surely this is unacceptable?  The conditions on their website says items can be refunded within a certain number of days and I am still within that number of days.  I am shocked and over £2k out of pocket!
Please help!

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

If you ordered in a showroom then they have to abide by any terms offering refund but it would be easier for us to read them rather than speculate  

Just to confirm did you order via a website/over the phone? If so you have the right to cancel within a set period.

To work out exactly what you are entitled to could you also advise the date the bath was delivered and name of the website/company you ordered from please (as the Duravit website suggests they don't sell direct but via retailers)?

SplashingAroundForever

Thank you for your help.
I ordered the bath by visit / phone / email from a bathroom suppliers shop, not Duravit themselves.  They are blaming Duravit for not allowing the return.  The company I ordered from is Empress Bathrooms in Finchley.
The bath was delivered to me on Tuesday 20th February.  I informed Empress that I wanted to return the bath on Thursday 14th March.
Many thanks, I really appreciate your help with this. 

TadleyBaggie

You have no relationship with Duravit, only with the retailer. So any remedy must come from the retailer 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

SplashingAroundForever said:

I ordered the bath by visit / phone / email from .... Empress Bathrooms in Finchley.

Thank you OP can you confirm which specifically? i.e did you go in the store and order the bath there? 

born_again

One option could be if you have UPVC windows is to remove the glass & get bath in that way.

If purchased in store (even if then emailed order in after viewing) this is a in store purchase & change of mind is only if retailer will cover it.
Sadly even if it will not go up stairs, it is a change of mind.

Okell

SplashingAroundForever said:

... I ordered the bath by visit / phone / email from a bathroom suppliers shop, not Duravit themselves.  They are blaming Duravit for not allowing the return.  The company I ordered from is Empress Bathrooms in Finchley.
The bath was delivered to me on Tuesday 20th February.  I informed Empress that I wanted to return the bath on Thursday 14th March...

If you bought it from Empress Bathrooms your complaint is with them, not Duravit.

Does Empress Bathrooms have a returns policy?  If so, it's this returns policy that applies to you.  Any returns policy offered by Duravit is irrelevant if you didn't buy from Duravit.

If your purchase included a visit* to Empress bathrooms then it probably isn't a distance contract and you have no statutory right to cancel the contract for a refund.

Assuming it isn't a distance sale (because of your visit*) it all comes down to the T&Cs of Empress Bathrooms instore returns policy - if they have one.


*  It might help if you could explain what part in the purchase process your visit(s) played.

SplashingAroundForever said:

... The company (Duravit) will not take the bath back nor give me a refund.  They will not engage whatsoever other than to say it was a special order.  It does not say anywhere on their website this was a special order and I was never told that it was ordered especially for me.  Surely they must evidence this on their product pages in order to clarify what they are stating and refuse the refund?
Surely this is unacceptable?  The conditions on their website says items can be refunded within a certain number of days and I am still within that number of days...

As above - irrelevant if you did not buy from Duravit.  This is between you and Empress Bathrooms.

Aylesbury_Duck

Assuming your first preference is to keep and use the bath, have you explored other options for getting it in?  Surely there's a way other than the stairs?

Alderbank

The 'workmen' who did not even attempt to get it upstairs - are they plumbers?

Other tradespeople are available. I would invite a furniture removal firm to give an opinion. Few baths are bigger than a piano or a three seater settee.

pinkshoes

SplashingAroundForever said:

Thank you for your help.
I ordered the bath by visit / phone / email from a bathroom suppliers shop, not Duravit themselves.  They are blaming Duravit for not allowing the return.  The company I ordered from is Empress Bathrooms in Finchley.
The bath was delivered to me on Tuesday 20th February.  I informed Empress that I wanted to return the bath on Thursday 14th March.
Many thanks, I really appreciate your help with this. 

The fact you have visited the store means this is NOT a distance sale, and therefore unless Empress Bathrooms have specific T&Cs saying you can return orders, then you have no legal right to return it and should have checked the dimensions before purchasing.

Asking to EXCHANGE it for a different bath and offering to pay to return it might be met with a warmer reception rather than just asking for a return and refund.

Have you considered having it put in through the window??

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

pinkshoes said:

The fact you have visited the store means this is NOT a distance sale

It really depends, the EU guidance puts it better than I can

https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/f1f42e20-e4a1-4d8b-a1ef-d06acccba34e_en?filename=crd_guidance_en_0_updated.pdf

5.1. Definition of a distance contract

Article 2 defines distance contracts as follows: '(7) ‘distance contract’ means any contract

concluded between the trader and the consumer under an organised distance sales or serviceprovision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer,

with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including

the time at which the contract is concluded'.

Recital 20 provides further explanations of this concept, including examples of means of

distance communication: 'The definition of distance contract should cover all cases where a

contract is concluded between the trader and the consumer under an organised distance sales

or service-provision scheme, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance

communication (such as mail order, Internet, telephone or fax) up to and including the time

at which the contract is concluded. That definition should also cover situations where the

consumer visits the business premises merely for the purpose of gathering information about

the goods or services and subsequently negotiates and concludes the contract at a distance.

By contrast, a contract which is negotiated at the business premises of the trader and finally

concluded by means of distance communication should not be considered a distance contract.

Neither should a contract initiated by means of distance communication, but finally concluded

at the business premises of the trader be considered a distance contract. Similarly, the

concept of distance contract should not include reservations made by a consumer through a

means of distance communications to request the provision of a service from a professional,

such as in the case of a consumer phoning to request an appointment with a hairdresser.

[…]'.

In concluding a distance contract, the parties may also use a combination of several

different means of distance communication (e.g. website and phone). The fact that parties

meet each other after concluding the distance contract, typically at the time of delivery or

payment, should not change the classification of a contract as a distance contract. If the

consumer has merely visited the business premises to gather information about the goods or

services, the contract that he subsequently negotiates and concludes with the trader at a

distance should be considered a distance contract. Although simply taking of an appointment

with the trader is not considered a distance contract, a binding reservation made, for example,

by telephone of goods to be collected or services to be received at a certain time is likely to

constitute a distance contract for the purposes of the Directive.

The Directive only applies to distance contracts concluded under an organised distance sales

or service-provision scheme. For example, if a trader only exceptionally concludes a

contract with a consumer by e-mail or telephone, after being contacted by the consumer, such

a contract should not be considered a distance contract under the Directive.

So going into store, looking at the bath, asking some questions and then phoning up to order would still be a distance contract (assuming the company took phones orders as a general course of business).