homebase/argos help needed please

fishingcinema

hi guys really need some advice/tips please

i purchased a leather suite 05/02/2006 all was good and well until december 2007 when the leather on one of the seats seemed to be wearing a bit thin then by jan 2008 a small hole had appeared so i sent homebase an email after going on there website and seeing that they were saying that leather is alot more durable lasts longer ect ect

found out from there first email that homebase has been brought out by argos who was now dealing with my problem

the first email i got back was asking for the oder number so they could check what was brought so i emailed this back to them

then i got an email back saying "qoute"

I am sorry to hear of the problems you have with the New York leather suite that you purchased from Homebase. Under normal usage we certainly would not expect splitting to occur at any part of the sofa.

To enable us investigate further we need to establish if this is a manufacturing fault. Therefore will you please arrange to obtain a report from an independent upholsterer and forward this to us at the following address:-

Homebase Ltd,
Customer Relations,
Acton Gate,
Stafford,
ST18 9AR

Please include with the report your order details

not being too sure what they wanted and having difficulty finding someone to even come and give us a quote finaly i got a quote and sent them an email saying what the quote was and what i need to do next they have now replied with "quote"

Subject: Faulty Sofa.

Thank you for your e-mail.

I am sorry that you are experiencing problems with your Suite, however, this item is now outside the twelve month guarantee that Homebase offers on all of our products, therefore we do need to establish whether or not this fault has occurred due to wear and tear or because of a genuine manufacturing fault.

In order to establish this, an independent assessment must be carried out. Homebase are legally obliged to request a report from our customer stating that this is a manufacturing fault before we accept liability for the fault on this item.

Once we have the outcome of that assessment we can then look into your complaint further for you.

so now i am left confused how do i go about getting a report, how much will it cost, and are they trying to get out of the fact i have paid for a leather suite for it to split after 2 years surely a leather suite should last longer than this i could understand if i sat on it day in day out but it get very minimal use

please can anyone make sense of this and advise me what to do next
if you did not fall asleep whilst reading my life story

many thanks

C_Ronaldo

Did you not get an independent assessment done and send it off to them in the first place,

hollydays

So did you report this within the year?

grayme-m

hollydays wrote: »

So did you report this within the year?

She couldn't have done, however I'm with OP on this one. A sofa should last more than a year so I believe the warranty is irrelvant if it is not wear and tear.

I don't get this bit: "Homebase are legally obliged to request a report from our customer stating that this is a manufacturing fault before we accept liability for the fault on this item."

Legally obliged? They can request, but they can also just send someone round to look at it and accept it is a manufacturing fault.

Will Homebase pay for the independent examination if (s)he finds a fault?

nellytheelephant

hollydays wrote: »

So did you report this within the year?

It's two years as it was bought it 2006 x

hollydays

It does seem a bit tricky. Apart from asking them which bit of law obliges them to do this (that will just confuse them),I would be requesting that they send someone from a local branch maybe to look at it. Maybe you would get more sense going into a local branch and speaking to a Manager-even if it was bought online.They are tying you up in red tape.

Iamthesmartestmanalive

Seems pretty reasonable to me, get a report stating its abnormal fault given the use and they will look into it

You don't seriously expect them to just repair, refund etc without proof its not because you have used it to that state?

grayme-m

Who do you get to do the independent report?

fishingcinema

grayme-m wrote: »

Who do you get to do the independent report?

my thoughts exacltly im so confused on this one hence the cry for help

fishingcinema

Iamthesmartestmanalive wrote: »

Seems pretty reasonable to me, get a report stating its abnormal fault given the use and they will look into it

You don't seriously expect them to just repair, refund etc without proof its not because you have used it to that state?

yes dose seem pretty reasonable but as another poster put it if i have to pay for a report they may still try to wriggle out of it. and no i dont seriously expect them to repair/ refund (not that i mentioned a refund) without proof and im not that blatently dumb to have used it to that state and then try and get it replaced as i said in my origional post it is hardly used and i expect more from a leather suite

fishingcinema

grayme-m wrote: »

She couldn't have done, however I'm with OP on this one. A sofa should last more than a year so I believe the warranty is irrelvant if it is not wear and tear.

I don't get this bit: "Homebase are legally obliged to request a report from our customer stating that this is a manufacturing fault before we accept liability for the fault on this item."

Legally obliged? They can request, but they can also just send someone round to look at it and accept it is a manufacturing fault.

Will Homebase pay for the independent examination if (s)he finds a fault?

im not too sure what they mean by legally obliged either but i am going to email them back asking if they can send someone round to have a look thanks for the help:T