Misled over mattress disposal service

eskbanker

Them admitting they were at fault strengthens your hand to a certain extent, but IMHO still doesn't actually entitle you to a refund if you ultimately received the service that you ordered and paid for, even though you believed (based on information from their agent) that you'd be permitted to have more than that.

If you've reached an impasse with the merchant, then I suspect your only realistic option left is small claims - since the actual order paperwork supports the merchant (i.e. that you bought one disposal and received one disposal) this is likely to mean that chargeback would fail, although nothing to stop you from trying....

General_Grant

Wightpants said:

Thanks for all the responses so far.

There was definitely only the one option on checkout which said 'One Mattress Disposal'. That is precisely why I messaged them to ask about other options.

I didn't want to clog up the OP with the full email exchange but here it is, minus the original complaint I posted in their chat. As you can see, they have admitted they were at fault:

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Agent 2 (Customer Support Team) Dec 17, 2024, 2:55 PM GMT+8 Hi Wightpants,   We’re very sorry for the confusion and inconvenience caused. As stated on our website, the £54 charge for mattress disposal is for the removal of one mattress, and only one mattress disposal can be added per order. We sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding.   We suggest contacting your local council for the donation or recycling of your old mattresses, as they may offer a collection service.   Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience, and we truly appreciate your understanding.   Kind regards,  CC

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Hello,

It certainly is stated on your website that the charge is for one mattress noly. However, your agent, Alyssa, made it VERY clear to me that you would be happy to take any number of mattresses from me if I paid for the service. I know that I can pay for the council to take them away and they will do so for a smaller charge. I only selcted the option on your website as I thought it would be a convenient way to have several mattresses removed at the same time as having the new one delivered.

I would never have selected the mattress disposal option if I had been told that only one would be taken. As I have said though, Your agent made it very clear that you would take any quantity of old mattresses from me.

I have included a transcript of the conversation below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Agent 2 (Customer Support Team)

Dec 18, 2024, 6:06 PM GMT+8

Hi Wightpants,
 
We sincerely apologize for the confusion and the misinformation you received from our agent. We have taken note of this error and have informed the live chat team to ensure this does not happen again. We completely understand your frustration, and we are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.
 
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We truly appreciate your understanding, and we’ll make sure to correct this moving forward.
 
Kind regards, 
CC

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Hello,

I am glad to hear that you have taken steps to make sure this doesn't happen again. However, it has already happened to me.

As you have admitted that the fault was at your end, I would like the £54 I paid for the service to be refunded. As I said, there is no way I would have booked the service if I had known that only one matress would be taken.

As well as being given the wrong information by your agent, I entered a message in the 'notes' section of my order that I had multiple mattresses to remove. Yet no objection to this was raised prior to delivery.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

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Agent 2 (Customer Support Team)

Dec 24, 2024, 2:31 PM GMT+8

Hi Wightpants,
 
We sincerely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience caused.
 
We understand your concern regarding the disposal service. As mentioned on our website and in your order confirmation email, the £54 fee covers the disposal of one mattress. We regret that there was a misunderstanding regarding the number of mattresses to be removed.
 
Unfortunately, as the service has already been completed by our delivery partner and the fee has been processed, we are unable to refund the disposal service charge. We sincerely apologize for any frustration this has caused.
 
Thank you for your understanding.
 
Kind regards, 
CC

I find this statement a nonsense.  If once a payment had been processed no refund could be given, there never would be refunds made to customers.  Companies refund payments every day so simply having processed a payment doesn't preclude a refund.

eskbanker

General_Grant said:

Wightpants said:

Unfortunately, as the service has already been completed by our delivery partner and the fee has been processed, we are unable to refund the disposal service charge.

I find this statement a nonsense.  If once a payment had been processed no refund could be given, there never would be refunds made to customers.  Companies refund payments every day so simply having processed a payment doesn't preclude a refund.

Yes, it seems to me that they really mean 'unwilling' (because the service has been provided) rather than 'unable' as such!

Okell

Wightpants said:

• Have you already bought an Origin product?
• Not yet, can you tell me about the product?
• Hello. How may I help you?
• Hello. I have some questions about the 'Mattress Disposal' option.
• Hello! Sure, I'd be happy to help you with that. What would you like to know about our mattress disposal service?
• Can I only have one mattress disposed of if I'm only buying one mattress or is it possible to have more than one disposed of?
• We're happy to collect any old mattress for recycling, no matter the quantity. You can dispose of more than one mattress as long as the disposal service is available in your area and selected during checkout. Just make sure it's available for your location on mainland UK!
• Excellent. So I take it the disposed mattresses don't have to be the same size as the one I'm buying, e.g. I could buy a double size mattress and you could take away a king sized one?
• That’s correct! You can dispose of any old mattress of any size, regardless of the size of the new mattress you are purchasing. As long as the service is selected during your checkout, we'll take care of it.
• Ok, thanks. I have some questions about delivery too.
• Will I be given a time-slot for delivery or receive some kind of message when delivery is imminent?
• Yes, you will! After placing your order, you should have received an email with an estimated delivery time and a shipping tracker.
• On the morning of the delivery, you'll receive a text message with your time slot. Additionally, our delivery drivers will call you 30 minutes before they arrive to ensure you're ready to receive your order.
• Is there anything else I can help you with?
• Sounds great! I don't have any more questions at the moment.
• Thanks for your help.
• Wonderful! If you have any more questions in the future, feel free to reach out. Have a great day!

You seem to have avoided asking what I would have thought was the most important question of all...

"If you collect and dispose of more than one mattress, will it cost me more than the quoted £54 for one mattress?"

Wightpants

Okell said:

Wightpants said:

• Have you already bought an Origin product?
• Not yet, can you tell me about the product?
• Hello. How may I help you?
• Hello. I have some questions about the 'Mattress Disposal' option.
• Hello! Sure, I'd be happy to help you with that. What would you like to know about our mattress disposal service?
• Can I only have one mattress disposed of if I'm only buying one mattress or is it possible to have more than one disposed of?
• We're happy to collect any old mattress for recycling, no matter the quantity. You can dispose of more than one mattress as long as the disposal service is available in your area and selected during checkout. Just make sure it's available for your location on mainland UK!
• Excellent. So I take it the disposed mattresses don't have to be the same size as the one I'm buying, e.g. I could buy a double size mattress and you could take away a king sized one?
• That’s correct! You can dispose of any old mattress of any size, regardless of the size of the new mattress you are purchasing. As long as the service is selected during your checkout, we'll take care of it.
• Ok, thanks. I have some questions about delivery too.
• Will I be given a time-slot for delivery or receive some kind of message when delivery is imminent?
• Yes, you will! After placing your order, you should have received an email with an estimated delivery time and a shipping tracker.
• On the morning of the delivery, you'll receive a text message with your time slot. Additionally, our delivery drivers will call you 30 minutes before they arrive to ensure you're ready to receive your order.
• Is there anything else I can help you with?
• Sounds great! I don't have any more questions at the moment.
• Thanks for your help.
• Wonderful! If you have any more questions in the future, feel free to reach out. Have a great day!

You seem to have avoided asking what I would have thought was the most important question of all...

"If you collect and dispose of more than one mattress, will it cost me more than the quoted £54 for one mattress?"

Well, £54 was the only option available and that's what they told me to select. I guess I'd expect them to tell me quick enough if they wanted more money from me!

swingaloo

I suspect that if you had bought 2 mattresses then the option would have been to have 2 collected and so on. 
I think if I had made the call I would have been very suspicious when told I could dispose of as many mattresses as I liked. It doesnt seem realistic to expect them to pick up more than they drop off. If any customer took advantage and did that the delivery van simply couldnt accommodate all the pick ups. It could only be one for one.

I think you needed to ask more questions, especially when the menu only allowed you to enter one mattress for pick up.

Wightpants

swingaloo said:

I suspect that if you had bought 2 mattresses then the option would have been to have 2 collected and so on. 
I think if I had made the call I would have been very suspicious when told I could dispose of as many mattresses as I liked. It doesnt seem realistic to expect them to pick up more than they drop off. If any customer took advantage and did that the delivery van simply couldnt accommodate all the pick ups. It could only be one for one.

I think you needed to ask more questions, especially when the menu only allowed you to enter one mattress for pick up.

Maybe.

Perhaps the lesson here is just not to trust anyone who wants your cash.

Aylesbury_Duck

Wightpants said:

swingaloo said:

I suspect that if you had bought 2 mattresses then the option would have been to have 2 collected and so on. 
I think if I had made the call I would have been very suspicious when told I could dispose of as many mattresses as I liked. It doesnt seem realistic to expect them to pick up more than they drop off. If any customer took advantage and did that the delivery van simply couldnt accommodate all the pick ups. It could only be one for one.

I think you needed to ask more questions, especially when the menu only allowed you to enter one mattress for pick up.

Maybe.

Perhaps the lesson here is just not to trust anyone who wants your cash.

Good luck with that.

Seems pretty clear to me that for the reasons given by others, expecting them to dispose of multiple mattresses for a fixed price of £54 is unreasonable.  I agree that the communication could have been clearer, but if this were to go to court I'd have thought it reasonable to assume n mattresses would cost £54 x n to dispose of.

Wightpants

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Wightpants said:

swingaloo said:

I suspect that if you had bought 2 mattresses then the option would have been to have 2 collected and so on. 
I think if I had made the call I would have been very suspicious when told I could dispose of as many mattresses as I liked. It doesnt seem realistic to expect them to pick up more than they drop off. If any customer took advantage and did that the delivery van simply couldnt accommodate all the pick ups. It could only be one for one.

I think you needed to ask more questions, especially when the menu only allowed you to enter one mattress for pick up.

Maybe.

Perhaps the lesson here is just not to trust anyone who wants your cash.

Good luck with that.

Seems pretty clear to me that for the reasons given by others, expecting them to dispose of multiple mattresses for a fixed price of £54 is unreasonable.  I agree that the communication could have been clearer, but if this were to go to court I'd have thought it reasonable to assume n mattresses would cost £54 x n to dispose of.

£54 is more than reasonable. The local council will take eight mattresses for £26. As I said, I only booked the disposal service because it was convenient timing.

I've got no intention of going to court over it. I'm just tired of being fleeced by companies saying they're going to do something and then letting me down.

Aylesbury_Duck

Wightpants said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Wightpants said:

swingaloo said:

I suspect that if you had bought 2 mattresses then the option would have been to have 2 collected and so on. 
I think if I had made the call I would have been very suspicious when told I could dispose of as many mattresses as I liked. It doesnt seem realistic to expect them to pick up more than they drop off. If any customer took advantage and did that the delivery van simply couldnt accommodate all the pick ups. It could only be one for one.

I think you needed to ask more questions, especially when the menu only allowed you to enter one mattress for pick up.

Maybe.

Perhaps the lesson here is just not to trust anyone who wants your cash.

Good luck with that.

Seems pretty clear to me that for the reasons given by others, expecting them to dispose of multiple mattresses for a fixed price of £54 is unreasonable.  I agree that the communication could have been clearer, but if this were to go to court I'd have thought it reasonable to assume n mattresses would cost £54 x n to dispose of.

£54 is more than reasonable. The local council will take eight mattresses for £26. As I said, I only booked the disposal service because it was convenient timing.

I've got no intention of going to court over it. I'm just tired of being fleeced by companies saying they're going to do something and then letting me down.

Firstly, they’re not comparable.  The council will have a subsidised service primarily designed to reduce fly-tipping, and to stop people being daft and overloading their cars on a tip run.  The retailer is a commercial entity and will have to cover the cost of labour, transport and the disposal fee to the council.  And has been explained earlier, the space on the van taken up by an old mattress is one less new mattress they can deliver on that run.

Secondly, I don’t know how you value your time, but I suspect you wouldn’t consider it worth it to drive to my house to collect four mattresses and take them to the tip for me if I offered you £54, let alone £26.

I think the best outcome you were ever going to get in this situation is a refund of the £54, and that looks to have been ruled out.  If your council will collect the extra three mattresses for £26 then £26 is the extent of your “loss”.  As you say, not worth going to court over and frankly, not worth your time worrying about.