# Warning about Reids Furniture (Blanchardstown)



## truthseeker (17 Jan 2011)

In November I bought and paid in full for a piece of furniture from Reids Furniture in Blanchardstown. I paid by credit card and the value of the piece of furniture plus delivery was 500 euro. Delivery was to take place 2 to 3 weeks later.

Early in the third week after Id paid I got a phonecall from them to tell me that they no longer stocked the item and I was offered (a) a full refund or (b) the display model at a discounted price.

I returned to the store to inspect the display model, found it to be damaged and asked for the full refund. The staff member who dealt with me assured me that she would contact head office to arrange the refund, and would phone me the next day once it had been arranged to let me know when I would see the refund on my credit card.

No phone call came the next day. I phoned back the day after. Thus ensued a week of phonecalls from me to them (they NEVER once called me back) where I was given excuses like 'our external phonelines are down, we cannot phone head office', when asked why they couldnt use a mobile I was told 'well I only have my personal mobile, I couldnt use that'. The excuses then moved onto to 'the person who deals with refunds in head office is off', to 'head office cannot issue Republic of Ireland Visa refunds'. I enquired why they were taking payment in the Republic of Ireland by Visa if they were unable to issue a Visa refund and was not given an answer. Eventually I was told that an area manager would have to be contacted to 'see' if they could get a cheque authorised. By this time it was 27 days since the original purchase (10 days since I had turned down the display model), and I got sick of dealing with the incompetence of this place and I instead directed my efforts to my bank and opened a dispute on the Visa transaction. 

Incidentally the furniture store had never initiated contact with me (except the one call to inform me the item was no longer stocked) and as I didnt bother contacting them again once I opened the credit card transaction dispute that was the end of my communication with them. Had I not opened the dispute I assume they would just never have contacted me again and left me un-refunded.

My bank settled the credit card transaction dispute in short order and refunded me my 500 euro, plus any interest Id paid on it.

Im very annoyed at the behaviour of Reids Furniture. Im glad I paid by credit card, because if Id paid by cash I would have had to take them to the small claims court. Its disgraceful that shops can get away with this behaviour. 

Is there any regulatory body I can write a complaint to about the actions of Reids?


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## Brendan Burgess (17 Jan 2011)

I think it's worth stressing the point made by truthseeker - if you are putting a deposit or paying in advance for  a big ticket item, always buy it with a credit card. The CC companies are much more responsive than some retailers.

Brendan


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