Hi all,

I'm hoping for some advice on how to proceed further with Very.co.uk.

I received a broken bed for my three year old son on 22 May

(after delivery was delayed a week due to the bed getting lost in the warehouse).

Half the parts that hold the slats to the bed were broken and unusable.

I immediately rang them

- they took the details and said their parts team would send out replacements.

I also sent a message via my account at the same time.

Having heard nothing I rang them again on Thursday 25 May and was told that the parts had been sent out and would take 7-10 days.

I was about to query the length of time but I was abruptly hung up on

(a common occurrence when you call Verys customer service).

The following day I received another message asking which parts were broken

- contradicting the man who had told me they were on their way the evening before.

I then called them again on 30 May to be told that they had just ordered the parts the night before. Having been told this before and it turning out to not be the case I asked them to return the damaged bed.

They refused telling me I had to wait for the parts to arrive and asked me to wait another 7-10 days (which would take us to three weeks since the bed arrived broken).

I messaged them again via my account reiterating my request for a refund and also emailed a complaint via Very.co.uk to which I have had no response.

The customer service has been appalling.

My poor son has been without a proper bed for two weeks now and there is no resolution in sight.

I am completely appalled given threat the goods were damaged they should be providing a refund.

I have never dealt with such an awful company so I am at a loss what to do

- other than seek advice from the ombudsman.

as this was online

you are covered by CRA. [old SOGA/Distance selling regulations]

you can cancel for no reason up until 14 days from delivery date

and if faulty up until 30day

under CRA you are entitled to a full refund.

dx

However, you should learn from this and not shop with Very again. We have a huge number of complaints about them on this forum – in particular the quality of what they sell and the quality of their customer service which you are finding out for yourself is not at all good.

Yes I have found that out the hard way. I know I am within my rights to have a refund the difficulty is there refusal to do so.

I'm afraid that if they steadfastly refuse, then the only solution is to begin a small claim in the County Court. If you started a claim like this, I'm sure they would immediately take notice and sort themselves out. However, it's such a shame that they push their customers to even thinking about this kind of action.

I'm afraid that there is no ombudsman for this kind of thing. You should certainly reported to trading standards – but that won't produce any immediate solution and in fact it will simply be added to their collection of complaints which they probably have about this company.

Where a company like Very really wants to deny their customers a decent service and a decent product, it becomes a bit difficult to do anything and certainly to get any rapid results.

If you have the money then I think a quick fix is to get another bed from somewhere else, and to store the one that you have got from Very and then start making trouble about it – including compensation and also a storage fee. We would be very happy to help you.

I sent a tweet directly to them and there has still been no response.

If you have a Twitter account then find out tweet and then retweet it. The other thing which may make them sit up is a lot of bad publicity – but really, court papers are the only thing which will move them. Then you will be amazed at the amount of energy and expense they will go to to try and deal with it – when they could have handled it so easily the moment that it went wrong

All part of the Shop direct empire - Shop Direct / Littlewoods / Very Blah Blah Blah...

BF is right, a county court claim might be the right option here. But also if you are looking for a swift resolution - Try complaining to the MD of the group. Then go for county court action if it doesnt work out!

Plenty of options to make them pay for your misery that they caused you. You can get his email from CEO Email.

But just be prepared - Write everything down - everything in writing - Photos... Get all your evidence together,.

Also had massive problems with a bed from Very that only lasted a few months. My case is already at the pre court stage. Very don't seem to recognise the Consumer Rights Act and just fob people off. Just had a conversation this morning with them to try and avert a small claim and the adviser repeatedly advised me I had to refer the matter to the financial Ombudsman. Im at a loss as to what a faulty bed has to do with the financial ombudsman if the item has already been paid for. Am going to be starting a claim today with them. Good luck with resolving your issue with them and as Bankfoddder says, seems the best way to go with Very is through the small claims court.