[MERLIN335i]

Do we have any legal experts on here ?? Solicitors/ Clerks/ Citizens advice people etc ??

Ordered two sofas from SCS on 18-11-2010, not “Mickey Mouse” £399-£499 ones, £2000+ worth of Italian made to order good quality items, delivery date moved and moved again, until past agreed date (but accepted it as other-half set had heart on these, or I would have cancelled order).

Finally delivered 14 weeks later, un-packed by delivery team, appeared OK but signed for them as “not fully inspected”, noticed cut on seat area of the three-seater within minutes of them leaving, rang them immediately. I was told that they could not order another pair until the damaged one had been inspected by “their master upholster”, told had to wait three weeks until he was available (must have a lot of faults !) The next day the same seat cushion “collapsed” ( six inches/150mm) lower than others, so notified them of this, and it was added to the cut for the “master upholster” to inspect.

“Master Upholster” agreed cut happened during manufacture, and “collapse” was due to fault in construction. You would think that once it was determined that the manufacturer (Sofitalia) was at fault, SCS would apply some pressure and rush replacements through, so we would not have to wait another 14 weeks for the new ones, should have known better, despite my protests, was told by branch manager “doesn’t matter will still be 10-12 weeks”.

I can hear you saying “I would have told them to shove it where the….”, but whether it is SCS, DFS, Land of Leather, or even Harrods etc, etc, nobody carries any stock these days, so if we cancelled and purchased from someone else we would still have to wait for months.

This must be getting boring for you by now, so to sum up now it has been 18 weeks (4.5 months since they agreed to replace them, an incredible 8.5 months since the original order was placed, and we still do not have items “fit for purpose”.

We have finally been told today delivery will be made August 3rd, I asked the new Branch Manager (original one who we dealt with, “no longer the manager”), what he proposed to do in way of a gesture of good will, he said not SCS’s fault, down to manufacturer, I pushed him and he said “maybe I can get the original delivery fee refunded. £49.99, BIG DEAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!

From day one SCS have been determined NOT to take any “pain” over this situation, even got their Sales Director’s direct line, who said he has no control over his branch managers !! As far as I can see, they are in breach of contract (small print says 10-12 weeks delivery + additional 4 weeks for delays) it is now 18 weeks since they agreed to replace. I think I am entitled to cancel the replacements and be refunded the full amount ????

Sod it, I will sit on the floor, until we can get some from someone else, I just don't see why they are taking no pain on this, they need to be stuck with the damaged pair and the replacement pair !

Can anyone confirm my legal standing ????

Any factual advice appreciated.

What ever the result, BE WARNED THINK TWICE BEFORE DEALING WITH SCS !!!!!!!!!

[dghdgh]

You could reject it under the sale of goods act as not fit for purpose. If you took out the interest free credit speak to the finance company as they own the goods.
Put all of your requests/demands in writing.
You could also take action if all fails and you get no joy money claim on line.
SCS are the supplier so if its a manufacturing issue that's their issue not yours.

[F31-340i]

What do you want? The sofas as ordered, or not? It sounds a bit like you regret buying them and want to use the damage as an excuse to cancel your order.

Otherwise, it may be taking too long, but what do you want? £50 off is not massive, but given their margins, and the fact they are replacing the sofa, it seems a genuine gesture.

At the end of the day you'll have brand new sofas in a week or so, having had free use of some slightly broken ones for -£50 for the past x months.

Companies do mess up - and its annoying - but what matters is what they do next. If they are replacing your stuff and offering £50, then that seems pretty good to me - better than them e.g. trying to fix/repair them, or worse just saying tough "you broke it".

[MERLIN335i]

Originally Posted by dghdgh

You could reject it under the sale of goods act as not fit for purpose. If you took out the interest free credit speak to the finance company as they own the goods.
Put all of your requests/demands in writing.
You could also take action if all fails and you get no joy money claim on line.
SCS are the supplier so if its a manufacturing issue that's their issue not yours.

Hi,

Not on finance, paid cash.

Thanks for input.

[MERLIN335i]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

What do you want? The sofas as ordered, or not? It sounds a bit like you regret buying them and want to use the damage as an excuse to cancel your order.

Otherwise, it may be taking too long, but what do you want? £50 off is not massive, but given their margins, and the fact they are replacing the sofa, it seems a genuine gesture.

At the end of the day you'll have brand new sofas in a week or so, having had free use of some slightly broken ones for -£50 for the past x months.

Companies do mess up - and its annoying - but what matters is what they do next. If they are replacing your stuff and offering £50, then that seems pretty good to me - better than them e.g. trying to fix/repair them, or worse just saying tough "you broke it".

The only thing I regret is stepping foot inside SCS. Not looking for excuses, money is not the issue. It is their attitude, just think SCS should accept some responsibility, they just do not give a toss, and think its OK to mess customers about for nearly nine months, without the slightest sign of regret or apology.

I would dispute the "free use" comment, I hardly call paying out £2000+ free.

N.B. The offer of a refund included the word MAYBE, so maybe they have done nothing for me.

Thanks for your reply.

[Kerr]

Originally Posted by MERLIN335i

Hi,

Not on finance, paid cash.

Thanks for input.

Anything you buy over £100 use a credit card.

The amount of protection that it gives you really is required in this day.

Look how many people lost out when land of leather went bust.

I nearly got caught out with a watch. It was a preset and it went faulty. I took it back for repair and when they had the phone they went into administration.

I had to fight to get the watch back and it was only given to me as a goodwill gesture.

Legally everything in the possession of the company is taken.

Even trading standards told me the watch would be sold off and I would be listed as a creditor. However I'd be that far down the line I'd never see a penny.

Waited a couple of months and luckily got the watch back.

If I had paid for it by credit card I could have had a refund off of them.

Now anything I buy goes on the card.

Best of luck sorting it out.

Send an email to consumer direct firstly. They are usually quick to get back to you and if you need further advice they will put the case forward to trading standards.

[MERLIN335i]

Originally Posted by Kerr

Anything you buy over £100 use a credit card.

The amount of protection that it gives you really is required in this day.

Look how many people lost out when land of leather went bust.

I nearly got caught out with a watch. It was a preset and it went faulty. I took it back for repair and when they had the phone they went into administration.

I had to fight to get the watch back and it was only given to me as a goodwill gesture.

Legally everything in the possession of the company is taken.

Even trading standards told me the watch would be sold off and I would be listed as a creditor. However I'd be that far down the line I'd never see a penny.

Waited a couple of months and luckily got the watch back.

If I had paid for it by credit card I could have had a refund off of them.

Now anything I buy goes on the card.

Best of luck sorting it out.

Send an email to consumer direct firstly. They are usually quick to get back to you and if you need further advice they will put the case forward to trading standards.

Hi,

Good point, I paid deposit and balance by debit card.

Already been in touch with VISA, they can only "pull" the payments up to 90 days after payment was made. So we are well over that time period now.

To be quite honest, I have no confidence in SCS being able to supply an undamaged fault free sofa. They have now told me, that due to the high number issues with "Sofitalia" sofas, as soon as the warranty backlog is cleared they are dropping the brand.

So no wonder "Sofitalia" have not exactly "busted a gut" to help, nor are they likely to care about quality, would you, knowing that you are about to be dropped.

Thanks for your suggestion.

[scooba0010]

Glad I went to John Lewis , sounds a nightmare !

[willhollin]

I think you are going to have to sit this out until the new one arrives and put it down to experience.

My in laws had a similar sounding top end Italian sofa delivered and it sagged within days. They complained and told the 'Master Upholsterer' would inspect. Three weeks later he did and confirmed there hadn't been enough padding in from the factory. Their solution - to send their men round, disassemble the sofas on site and repack with more padding. My father in law wasn't best pleased, but according to consumer law they are doing what is required of them.

Good luck.

[xenon]

Exactly what Will says: put it down to experience. Even though they're not leaving you with a feel-good factor they are doing what is required. You know not to shop their again.

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

Otherwise, it may be taking too long, but what do you want? £50 off is not massive, but given their margins, and the fact they are replacing the sofa, it seems a genuine gesture. .

To be fair, the margin on this sort of stuff at places like SCS, DFS etc is between 100% and 200%. In other words HUGE!

Personally I would just reject the sofas, send them back and go elsewhere as there is always the risk that the replacement will be no better.

[CarAbuser]

I think the lesson here is to not buy sofas from shitty retail park sofa warehouses, especially if you want a good quality sofa.

If you paid £1000 each for those sofas then SCS likely paid about £300 for them from some turkish sweatshop.

As mark said, they have huge margins. Even the items which are on "sale" are still easily marked up 200%.

If you want a quality sofa then you have to give the likes of DFS a miss.

[MERLIN335i]

[QUOTE=willhollin;10098510] Their solution - to send their men round, disassemble the sofas on site and repack with more padding. My father in law wasn't best pleased, but according to consumer law they are doing what is required of them.QUOTE]

Will,

They tried that one on me, but as the leather was damaged, not much chance of the new panel matching the rest (dyed in small batches), so along with the fact I was not happy to have them turn my lounge into a workshop for 6-8 hours, they agreed to replace the whole order, as even a new complete sofa would not match the other one.

Thanks

Michael.

[MERLIN335i]

Originally Posted by CarAbuser

I think the lesson here is to not buy sofas from shitty retail park sofa warehouses, especially if you want a good quality sofa.

If you paid £1000 each for those sofas then SCS likely paid about £300 for them from some turkish sweatshop.

As mark said, they have huge margins. Even the items which are on "sale" are still easily marked up 200%.

If you want a quality sofa then you have to give the likes of DFS a miss.

While I accept your comments about "shitty retail park sofa warehouses", I feel I need to point out as I said in my original post, these were not the "run of the mill" £399 cheap crap, and were made in Italy, not China, Turkey etc.

We even specified the thickness of the leather, type of structure, and @ over £2K and a long wait we expected something above the norm.

It is not so much the delay or problems, it is SCS's total indifference to the situation, they do not think it is unreasonable to have to wait nearly nine months, nor have they even apologised, and they feel absolutely no obligation to make a gesture to appease the situation.

We got your money, to hell with you, you will get them when they are ready attitude.

RANT OVER.

[Mike in Hampshire]

Originally Posted by MERLIN335i

It is not so much the delay or problems, it is SCS's total indifference to the situation

Well, I for one fully sympathise with you Merlin. And I'm disappointed with a few replies here that seem to suggest its somehow all your fault (you should have paid with a credit card/that's what you get at a retail park type comments).

However, I think legally SCS are just about meeting their obligations by offering a replacement, so as others have said, you're just going to have to grin and bear it I'm afraid.

I suggest you gain some satisfaction by telling everyone you can to avoid SCS, I certainly will! Hope it gets sorted soon.

Mike.

[MERLIN335i]

Originally Posted by Mike in Hampshire

Well, I for one fully sympathise with you Merlin. And I'm disappointed with a few replies here that seem to suggest its somehow all your fault (you should have paid with a credit card/that's what you get at a retail park type comments).

However, I think legally SCS are just about meeting their obligations by offering a replacement, so as others have said, you're just going to have to grin and bear it I'm afraid.

I suggest you gain some satisfaction by telling everyone you can to avoid SCS, I certainly will! Hope it gets sorted soon.

Mike.

Mike,

Thanks for that

I was beginning to think some people on here were members of a covert group of SCS Managers & Employees !!!!!

The big question is what to do if the repacements are faulty, I wonder how much shop front plate glass costs these days !

Best wishes,

Michael.

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by MERLIN335i

The big question is what to do if the repacements are faulty, I wonder how much shop front plate glass costs these days !

.

If you have given them a chance to put things right (in this case replace them) and the replacements are faulty then you have a legal right to reject the goods for a FULL refund.

The law is very clear on this and whilst I am sure SCS will argue about it, they will soon back down when face with a small claims court summons

[MERLIN335i]

Originally Posted by m@rk

If you have given them a chance to put things right (in this case replace them) and the replacements are faulty then you have a legal right to reject the goods for a FULL refund.

The law is very clear on this and whilst I am sure SCS will argue about it, they will soon back down when face with a small claims court summons

Thanks for that, are you speaking professionally or from experience ??

Best wishes,

Michael.

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by MERLIN335i

Thanks for that, are you speaking professionally or from experience ??

Best wishes,

Michael.

From experience but you can find full details of your rights under the sale of goods act all over the internet

Here something to get you started

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/the-sale-of-goods-act/

or

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-righ...t/your-rights/

Where it says

You have the right to get a faulty item replaced or repaired, if you're happy with this (or if it's too late to reject it). You can ask the retailer to do either, but they can normally choose to do whatever would be cheapest.

Under the Sale of Goods Act, the retailer must either repair or replace the goods 'within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience'. If the seller doesn't do this, you are entitled to claim either:

reduction on the purchase price, or
your money back, minus an amount for the usage you've had of the goods (called 'recision').
If the retailer refuses to repair the goods, and they won't replace them either, you may have the right to arrange for someone else to repair it, and then claim compensation from the retailer for the cost of doing this.

You have six years to get a claim in to court for faulty goods in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; in Scotland you have five years.

[MERLIN335i]

Originally Posted by m@rk

From experience but you can find full details of your rights under the sale of goods act all over the internet

Here something to get you started

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/the-sale-of-goods-act/

or

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-righ...t/your-rights/

Where it says

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to do this, fingers crossed I don't need it !

Best wishes,

Michael.