Sofology - Misleading Sale

EnchantedDreamer123

I am buying a new build property off plan, and over the past year I have been browsing for furniture including sofas. I found a great sofa in Sofology last year and in their sales pitch, the sales team tried to convince me to buy the sofa then. They assured me that even though I didn’t know my exact completion date, I could put down an estimated date and that I would be able to move it accordingly nearer the time with them holding onto the sofa in the meantime. This was one of the main things that attracted me to buying a sofa from Sofology as opposed to other retailers, as it provided me with some flexibility.

Despite their assurances, I decided that it wasn’t worth the risk until I knew the completion date for my property. Therefore once I knew my property would be completed at the end of June, I ordered my sofa to arrive the following week. Again, the sales team assured me that if there were any delays I could move the delivery date and they would hold on to my sofa.

Unfortunately, my property has unexpectedly been delayed until the end of July. This is completely out of my control and is due to the builders not being able to finish the property in time. 

Sofology phoned me this week to say that my sofa is ready for delivery and that I need to book a date for delivery at the end of June. I explained that my property is a new build and has been delayed to the customer services representative, but they are now saying that the sofa must be delivered within 7 days and that I am not able to change the date. This is very different to what they had originally told me at various stages leading up to the sale in addition to at the point of sale itself. 

They have told me that they are unable to hold the sofa and that I have 2 options

1. They deliver the sofa at the end of June and I need to source a storage location myself
2. I can cancel the order with a 30% cancellation fee. 

I am very stressed about this and disappointed with Sofology that they have mislead me. My situation is:

• My current rental property is very small and fully furnished and there is no space to keep the sofa in the meantime. 
• 30% cancellation fee is a lot of money and not something that I want to do. I do still need a sofa and therefore I would need to buy a sofa on top of that. 
• If I organised a storage location, the sofa could be damaged while trying to get it into the storage locker or when moving it out into my new property. Furthermore, I am a short female and have no one who would be able to help, so I would need to hire a van with 2 men to carry the sofa. I have priced this up and hiring a storage locker large enough, a van and 2 men would sum to about the same as the cancellation fee and would be a very stressful experience.

A family member has recently been in a very similar situation to me - they were buying a new build property that was delayed and had bought a sofa with DFS. DFS were able to hold onto the sofa in their warehouse without any hassle and the customer service were very accommodating. What is interesting is that DFS and Sofology are part of the same group and share the same warehouse. When I phoned customer service their reason for not being able to hold onto the sofa was because their warehouse was too small.

I am overwhelmingly disappointed as Sofology have mislead me into the sale with them as one of the major reasons for choosing a sofa with them was the flexibility with delivery. The situation is making me very stressed, at a time when I should be excited to move into my first property.

Has anyone had any similar experiences or have any suggestions. 

TLDR: when I bought my sofa from Sofology they said I could move the delivery date if needed without hassle. Now they are going back on this and insisting on delivering within 7 days.  

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Any record of them saying you can change the delivery date?

What does the paperwork for the order say about a delivery date?

pinkshoes

Do you remember the name of the sales person?

I would be writing to them making it clear that on X date you ordered your sofa and the sales person (name or description) reassured you that should the completion date be changed there would be no problem changing the delivery date. I'd then say that the delivery date has now been moved to the end of July so as per the agreement you would like to now move the delivery date to provisionally end of July pending further changes. I'd then state that if they are unable to uphold the agreement which is why yoy purchased from them in the first place you would like a full refund.

sheramber

Can I change delivery date?

https://help.sofology.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/19237049265426-Changing-the-date-of-your-delivery#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20booked%20delivery,to%20avoid%20a%20rebooking%20fee.

pinkshoes

sheramber said:

Can I change delivery date?

https://help.sofology.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/19237049265426-Changing-the-date-of-your-delivery#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20booked%20delivery,to%20avoid%20a%20rebooking%20fee.

That's very clear but not what the OP was told by the sales person.

I'm guessing it was the sort of sales person that promised the earth to make the sale knowing it couldn't be proved...