Online furniture delivery, parts missing

[emmiou]

I purchased a 4 piece suite of rattan furniture from an online retailer (Cost £1000) in July 2008. It was delivered 2 weeks late after the agreed date in August 2008. I opened up the packaging while the delivery driver was still there and one large seat cushion was missing - I immediatley phoned and emailed the salesperson I had been dealing with and was assured that the missing part would be sent to me.

 

Of course, the missing seat cushion was not sent to me. By October 2008 I tried getting my credit card company to sort things out as I had funded the transaction with visa. Verbally, I was told that it should be easy to get a refund as there was no reply to them from the company and no T&Cs on the website - I left the matter with them until I got another request to provide a copy of my invoice for the furniture - which I duly provided by fax twice and post once.

 

I didn't hear from the credit card company by the end of November 2008, so I rang them only to be told that they needed an itemised invoice to assess the value of the missing seat cushion - I could not provide them with this as I had purchased and paid for an entire suite and it was not available piecemeal. The chair is unusable without the seat cushion and the suite is incomplete. The credit card company said to leave it with them at that point, and I heard no more from them until I recived a letter in February 2009 stating that as it had been 6 months since the chargeback was initiated and I had not provided an invoice, they were closing the case and would not pursue the online retailer for the missing part or refund.

 

So in February 2009 I again rang the online retailer to see if they would send the missing part, and was assured it would be sent to me with their delivery courier. After one month there was no sign so I rang again, and was told it would be posted to me. No sign. I rang them again and was told it had been sent twice now and that they had no idea where the missing part could be - I asked them to post it tracked this time.

 

So finally, in June 2009 they provided me with tracking details and a package arrived - unfortunately it was for a different suite they sell - wrong colour, size, and doesn't fit my suite. I rang them that day and they said they would send out the correct cushion. So I waited a week, and rang to get tracking details again only to be told their supplier had sent them the wrong cushion again. So I gave it a few weeks and contacted them last week. I was told that the suite I bought is no longer available from their supplier and that the best they could do was offer me £40 so I could arrange to have a new seat cushion made locally.

 

It will be impossible to match the fabric. I don't have time to traipse around trying to find a willing upholsterer and matching fabric!

 

I said I wanted them to take the suite back and refund me. I informed them the day the suite was delivered that the delivery was incomplete. It is not my fault that I have been chasing them for 12 months to complete the order. I was told that a refund would not possible as it has been one year since delivery.

 

The manager is supposed to get back to me with the name of an upholsterer in my vicinity that will make and cover a new matching seat cushion for £40 tomorrow, but as they have never contacted me before I'm not holding my breath.

 

What are my rignts as far as a refund or replacement suite goes? I'm so exhausted with this saga and am greatful to anyone who has managed to read through all this!

 

The retailer is based in Brownhills, West Midlands, and seem to have a number of identical websites with different company names.

 

What should my next step be? Can I name the company?

 

Thanks, Emmiou.

[emmiou]

The website I ordered through was www.Fornisca.ie, trading in the UK as www.Fornisca.co.uk .

 

The charge on my credit card bill came up as Furniture Group Limited, trading from BROWNHILLS, WALSALL, UK.

 

This crowd appear to be also trading as www.Furniturenet.co.uk and www.FurnitureWalla.co.uk - same Company Director/Secretary etc. Has anyone had any experience with dealing with them under any of these names?

 

I think my next step will have to be the European Small Claims Procedure. Has anyone any experience of this?

Edited August 2, 2009 by emmiou