Wrong item supplied

Boogie12630

After some advice, had a delivery of skirting boards delivered from builders merchant. They delivered on the wrong day and no one was at the house. The carpenter then installed the wrong skirting obviously not knowing until I saw it and realised the issue. The company are replacing the skirting with the correct ordered size but I’m considerably out of pocket as having to pay carpenter now twice. Do I have any claim against builders merchant as not happy at all. Thanks  

[Deleted User]

Where was the supervision?

If an order was delivered unchecked, I'd say it was your responsibility to ensure that the skirting was correct before supplying it to your carpenter.

Employing a labour only contractor means that you're responsible for managing the project.

Why didn't the carpenter know what they were installing in advance? If they had better instruction from you, they would have flagged up the issue straight away.

Arranging a delivery and letting your workers blindly get on with it is fraught with risk, as you've found out.

I can't imagine much sympathy from the merchant, usually the incorrect product would be returned for resale. In this case the product has been fitted (and therefore useless to the merchant). They're already at a loss, a more ruthless supplier might have insisted that you paid for the items used. Learn the lesson and move on, imo.

Bradden

The carpenter should have known it was the wrong skirting - did they not know the profile you orders.. it should have been obvious if you'd ordered Ovolo and they had supplied Torus (for example)
 I'm guessing you organised the supply of materials and paid separately for labour?  If this is the case I'm not sure the merchant can be held liable for someone fitting the materials which will have been cut/nailed and will be unsellable now. 

pinkshoes

Was it the carpenters role to check the skirting to order and fit, or fit what you supplied?

If the carpenter was employed to check then fit they should be fitting the second one for free.

Otherwise it was your responsibility to check before getting it fitted so your mistake.

You're lucky they're replacing it without wanting the incorrect one returning as by I stalling the incorrect one it could be seen as acceptance.

Aylesbury_Duck

Do you have a claim?  That depends, as people have advised.  If you chose and ordered it directly, told your carpenter to install skirting and you weren't there to check it, the fault is yours and the retailer isn't liable for the reinstallation cost.

There are other series of events that might shift liability to the retailer or the carpenter, but without knowing exactly what happened, it's impossible to advise.

Boogie12630

The order was a special order and I was told by the merchant it was correct. Yes unfortunately it was not checked but even the merchant said it was correct, even when I went in they still tried to deny the error even measuring the skirting in front of them they said it was correct. Only when I said about the sizing quoted on the product didn’t match what’s ordered did they actually accept any responsibility. Yea it should have been checked but unfortunately this is life sometimes and you expect a product to be correct when they have reassured you it is 

Aylesbury_Duck

Boogie12630 said:

The order was a special order and I was told by the merchant it was correct. Yes unfortunately it was not checked but even the merchant said it was correct, even when I went in they still tried to deny the error even measuring the skirting in front of them they said it was correct. Only when I said about the sizing quoted on the product didn’t match what’s ordered did they actually accept any responsibility. Yea it should have been checked but unfortunately this is life sometimes and you expect a product to be correct when they have reassured you it is 

None of which makes the retailer liable for reinstallation costs.  I think you're fortunate that they're accepting the old ones back after they've been installed.  It would be a different story if the skirting was discovered to be faulty after installation.

In future, it's sensible to pay someone to supply and fit.  That way, the carpenter is responsible for any faults or incorrect product and the cost of putting things right.

TELLIT01

Unfortunately assumptions are dangerous things.  When we had our kitchen done, all but one of the door were the wrong colour but the person installing the kitchen had the full list of everything and realised it was the wrong stuff.  If I'd just said that the kitchen will arrive in the morning but I won't be here, without letting him know exactly what to expect, I would probably have had the same experience as the OP.