Bensons - divan base broken - credit not enough to replace

Momentful01

Hi All,

Looking for a bit of advice.  My divan bed base is broken and is still under warranty. Bensons have confirmed the defect after several back and forth rounds of chat and emails with photos and videos.  They have said that as the base is discontinued they will offer a replacement and have offered me the £300 we spent in 2021 on the base as credit in store.  Looking online there are now no bases for that amount meaning we would need to spend at least £75 of our money to get a new base which would be the most basic model with the 2 drawers we have now.  This doesn't seem right to me.  I don't think we should be out of pocket for an agreed failure under warranty.  Surely we should get an equal quality replacement without it costing us anything?  Any people out there who can advise?  I don't want to accept their offer if they are trying to play me.  Thank you!

BoGoF

It's a generous offer to get the £300 back you paid 2/3 years ago considering you have had that 2/3 years usage from it.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

In terms of consumer rights when seeking a refund the retailer can reduce the amount to account for use so a refund under the warranty of what you paid is probably preferable. 

A warranty is bound by it's terms so you'd have to check to see what the terms say about the situation where they can't replace but it wouldn't surprise me if it's limited to the original amount paid. 

Do they want the base back and is the credit limited to buying another base?

If they don't and it's not it wouldn't surprise me if you could fix the base for very little money and use the £300 to buy some new bedding or such  

CliveOfIndia

I have to agree with the others here.  An offer of a full refund without any reduction for the use you've had is more than reasonable, I'd bite their hand off for that.

If you do want to buy a replacement, then you've effectively got a brand new item for £75, which sounds like a bargain to me.

The suggestion made by  the_lunatic_is_in_my_head is a great idea - depends on what the damage is, of course, but if it just requires some basic woodwork skills then this would seem to be a no-brainer to me (subject to the caveats they mentioned).

km1500

what they should have offered you is the 300 pounds reduced by the three years worth of use you had.

in any case they should give you credit enough to replace a the base with a second-hand base of a similar age which is not the same as a new base

DullGreyGuy

You could ask them for a similar replacement rather than a credit accepting the identical one isn't available but be aware in that case your existing warranty/consumer rights would continue from the original purchase date whereas were you to take the credit and add cash yourself its a new transaction so new warranty, resetting of consumer rights.  Whilst you can ask they aren't obliged to offer it. 

As others have said, a full refund after coming up to 3 years use is notably better than what the law would require them to do. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Sounds like a great offer.  Be careful you don't lose it by pushing for more, they may give you what you're entitled to.

Okell

Momentful01 said:

...  This doesn't seem right to me.  I don't think we should be out of pocket for an agreed failure under warranty.  Surely we should get an equal quality replacement without it costing us anything?...

None of us can read the T&Cs of your warranty.  They define what you are entitled to under the warranty in the event of failure.

As regards your statutory consumer rights, as others have already said, Benson's have made a more than reasonable offer.

Momentful01

Thank you everyone for your responses.  In my head a warranty was the same as insurance on a new for old basis but it is clear that what they are offering is more than fair.  It's so rare that we need to know this stuff but I consider myself educated in the world of warranties.  They are offering in-store credit so I'll add my money to their credit and get a new bed base. Thank you again