I ordered and paid for an £1,251 Ercol Pero desk from Heal’s in October last year (reduced from the full price of £1,390). It was delivered on 9 December. The “cable management tray” was faulty and there was other damage to the drawers, so I complained. It took until 30 January to receive confirmation Heal’s was sending a replacement. Meanwhile, I had disposed of the desk it was supposed to replace. The replacement arrived at the end of March but on this one there was no tray so the delivery team took it back. Heal’s said they would send a third desk. But in April, I was told Ercol had redesigned the desk to exclude the tray altogether. Ercol would refund Heal’s and Heal’s would refund me, but I had to return the original faulty desk – and work on the floor? I suggested they refund me in full and I keep the desk. What would they do with it anyway?
JG, Somerset
This is another example of what can go wrong with expensive, high-spec products . The item may well have been made to order, lengthening the timescale. Heal’s says the design specs had been changed, but that hadn’t been updated at its end. It agreed to give you a partial refund and let you keep the faulty desk. It adds: “Unfortunately, the problem was down to a miscommunication around an update. We are really pleased to have come to an agreement with the customer and have compensated them for the inconvenience and disappointment.”
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