Bensons for beds wardrobe guarantee

wrestling231

We bought a wardrobe 2 years ago and the door has jammed. 

It came with a 5 year guarantee.

- Customer services said its not covered under warranty as it was not put on the wall.

- The fitter was from bensons , never once did he ask if we wanted it on the wall , nor did the sales assistant at the store mention this.

- Customer services have then said he is not covered to fit it on the wall as he would not have have had the right insurance to fit it on the wall.

* has anyone had any similar experiences to share please and advice on where I could go with this.

Aylesbury_Duck

wrestling231 said:

We bought a wardrobe 2 years ago and the door has jammed. 

It came with a 5 year guarantee.

- Customer services said its not covered under warranty as it was not put on the wall.

- The fitter was from bensons , never once did he ask if we wanted it on the wall , nor did the sales assistant at the store mention this.

- Customer services have then said he is not covered to fit it on the wall as he would not have have had the right insurance to fit it on the wall.

* has anyone had any similar experiences to share please and advice on where I could go with this.

Any claim under the guarantee is subject to the terms of that guarantee.  If it says it must be secured to a wall as a condition of the guarantee, and it isn't, then the guarantee would appear to be voided.  I presume that it being free-standing means it's probably moved around and jammed the door.

The guarantee doesn't detract from your consumer rights, so I'd go back to the retailer and say you'd like a remedy under your consumer rights.  They'll probably ask you to have the wardrobe inspected to prove it's a fault rather than anything about the way you've used it.  If there is a fault, they should fix it at their cost and refund the cost of the inspection.  Or they might choose to replace it, or partially refund you.

wrestling231

Aylesbury_Duck said:

wrestling231 said:

We bought a wardrobe 2 years ago and the door has jammed. 

It came with a 5 year guarantee.

- Customer services said its not covered under warranty as it was not put on the wall.

- The fitter was from bensons , never once did he ask if we wanted it on the wall , nor did the sales assistant at the store mention this.

- Customer services have then said he is not covered to fit it on the wall as he would not have have had the right insurance to fit it on the wall.

* has anyone had any similar experiences to share please and advice on where I could go with this.

Any claim under the guarantee is subject to the terms of that guarantee.  If it says it must be secured to a wall as a condition of the guarantee, and it isn't, then the guarantee would appear to be voided.  I presume that it being free-standing means it's probably moved around and jammed the door.

The guarantee doesn't detract from your consumer rights, so I'd go back to the retailer and say you'd like a remedy under your consumer rights.  They'll probably ask you to have the wardrobe inspected to prove it's a fault rather than anything about the way you've used it.  If there is a fault, they should fix it at their cost and refund the cost of the inspection.  Or they might choose to replace it, or partially refund you.

But it was there fitter who fitted it incorrectly.  The warranty is void because of the fitter from bensons
They have said there is nothing more they can do. 

Aylesbury_Duck

If the instructions say it must be fixed to a wall, then that's good.  You go to Bensons and say it wasn't installed properly.  Stress that you're exercising your consumer rights, don't let them try and make it a warranty problem.

sheramber

What did the fitter do to install it?

Do you have instructions that came with the wardrobe?

wrestling231

sheramber said:

What did the fitter do to install it?

Do you have instructions that came with the wardrobe?

Yes,  we have an online copy of the instructions
The fitter fitted in free standing.

DullGreyGuy

Have you actually read the warranty? What does it say about fitting? Explicitly that it must be on the wall or a more generic "fitted properly" type thing? If more generic then what do the fitting instructions say? 

Is this just a typical safety tying it to the wall so it doesn't fall over on someone or more substantial attachment?


You can, as others have said, make a claim under your statutory rights rather than the warranty however that will move the onus onto you to prove its faulty and if they decided to refund rather than repair they would be entitled to reduce the refund to reflect the 2 years use you already had from it.

wrestling231

DullGreyGuy said:

Have you actually read the warranty? What does it say about fitting? Explicitly that it must be on the wall or a more generic "fitted properly" type thing? If more generic then what do the fitting instructions say? 

Is this just a typical safety tying it to the wall so it doesn't fall over on someone or more substantial attachment?


You can, as others have said, make a claim under your statutory rights rather than the warranty however that will move the onus onto you to prove its faulty and if they decided to refund rather than repair they would be entitled to reduce the refund to reflect the 2 years use you already had from it.

The instructions are non descriptive with only pictures and does show it as being put on wall using a bracket
However , customer services had told me on mondy the fitter would not have been able to put it on the wall as he did not have the right insurance to do this. Which surely is a breach ?

Aylesbury_Duck

What does the bracket look like?  If it's just one of those L-shaped bits of metal that fixes it to a wall to prevent a child toppling it over while climbing it, then it is optional, and the fitter was perhaps authorised to build the unit and not to start drilling holes in a customer's wall.

DullGreyGuy

wrestling231 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Have you actually read the warranty? What does it say about fitting? Explicitly that it must be on the wall or a more generic "fitted properly" type thing? If more generic then what do the fitting instructions say? 

Is this just a typical safety tying it to the wall so it doesn't fall over on someone or more substantial attachment?


You can, as others have said, make a claim under your statutory rights rather than the warranty however that will move the onus onto you to prove its faulty and if they decided to refund rather than repair they would be entitled to reduce the refund to reflect the 2 years use you already had from it.

The instructions are non descriptive with only pictures and does show it as being put on wall using a bracket
However , customer services had told me on mondy the fitter would not have been able to put it on the wall as he did not have the right insurance to do this. Which surely is a breach ?

Ok, and what does the warranty state?

wrestling231

DullGreyGuy said:

wrestling231 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Have you actually read the warranty? What does it say about fitting? Explicitly that it must be on the wall or a more generic "fitted properly" type thing? If more generic then what do the fitting instructions say? 

Is this just a typical safety tying it to the wall so it doesn't fall over on someone or more substantial attachment?


You can, as others have said, make a claim under your statutory rights rather than the warranty however that will move the onus onto you to prove its faulty and if they decided to refund rather than repair they would be entitled to reduce the refund to reflect the 2 years use you already had from it.

The instructions are non descriptive with only pictures and does show it as being put on wall using a bracket
However , customer services had told me on mondy the fitter would not have been able to put it on the wall as he did not have the right insurance to do this. Which surely is a breach ?

Ok, and what does the warranty state?

"Failure to follow the  instructions "  will void the 5 year warranty 

I did explain to them on the phone it was the fitter who fitted it who is from bensons . 
They also said to me on the phone  he is not insured to fit it on the wall , which is even more mind-boggling.