Returning a Bed

jasonwatkins

Unfortunately, the T's & C's of this bed state quite clearly that anything that is "specifically made" for you cannot be returned if you've bought it in-store, which I did, so I do understand my options are basically that I have ​no​ options but I would be interested to hear people's thoughts about any possible avenues I could take otherwise.

That's got that out of the way

I bought a new bed in March this year from Fabb Furniture which was eventually delivered and set up about three weeks ago and it's proving to be a terrible, terrible mistake.

I'm not sleeping on it, which doesn't do my sleep aponea any good, and it's causing me physical problems as well with a lot of pain in my back and knees that I certainly didn't have with my other bed.

The bed is a full ottoman design so the frame is primarily metal with wooden slats which is a lot stiffer than my old bed and the mattress is one of those 'Coolwave' ones that's supposed to regulate your body heat which I also think is a problem.

It did take me about two weeks to get used to my old bed, which I subsequently kept for 15 years,  so I do accept that this could just be a process and that i'll figure it out eventually but if anyone has any thoughts about what, if anything, I could do if i need to make a change then I'd be very grateful.

Aylesbury_Duck

As you say, buying in-store has removed one route to a return.  That leaves two or possibly three other routes.  If the bed is faulty then you're entitled to reject it.  If the retailer's returns policy allows a return (probably with conditions) then look into that.  The manufacturer may offer some sort of good night's sleep guarantee, or similar?  Again, that will come with terms and conditions.

user1977

If it's not actually faulty, and matches whatever it was described as, I can't see that you have any consumer rights (beyond anything additional that the retailer or manufacturer have opted to offer customers).

jasonwatkins

Aylesbury_Duck said:

As you say, buying in-store has removed one route to a return.  That leaves two or possibly three other routes.  If the bed is faulty then you're entitled to reject it.  If the retailer's returns policy allows a return (probably with conditions) then look into that.  The manufacturer may offer some sort of good night's sleep guarantee, or similar?  Again, that will come with terms and conditions.

Thankyou.  The only thing I could have possibly brought up was that one of the wooden slats was broken when it was set up.  The salesman at Fabb put me in touch with a company they worked with who were able to come in and take my old furniture away and assemble the bed - for a price of course

When they'd finished and had left, I pulled the base up to have a look underneath and that's when I noticed the broken slat but the two who had put the bed together had long gone by then.

I'll have a read of the paperwork again to see if there's anything like a good night's sleep clause as I think that would really be my only avenue.

theoretica

It might also be worth looking separately at the mattress - could this be exchanged while keeping the frame?

Okell

jasonwatkins said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

As you say, buying in-store has removed one route to a return.  That leaves two or possibly three other routes.  If the bed is faulty then you're entitled to reject it.  If the retailer's returns policy allows a return (probably with conditions) then look into that.  The manufacturer may offer some sort of good night's sleep guarantee, or similar?  Again, that will come with terms and conditions.

...  The only thing I could have possibly brought up was that one of the wooden slats was broken when it was set up.  The salesman at Fabb put me in touch with a company they worked with who were able to come in and take my old furniture away and assemble the bed - for a price of course

When they'd finished and had left, I pulled the base up to have a look underneath and that's when I noticed the broken slat but the two who had put the bed together had long gone by then...

I don't understand.

Did the seller arrange a third party to assemble the bed or did you?

If the seller did, have you told the seller that their agents have either (a) assembled the bed with a broken slat without noticing, or (b) broken a slat?

If you arranged the assembly, have you notified the third party what they've done?

Either way, what have you done to fix or replace the broken slat?

(I'm confused as to why you didn't mention the broken slat in your first post.  Didn't you think it might be causing some of your problems?)

jasonwatkins

theoretica said:

It might also be worth looking separately at the mattress - could this be exchanged while keeping the frame?

This is another avenue I am going to look in to, especially since this "gel layer" on top of the mattress does appear to be playing havoc with my body heat.  I throw the quilt off when I get too hot and then I eventually get cold enough that I have to pick it up again and put it back on the bed.

RefluentBeans

Okell said:

jasonwatkins said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

As you say, buying in-store has removed one route to a return.  That leaves two or possibly three other routes.  If the bed is faulty then you're entitled to reject it.  If the retailer's returns policy allows a return (probably with conditions) then look into that.  The manufacturer may offer some sort of good night's sleep guarantee, or similar?  Again, that will come with terms and conditions.

...  The only thing I could have possibly brought up was that one of the wooden slats was broken when it was set up.  The salesman at Fabb put me in touch with a company they worked with who were able to come in and take my old furniture away and assemble the bed - for a price of course

When they'd finished and had left, I pulled the base up to have a look underneath and that's when I noticed the broken slat but the two who had put the bed together had long gone by then...

I don't understand.

Did the seller arrange a third party to assemble the bed or did you?

If the seller did, have you told the seller that their agents have either (a) assembled the bed with a broken slat without noticing, or (b) broken a slat?

If you arranged the assembly, have you notified the third party what they've done?

Either way, what have you done to fix or replace the broken slat?

(I'm confused as to why you didn't mention the broken slat in your first post.  Didn't you think it might be causing some of your problems?)

I agree with this. Who paid for the set up? If you paid the bed people and then they paid the handymen your contract is with the bed people; and I think it may be possible to reject everything. 

If they just said ‘here’s people who have assembled some of the beds for other customers in the past’ then I think you’ll have to prove the slat was broken on delivery (and so faulty). 

Other than the faulty avenue, it’s on the goodwill of the store unfortunately.  You could potentially speak to them. Sometimes these policies can be written harshly to prevent any abuse, but the actual application of the policy is more favourable. 

HillStreetBlues

theoretica said:

It might also be worth looking separately at the mattress - could this be exchanged while keeping the frame?

I agree, get the correct mattress then wooden slats won't matter.

Vectis

jasonwatkins said:

theoretica said:

It might also be worth looking separately at the mattress - could this be exchanged while keeping the frame?

This is another avenue I am going to look in to, especially since this "gel layer" on top of the mattress does appear to be playing havoc with my body heat.  I throw the quilt off when I get too hot and then I eventually get cold enough that I have to pick it up again and put it back on the bed.

But, isn't that what most people do, throw the quilt off when they get too hot and pull it back on when they cool down? I don't think you can say that's the fault of the bed or mattress.

Personally, I think any 'gel layer' type thing is just a marketing gimmick. I don't know of anything like that which can truly regulate a person's temperature, i.e. warm them up and also be able to cool them down. To do that, it would have to be constantly monitoring your temperature and probably be connected to an electrical supply to work as a heater and/or a refrigerating device.

jasonwatkins

Vectis said:

jasonwatkins said:

theoretica said:

It might also be worth looking separately at the mattress - could this be exchanged while keeping the frame?

This is another avenue I am going to look in to, especially since this "gel layer" on top of the mattress does appear to be playing havoc with my body heat.  I throw the quilt off when I get too hot and then I eventually get cold enough that I have to pick it up again and put it back on the bed.

But, isn't that what most people do, throw the quilt off when they get too hot and pull it back on when they cool down? I don't think you can say that's the fault of the bed or mattress.

Personally, I think any 'gel layer' type thing is just a marketing gimmick. I don't know of anything like that which can truly regulate a person's temperature, i.e. warm them up and also be able to cool them down. To do that, it would have to be constantly monitoring your temperature and probably be connected to an electrical supply to work as a heater and/or a refrigerating device.

This is the mattress ..

https://www.fabbfurniture.com/products/coolwave-6000-mattress-double?srsltid=AfmBOophjgjAZevxBRGjbEKxNQix3Y6VkePMyGaHxqkSRL5yZHSXmT1P

.. although I didn't pay anywhere near that price as the one I had was an in-store offer.