I saw a case that Consumer Champions covered, whereby a retailer’s promise of eight weeks’ delivery turned into a 38-week wait, and thought that my situation might fall into the same category. In mid-October last year I ordered furniture worth around £6,000 from DFS for pre-Christmas delivery.
Part of the order was delivered as promised, but the main sofa, which cost £2,298, did not turn up until early February. By that time the furniture was reduced by more than £800 in a sale.
I have sent at least 10 emails and made around eight or 10 calls, but DFS refuses to accept its mistake – and I had to accept the sofa after three months without proper compensation.
I have approached my credit provider and the Furniture Ombudsman for compensation, and would like to put a claim for the full order or cancellation through my credit provider (even if I have to take them to court). I am ready for a long battle with DFS, but at the same time would like this to be highlighted so that the company is forced to give better service to its customers. MK, Uxbridge, Middlesex
We can understand your frustration, particularly when you see the price of furniture you have not received marked down for the benefit of other shoppers in the sale. As you consider that you received a poor service from DFS, you could, in theory, take your case to the county court, though it would expect you to have already exhausted an alternative dispute resolution route – in your case, the Furniture Ombudsman. This scheme has frequently featured on these pages, as it often seems to side with the retailer.
However, neither option was needed in the end. We got in touch with DFS, which has unpicked your problem and tells us it has all been resolved to your satisfaction. It said: “At DFS we take customer service extremely seriously, so we are very sorry to hear that MK hasn’t had a satisfactory experience. We can confirm that MK received part-delivery of his DFS order on 19 December 2015, as arranged, but unfortunately we were unable to deliver the sofa. When we received the sofa in our warehouse, our quality control team flagged a small issue, and as such we were not prepared to dispatch it as it didn’t meet our stringent quality standards.
“We arranged for MK to receive courtesy loan furniture in December while he waited for his sofa. In the meantime, the model MK had ordered was reduced in our winter sale so, as a gesture of goodwill, we agreed to match the sale price. We also offered to give MK further financial compensation due to the inconvenience of the delay.
“The sofa arrived with us at the end of January and we have been trying to deliver it since this date. MK accepted delivery at the end of February and we can confirm the issue has been resolved to his satisfaction.”
You have not been impressed by DFS and its latest offer, but we understand you have now accepted it.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
