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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Miles Brignall

Get Laid Beds and Tuffnells are giving me nightmares over my creaky bed

A Tuffnells delivery van.
In the frame … but Tuffnells managed to track the missing bed. Photograph: Alamy

I bought a bedframe for £387 from a firm called Get Laid Beds, the price including delivery. Once assembled it creaked badly, but fortunately the firm was happy to take it back and offer a refund. The courier company it sent – Tuffnells – duly made the collection and I assumed that would be the end of the matter, and a refund was on the way.

Apparently my bed never arrived back with Get Laid Beds, and I am now doing battle with the company to try to recoup my money. Tuffnells is denying it ever picked it up. It was a tablet sign-off so I am unable to provide evidence of collection, as I was not given a paper receipt.

Now Get Laid Beds says it won’t refund me until the bed is returned. I am stuck in the middle with no bed and no £387. Can you help? JP, London

Get Laid Beds gets mixed reviews on Google, with one customer complaining that the firm was too ready to blame the courier company for its own mistakes. But it should be noted for balance that the firm gets good reviews on TrustPilot. We contacted the firm and didn’t get the feeling that responding to your complaint was a big priority: we heard nothing.

Fortunately, Tuffnells was much happier to help and instantly got on the case. Within a few hours it confirmed that it had found the bed, which had been returned to Get Laid Beds a week before you contacted us.

Get Laid Beds eventually told us: “We are truly apologetic to the customer and have since refunded them within seven days of receiving the bed back at Get Laid Beds. There was a rare instance here where our courier’s administration system had made an error. Further steps and lessons have been learned here to prevent this issue from happening again.”

You are very relieved. Meanwhile the case raises an interesting question in the digital age: how to prove that an item was collected? For high value items it could well be worth insisting on a receipt, and if needs be writing one out yourself and getting it signed. A mobile phone snap of the driver concerned wouldn’t hurt either.

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

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