DFS .. trying to get a refund over sending me the wrong colour feet

Lipgloss24

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

[Your address]

[Supplier's address]

[DFS order number]
[V12 account/ref number]
[v12 complaint number]

Dear V12 Finance

I am writing to you in follow up to the recent communication regarding the above order with DFS. In brief the sofa was delivered with incorrect, mismatched coloured feet. I attempted to exercise the short term right to reject which both yourself and DFS refused, DFS then left a bag of feet on my door step labelled "repair" and at a later date attended to change the feet however they didn't have the correct colour feet in the bag and now wish to return again to swap the feet over.

Your final response to my complaint mentions chips to the feet, it's unclear whether there has been a miscommunication or mix up however I have never complained that the feet were chipped. 

The specifics of my position, most noticeably the legislation upon which I am making my position, are stated in detail in the previous communication between ourselves, however again, in brief, I have already exercised my final right to reject as the sofa did not conform to the contract in terms of matching the description and the repair attempt to correct the feet failed. I am seeking to exercise my rights against V12 under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which holds you jointly liable for this breach of contract

In my opinion v12 has repeatedly relied on the incorrect information supplied by DFS, both in terms of my rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the course of events, rather than taking an objective viewpoint to independently consider the actuality of the situation and I intent to convey this point to the court as part of my claim.

As it has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably, and it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.

From you I am claiming the full cost of the sofa plus the cost of return

I have calculated this sum as £xxxxx for the sofa and £xx for the return. 

Included with this letter are a copy of the documents on which I intend to rely in my claim against you:

I can confirm that I would be agreeable to mediation and I would invite you to put forward any proposals in this regard. 

In closing, I would draw your attention to paragraphs 15 and 16 of the Practice Direction which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction including failing to respond to this letter before claim. 

I look forward to hearing from you within the next 28 days. 

Should I not receive a response to my letter within this time frame, then I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further reference to you.

Yours faithfully,

Thankyou so much 

Lipgloss24

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

@Lipgloss24

One of the emails asked V12 about returning the sofa, did they answer this question?

You can fill in the value of the sofa, if they gave you an address to return the sofa obtain a quote from Shiply for the return costs.

I would include a copy of the DFS order, highlighting the section where the colour of the feet are detailed.
A copy of the finance agreement
Clear photographs of the miscoloured feet.
A copy of each email sent to both DFS and V21 and their replies.
Copy of the Shiply quote

Regarding this story about chipped feet, it's been a long thread, I assume all the previous communication is clear and shows their claim is unwarranted? 

As always check for typos  

If anyone has any suggestions to help on what should be said or included that would be great. I think it's simply shocking how far they are willing to go to avoid a customer exercising their rights. 

Can anyone advise if OP make a joint claim against both DFS and V12 at the same time under the same case?

No they completely ignored when I asked that . I don’t even know where they have got this information from . Dfs store manager has replied that he isn’t aware of any chips the delivery guy and the guy who came to swap the feet have also said they haven’t put that in the report it was literally the wrong colour . These are the only 3 people from dfs that i have delt with 

Okell

@Lipgloss24 -  have you anything in writing (eg emails or texts etc) that demonstrate you were complaining about mis-matched colour and not chips?  If you have any replies from DFS staff acknowledging it's the colour mismatch and not chips that would be helpful to you.

Photographs too.

I know this may be too late for you but always a good idea to confirm complaints by email or text or letter and to take photos of faults etc.

Lipgloss24

Okell said:

@Lipgloss24 -  have you anything in writing (eg emails or texts etc) that demonstrate you were complaining about mis-matched colour and not chips?  If you have any replies from DFS staff acknowledging it's the colour mismatch and not chips that would be helpful to you.

Photographs too.

I know this may be too late for you but always a good idea to confirm complaints by email or text or letter and to take photos of faults etc.

Yes I have everything on email . And I also have proof on a email from dfs store manager that there hasn’t been any chips it was the colour . And also text messages from the delivery guy and the guy who came to swap the feet confirming the issues was the wrong colour 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Lipgloss24 said:

Okell said:

@Lipgloss24 -  have you anything in writing (eg emails or texts etc) that demonstrate you were complaining about mis-matched colour and not chips?  If you have any replies from DFS staff acknowledging it's the colour mismatch and not chips that would be helpful to you.

Photographs too.

I know this may be too late for you but always a good idea to confirm complaints by email or text or letter and to take photos of faults etc.

Yes I have everything on email . And I also have proof on a email from dfs store manager that there hasn’t been any chips it was the colour . And also text messages from the delivery guy and the guy who came to swap the feet confirming the issues was the wrong colour 

@Lipgloss24

If you have everything in writing to show their reasoning of "chips" on the feet is inaccurate I'd wait for their final response letter and then raise the complaint with the FOS.

Keeping it relatively simply

Sofa delivered with incorrect feet so the sofa did not conform to the contract
DFS and V12 incorrectly understood the regulations and pestered you into a repair*
Repair failed
You exercised the final right to reject and sought to impose this upon v12 under Section 75
V12's final response appears to be based upon a misunderstanding or miscommunication and V12 have failed to provide a refund within the required 14 days. 
You have requested an address to return the sofa but V12 didn't answer that particular question.

*The bag dropped by your door with "repair" written on it probably ended up being a bonus as they can't now argue it wasn't a repair! 
**Whilst a sceptic might wonder if DFS and/or V12 are doing their best to get out of this by any means it's best to be objective and not accuse them directly of lying  

Looking at some of the FOS decisions I'd hope they'd refund/cancel the finance and offer some compensation.

Lipgloss24

Respone from v12 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If the feet are the "wrong" colour how can they be as described and if there's nothing wrong with them why are DFS replacing them? 

If I didn't already it's also worth highlighting

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/9

(3)The quality of goods includes their state and condition; and the following aspects (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—

(a)fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied;

(b)appearance and finish;

(c)freedom from minor defects;

(d)safety;

(e)durability.

So either the feet aren't as described due to the colour being incorrect or aren't of satisfactory quality due to the colour being incorrect. 

Yeah I'd go to the FOS, it won't cost anything so not much to lose (other than perhaps if the FOS ruled in favour of V12 they might use that in their defence if it went to court?). 

RefluentBeans

OP in your original post you said it came with some dark and some light feet. How different is the colour and is it different, for sure, from the ordered item? 

The reason I’m asking this is they aren’t rejecting your claim by saying it’s a minor component, they’re saying there is no fault. We’ve seen this type of argument on here before, and natural products (and I assume they are wooden feet?) do have some variance, and there are some variances allowed batch to batch. So when you say there were some that were light and some that were dark, do you have a photo of them? Are they brown but ones near black and the other one is tan colour? Or is just slight differences? 

Also what were the other objections you made when you tried to reject the sofa? So far (pun not intended) we’ve had:
1. Wrong feet
2. too hard
3. Too high
4. Too small

What exactly was the reason you were rejecting the sofa? Or is it just any reason? Ultimately, you don’t have the right to cancel because of a change of mind; and without seeing the feet, it’s going to be hard for anyone to say for sure whether you have a valid claim. 

Also - because it didn’t get an answer before - are you using the sofa still? I was under the impression once rejected you should refrain from using the sofa - happy to be corrected. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

RefluentBeans said:

We’ve seen this type of argument on here before, and natural products (and I assume they are wooden feet?) do have some variance, and there are some variances allowed batch to batch. So when you say there were some that were light and some that were dark, do you have a photo of them? Are they brown but ones near black and the other one is tan colour? Or is just slight differences? 

When I looked at a few of the sofas on the DFS site back when the thread started they seem to to offer light, dark and black feet so assumed the feet were a mismatch of the different options. 

It does make you wonder if it were the case that the feet were just a slight a variation of natural colour again why wouldn't they just have simply said so rather than going on about components and manufacturing faults? 

RefluentBeans

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

RefluentBeans said:

We’ve seen this type of argument on here before, and natural products (and I assume they are wooden feet?) do have some variance, and there are some variances allowed batch to batch. So when you say there were some that were light and some that were dark, do you have a photo of them? Are they brown but ones near black and the other one is tan colour? Or is just slight differences? 

When I looked at a few of the sofas on the DFS site back when the thread started they seem to to offer light, dark and black feet so assumed the feet were a mismatch of the different options. 

It does make you wonder if it were the case that the feet were just a slight a variation of natural colour again why wouldn't they just have simply said so rather than going on about components and manufacturing faults? 

I think we’re being told two persons sides of the story here. Whilst I would like to believe the OP, without seeing photos of the feet, I’d struggle to say if it was a manufacturing defect (ie the wrong parts installed). Additionally, the OP has appeared to state several other reasons that are harder to prove if they constitute a fault (hardness/softness, especially). The other stuff (being too high or small) aren’t faults unless this was much different from the stated dimensions. 

From reading this, and the actual letter from V12, it does seem to me, that this may or may not be a legitimate fault. If the feet are legitimately different (not just natural variances) I’ll happily stand corrected; but it appears, officially, DFS are stating there isn’t a fault; and dropped the components etc. I think it’ll be down to the ombudsman whether they think that this is a breach in contract, manufacturing defect, or no fault. I’d imagine it really depends how the facts are presented from both sides. 

ETA: it also means if they say there’s no fault, they reserve the right to repair again in the future; and all this feet stuff is just going above and beyond their legal responsibility…