 Fabric of lies
Hi
I bought some cheap cotton from Dunelm mills some weeks ago to make non functioning curtains for my daughter's new house. The cotton was cheap as it is a lining fabric but it was the colour ways that I wanted, irrespective of the price. I thought it might shrink when washed but I made them longer so didn't was them before I made them up as it was a question of time. When they came out of the machine after a cool wash, the cream was now pink due to a colour run and the desired effect was lost.
I contacted the company to let them know incase anyone else should buy it and cause a problem for themselves and they asked for a fabric sample for testing. I sent that off as they sounded concerned. In the meantime I bought more fabric but changed the shade of colour that ran for another colour. I took a small inch wide sample from the shop (that is what he gave me) and put it in water and couldn't detect a bleed, so I bought the new shade and made up two more sets of curtains, and again the colour ran.
The basis of my enquiry is, I received a pretty haughty letter from the customer service department saying that all their fabric carry care labels and it shouldn't have been washed. I already told them in my first email that I hadn't seen any labels but as they were implying that I only wrote to them to get something out of it, which has put my back up as that wasn't the case, I went back to the shop to see if I had missed something. They have about sixty rolls of fabric on rails spread over an area and out of all the rolls, there were only two labels, one was on a roll way above head height so was not able to be read, and the other was on a new roll of fabric, which I am pretty certain wasn't there when I looked at my original fabric choices. This fabric is a lime green colour and wasn't what I was after so I had no cause to look at that particular one, but I am sure it wasn't on the rack for one reason or another when I was first there.
I took photos of all the rolls and it clearly shows the lack of labels where they said they are displayed. I have written to them and told them of my findings and that I feel they should have a general warning sign saying that all this fabric is dry clean only due to colour run. I am so annoyed that they were implying I was stupid to wash them when the signs are there that I began to wonder about their actual liability. They sent me a photocopy of a label from the manufacturer, but all that shows it that the manufacturer attaches the label on the fabric to go to the shop, but it does not mean that the shop is displaying the label, as it is shown to be the case in this instance. Are the shop liable for damage under the sale of goods act. I have looked around on google but can't narrow my search down sufficiently to help and during my search on google I came across your site, and it appears to be a mine of information. I hope someone can help with this little niggle as I would like to be clear in my own mind that either the shop, or I am right about the outcome.
thanks
Mags
Swansea | 
