Faulty Heavy Goods

cjw · 17 January 2019 at 1:10PM

Are companies responsible to take heavy faulty goods from your property and can't charge you doing so? I bought a very nice bed from a well known bed manufacturer, but mattress began sagging within 6 months. The company informed me the mattress should be turn around (not flipped over) every week for the first 3 months and then once a month there after & the sagging wouldn't happen stated in the instructions which I did not received. We agreed that I would start doing what they say, but if the issue still persist then I could get back to them. Just before Christmas I got back to them as the issue was still there. With some emails, they've agreed to replaced the mattress, but I would have to pay the delivery which is in the T&C. Then they offered to take the faulted mattress away for a fee. I questioned this and said it is a faulty product so they are responsible for the disposal. They say the charge isn't in the T&C but is in an additional T&C which isn't publish anywhere and they don't take back free of charge. I've kicked up hell as it wasn't in their T&C & they gave in.

I just would like to know who is responsible for the future.

DoaM · 17 January 2019 at 1:22PM

If the company have accepted that there is a fault then they are liable for all costs in providing the remedy, which includes any costs in returning*/collecting the goods .. their T&Cs cannot contract out your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

* They can ask the consumer to return the goods. If the consumer agrees to do so then the company is liable for the reasonable returns costs.

cjw · 17 January 2019 at 3:17PM

@DoaM

Thanks for your reply.

Here's the link to their 5 year guarantee T&C:- https://www.silentnight.co.uk/legals/5-year-guarantee-tandcs

I've just emailed them, because thinking about it, I raised the issue 6 months after receiving the bed and I'm still having the same issue. So if they replace the mattress free of charge within the first year and I first raised the issue within the first year, then in theory I shouldn't need to pay anyway.

Greta_Sharbo · 17 January 2019 at 4:28PM

The guarantee is separate from your statutory rights - Consumer Rights Act as mentioned above.

You can insist on exercising your statutory rights so what the guarantee says is irrelevant for that purpose. If they accept they are liable (or it can be proved they are) then they are responsible for the costs of providing an appropriate remedy.

cjw · 17 January 2019 at 7:12PM

This is their recent email:-

Thank you for coming back to us. A warranty claim was not registered until Jan 2019, hence the delivery charge.

We replied to your original contact in Dec 2017 suggesting you may be experiencing natural settlement and to rotate the mattress for a month to see if that helped, and if not, to come back to us.

You did not initiate a warranty case with us 31st Dec 2018 when you contacted us to report an issue, some 1.5 years from date of purchase.

Before I exercise my statutory rights, I want to make sure what I say is correct. I want to say to the company as they are refusing to refund me the £48 delivery charge they've charged this:-

"Unfortunately, you are wrong with your facts.

In your reply to me in December 2017, Helen actually said, “If you try that for another month or so”. This therefore means by saying “or so” doesn’t gives a time restraint on how long I have to come back to you.

Therefore, I did initiate my warranty case on 19th December 2017, by raising the issue. I then followed your instructions as requested by your company to rectify the issue with the mattress. Because there was NO time restraint on coming back to your company, I persisted with trying to rectify the problem for a year to give your instructions a chance before coming back to you, so you could not say I did not give it a chance.

As your instructions has clearly not rectified the problem and I came back on 31st December 2018, my warranty case was original raised on 19th December 2017 which is clear to see.

If you are not willing to refund me my £48.00 that you have charged me, I would like to initiate my statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. As you have already agreed to replace this mattress under the 5 year guarantee, you have therefore accepted liability. Therefore, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 I am not liable for any cost for getting a faulty product replaced and I should not be out of pocket.

I trust you will do what I have asked and will refund the £48.00 delivery charge that you have charged me.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head · 18 January 2019 at 10:48AM

Couple of problem here.

If the company doesn't offer to cover the costs small claims is the only way to reclaim your loss and whilst I understand you say you didn't get the instructions a judge would have to decide if that was true based on probability (I'm not saying it's not true but the company could do so) and the company could state the issue is due to not following the care instructions.

The email above shows you are frustrated with the situation, remove the emotion, be polite and hope for good will but as they've offered to waive the fee for collection of the old mattress and agreed to replace after you've stated you didn't follow the care instructions they may be reluctant to waive the delivery fee as well.

You've also had the mattress for more than 6 months and the onus may be on you to prove a fault exists.

I understand you contacted them in 2017 but keeping the mattress for another year before making contact to claim the fault persisted the entire time weakens your case significantly in my view.

Also were the care instructions mentioned on the company's website?

cjw · 18 January 2019 at 1:01PM

Thanks for your reply.

I have removed the emotion now. I have removed the customer rights act.

The care instructions on their website. Under the Mattress Care page, it say's, "Rotate your mattress top to tail every so often so that natural settlement from body pressure is evenly distributed." There is nothing about doing this every week for so many months. However, if you go to the FAQ section, there is actually a question "How often should I turn my mattress" and it tells you what to do. Conflicting instructions.

robatwork · 18 January 2019 at 3:37PM

It shouldn't sag seriously even it it hadn't ever been rotated.
At least that's my opinion, and ultimately it would be a judge's opinion that matters.

cjw · 18 January 2019 at 5:13PM

Thanks for your reply @robatwork, and yeah I'd agree with you.

Update:- They have reduced the delivery costs by half, so I've accepted.

Faulty Heavy Goods

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