Furniture delivery, incomplete and now unavailable

I purchased a 4 piece suite of rattan furniture from an online retailer based in the UK (Cost E1000) in July 2008. They have an .ie version of their website, through which I placed my order, irish phone number and I paid in euros.

The suite was delivered 2 weeks late after the agreed date in August 2008. I opened up the packaging while the delivery driver was still there and one large seat cushion was missing - I immediately phoned and emailed the salesperson I had been dealing with and was assured that the missing part would be sent to me.

Of course, the missing seat cushion was not sent to me. By October 2008 I tried getting my credit card company to sort things out as I had funded the transaction with visa. Verbally, I was told that it should be easy to get a refund as there was no reply to them from the company and no T&Cs on the website - I left the matter with them until I got a letter requesting I provide a copy of my invoice for the furniture - which I duly provided by fax twice and post once.

I didn't hear from the credit card company by the end of November 2008, so I rang them only to be told that they needed an itemised invoice to assess the value of the missing seat cushion - I could not provide them with this as I had purchased and paid for an entire suite and it was not available piecemeal.

The chair is unusable without the seat cushion and the suite is incomplete. The credit card company said to leave it with them at that point, and I heard no more from them until I recived a letter in February 2009 stating that as it had been 6 months since the chargeback was initiated and I had not provided an invoice, they were closing the case and would not pursue the online retailer for the missing part or refund.

So in February 2009 I again rang the online retailer to see if they would send the missing part, and was assured it would be sent to me with their delivery courier. After one month there was no sign so I rang again, and was told it would be posted to me. No sign. I rang them again and was told it had been sent twice now and that they had no idea where the missing part could be - I asked them to post it tracked this time.

So finally, in June 2009 they provided me with tracking details and a package arrived - unfortunately it was for a different suite they sell - wrong colour, size, and doesn't fit my suite. I rang them that day and they said they would send out the correct cushion. So I waited a week, and rang to get tracking details again only to be told their supplier had sent them the wrong cushion again. So I gave it a few weeks and contacted them last week. I was told that the suite I bought is no longer available from their supplier and that the best they could do was offer me UK£40 so I could arrange to have a new seat cushion made locally.

It will be impossible to match the fabric. I don't have time to traipse around trying to find a willing upholsterer and matching fabric!

I said I wanted them to take the suite back and refund me. I informed them the day the suite was delivered that the delivery was incomplete. It is not my fault that I have been chasing them for 12 months to complete the order. I was told that a refund would not possible as it has been one year since delivery.

The manager is supposed to get back to me with the name of an upholsterer in my vicinity that will make and cover a new matching seat cushion for £40 tomorrow, but as they have never contacted me before I'm not holding my breath.

What are my rights as far as a refund or replacement suite goes? I'm so exhausted with this saga and am indebted to anyone who has managed to read through all this!

The retailer is based in Brownhills, West Midlands, and seem to have a number of identical websites with different company names and registered addresses (obviously I have only recently discoved this, and did take the time to check customer reviews before I purchased).

The suite was removed from their website yesterday but there are very simliar ones available.

What should my next step be?

Thanks, Emmiou.

Your first step should have been to check your purchase contract.
Your second step should have been to get good legal advice.
You may be out of time to bring a claim using the former.
You now seem to need the latter.

Records of every contact, and preferably written records, copies of letter, e-mails etc, would be very useful.
Failing this you'll need to assemble evidence in the form of a diary or time line noting what days you called them and what was said.
Your e-mails may be admissible due to the ELectronic Commerce Act 2000 while your phone company should be able to supply telephone logs.
Particularly helpful would be any statement from them on company headed paper acknowledging their error and undertaking to remedy your problem.

Talk to a good solicitor specializing in across-the-water disputes.
The fact that the company appears to be trading still gives hope for a successful resolution.
The EU are very strong on free markets and competition and the corollary may be true - service and accountability.

Good luck with this.



ONQ

A whole year waiting on a cushion...how did you manage that??

Advice that onq gave you seems to be the best way to go. I hope you do manage to get the fabric that you need to complete your set, so you dont have to waste more of your time.

I purchased a bed 4 years ago that was missing 1 wheel. To this day it is still being supported by an old phone book. Like you I had major problems getting them to send out the wheel to me. I gave up after 2 months. I have a valance sheet on the bed so you cant see the phone book underneath where the wheel is missing.

After a few weeks of trying to get the missing cushion from the company, I contacted the European Consumer Centre, Ireland. They advised me to contact my credit card company to intervene.

I did this, and unfortunately, the credit card company really let me down, having assured me they would get a refund and then failed to contact me to tell me otherwise.

They only served to delay the process by nearly six months. I could not provide an itemised invoice as I did not have one, the company would not supply one. I had no desire for a partial refund for the missing cushion alone when I would be left with an incomplete suite of furniture. It is a seat pad for a big boxy rattan armchair, and you wouldn't sit on the chair without the cushion. All of this was discussed with and agreed with by the visa employee I spoke with, so I was very surprised to get a letter stating they were closing the chargeback.

There are T&Cs on the co.uk version of the furntiture company's website, but none on the .ie site.

I usually would have given up by now but every time I look out into the conservatory at the suite my blood pressure rises...

I have copies of all my emails to them, but phone records would be from 5 different numbers. I have the incorrect cushion they sent and delivery paperwork from that. I've contacted Consumer Direct in the UK to try and get some advice from there.

If they gave you some of the material, if they have any left, you might be able to get another cushion made by possibly [broken link removed]. They are very good upholsterers.

If you cannot do this perhaps the company will fund getting the existing cushions recovered and a new one made up to match.

You could also try giving www.consumerconnect.ie to see what their advice might be although I understand that with internet transaction the ECC are the right people to deal with.

Thanks for taking the time to reply and the advice. I've contacted the ECC again. I know there is always the option of the European Small Claims Procedure, I have had a look at the forms on the courts.ie website. Has anyone reading this thread experienced this process?

Emmiou said:

Thanks for taking the time to reply and the advice. I've contacted the ECC again. I know there is always the option of the European Small Claims Procedure, I have had a look at the forms on the courts.ie website. Has anyone reading this thread experienced this process?

Click to expand...

If you mean the Small Claims Court I have used the procedure and it is very straightforward and useful. If you run the search option on the main page you may find other threads on this subject. Found [broken link removed] on Google also and it looks interesting.

If this is a uk website have you tried geting on to watchdog the bbc's consumer programme, they might be of some use.