Cousins Furniture and Sociopathic Behaviour

[gob smacked]

Caught between a stone and a hard place.

The story so far...

 

Back in early January 2010 my wife and I visited Cousins Furniture store in Dudley West Midlands.

We purchased an Elgar electric recliner leather 2 piece suite for approx £1750. Delivered 2 weeks later, the drivers spotted a gap between one end

of the seat cushions where the 3 seater is joined, it comes in 2 half's. They like me thought it looked odd as there was no gap the other end.

They gave me the option to reject it or keep it. I rejected and they took it back. I rang Cousins customer service who said their independent technician

report said the gap was acceptable and they were ready to return it to me. I said I want a replacement or a refund. They refused and wanted to return it.

 

To keep the story short, after several letters, phone calls etc, and getting nowhere, my wife and I visited their warehouse in Oldbury to view the Elgar

again. The attractive young lady employed by Cousins and trained to lie, cheat and bull s**t, said she did not have the authority to offer me a refund.

So I asked to speak to someone who did. Just at this moment a senior manager confidently swaned his way into the warehouse to simply repeat what

they had already stated, there was nothing wrong with it and he would not even acknowledge there was a gap and I could not have a refund. I was

ready to blow my top but kept my cool and said I wanted to avoid the hassle of taking them to court, although I had no doubt I would win as the fault

was so obvious to all but the blind. So I said can we choose another suit instead. Yes, he said still wearing the same arrogant sociopathic grin in spite

of my obvious displeasure. They agreed to refund the full amount for the Elgar less a 20% deposit for our second choice suite, the Katya. But there was

a catch, apparently we would have to wait 12 to 14 weeks for delivery as that’s how long it would

take to get from China. Yes, like everything else these days, the suite was ‘Made in China’.

 

We had sold our old leather suite to make way for the Elgar, so they agreed to supply a loan suite. The loan suite was disgustingly filthy and stank like

an RSPCA kennel. I should never have accepted it but I was sick of all the hassle, so before my wife came home, I gave it a thorough clean. Even now it

still whiffs. Also, the electric recliners didn’t work as they had not supplied power units. When I asked where they were, they said they could not be

found. Not to be out done, I use my 12v laptop charger, works a treat although a little inconvenient.

 

Fourteen weeks came and went with not a word from Cousins as to where our Katya was. Then on the 30th of April we received a letter from their

‘Order Progress Dept’, saying they were now expecting delivery at UK docks on the 17.5.10 plus 5 days transport to their distribution centre.

This would make delivery a month over due. It is now 17th of June 2010 and still no sign of a delivery and not a word from Cousins.

 

I would like to cancel and purchase from somewhere else.

My question is: What would you do and what are my options legally.

 

 

The 3 seater they delivered showing gap.

 

The other end with no gap.

Edited July 2, 2010 by gob smacked
spelling error

[gob smacked]

I probably wont get a reply, so I think I'll just drop all the info to Trading Standards. Thanks anyway.

[Bazooka Boo]

Have you had a read of the sale of Goods Act (SOGA) you have more weight behind you than Cousins would like you to believe!

[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Sale of Goods Act Fact Sheet - BIS

 

Any true Brummie would complain until the cows came home, give em hell!

[Conniff]

You can make time of the essence and give them 7 days in which to supply or you will cancel.

[gob smacked]

Just had a phone call saying they will deliver next Wednesday 23rd June.

I wonder if trading standards had a word.

[Bazooka Boo]

You never know? I take it you had a word with TS then?

[Conniff]

Phone and then email to say that is the last date you will accept it and if not on the 23rd, the order is cancelled.

[gob smacked]

I'll just wait and see if they deliver. If they don't I will unleash hell.

With my luck there's bound to be some other problem.

[miss muppet]

Hope they come up with the goods, this sounds very like the problem I had with Harveys about 7 years ago, they must employ sociopaths too because after much chasing to speak to a manager the classic excuse was "all our managers are out on the road". To cut long story short, took them to small claims court and judgement against them, by the way, I took photos of the offending items, had to send the bailiffs in to one of their stores to get the money!

[gob smacked]

I also took photo's of the display Elgar in their Dudley store which had no gap. They had removed frame fixing brackets so the 2 half's

could be shoved closer together. When I pulled the 3 seater apart I took photo's that clearly show the missing brackets. I imagine they had purchased

a job lot from China and were trying to cover up the fault.

 

Elgar display 3 seater showing missing brackets.

Edited June 24, 2010 by gob smacked

[gob smacked]

UPDATE:

 

They delivered the new Katya suite on Wednesday 23rd June, of course there was a problem. One side and front corner of the single seat chair was

'caved in' quite badly around the up/down switch. Looked like it had been kicked in. I had to point this out to the driver and he wrote 'damaged' on

the delivery note. He said he would phone their office and they would send out an independent repair technician to fix it within 5 days.

 

Damaged side of chair.

 

Other side undamaged.

Edited June 24, 2010 by gob smacked
added photos

[Cousins Service Dept]

We would like to apologise for the further concerns raised by our customer. The furniture was inspected by an Independant Technician and also a member of our Customer Service Team pre delivery and no concerns were raised.

 

We have arranged to visit our customer within the next 24 hours with a view to resolving the concern.

 

Cousins Customer Service Team

[gob smacked]

We would like to apologise for the further concerns raised by our customer. The furniture was inspected by an Independant Technician and also a member of our

Customer Service Team pre delivery and no concerns were raised.

 

We have arranged to visit our customer within the next 24 hours with a view to resolving the concern.

 

Cousins Customer Service Team

 

 

 

This is a typical Sociopathic response, a half hearted public apology without any admission of guilt or sense of shame for all the trouble they have caused.

I wonder if they are sending the same 'Independant Technician' and 'Manager' who said there was nothing wrong with the Elgar.

I find it strange they call their 'Technician' Independant, is this because he is self employed (for tax purposes) and they think customers will be duped

into thinking he is impartial, in spite of the fact he appears to work for them on a very regular basis.

I will let you know the outcome of the 'Concern' after their visit at 4pm tomorrow.

 

Definition Of a Sociopath

Profile of the Sociopath

 

.

Edited June 24, 2010 by gob smacked

[Bazooka Boo]

I wouldn't read too much into that apology by the unapproved customer services rep, doubtful he has been in touch with the site team to inform them of his position and intent.

[miss muppet]

Excellent photos, problems very clearly illustrated.

[gob smacked]

Excellent photos, problems very clearly illustrated.

 

Hi miss muppet and thanks for your continuing interest.

 

Yes they sent the same old team, Paul the 'Independent Technician' and pretend Mr nice guy Richard the Sociopathic manager.

First we discussed pleasantries like how Richard’s satnav sent him to the wrong address making him late, but we soon moved on to the main event,

the damaged chair. Paul came to the obvious conclusion that the chair had been damaged in transit. He said they would need to take it away

to repair it and would collect it on Tuesday and return it Thursday. I accepted the offer of a loan chair, on condition it was clean and did not smell.

Richard said he would look into why the loan suite we received was delivered in such a bad state and then apologised, although I felt the apology

wasn't genuine as when saying it he stepped back and looked away.

I then broached the old question of why he would not offer a refund on the Elgar when it was obviously faulty.

At this he offered me the choice of a repair or refund. He said we now had a different contract on a different suite,

and he was not disputing the Katya was damaged. He said we would have to agree to disagree.

I didn’t like the idea of having to search for a new suite all over again, we had already waited/wasted SIX MONTHS and still counting,

so I said I would rather they repair it.

I had intended to show them the pictures on this website (the gap in the seat) but forgot and so lost the opportunity to show how crass

his original managerial judgement had been. He then remarked that Cousins is a family business (hopefully not Cosa Nostra). I took that to

mean he felt they were looking after us, but in reality he was just doing the bare minimum to hang on to the sale and keep them out of court.

So not much consolation for all the trouble they have caused and not even the slightest hint of compensation.

 

 

 

.

Edited June 27, 2010 by gob smacked

[Bazooka Boo]

I had a similar situation with 'Bensons beds' and after their attempt at customer care, I voted with my feet, told them that they could come and collect the bed as i was going elsewhere.

 

If their customer service is as bad as you have said, then I wouldn't even begin to give them the satisfaction of paying them good money, besides what will happen if a few months down the line there is another problem with the suite? You'll just end up in the same position you are now, personally, I would wait until they collect it, and tell them you don't want it back and you want a full refund, go elsewhere, it's a buyers market, there are other more reputable companies out there who will rip your arm off for your custom.

[miss muppet]

I tend to agree. What guarantee have you got that their repair is going to be any better than the customer service you have been unfortunate enough to experience. As already advised, demand a refund.

[gob smacked]

Hi miss muppet & Bazooka Boo.

I totally agree with you both. The dilemma is how do you know which stores are trust worthy. In my experience non of them are.

[Bazooka Boo]

IMO this one has already proved beyond any doubt that they have it's customers best interests at heart, I would elsewhere and armed with the information you now have, ask them 'hypothetically' if you had an issue with their products what could you expect from them to rectify the issue.

 

Apparently DFS are another one to avoid.

 

Boo;)

[gob smacked]

...

Edited June 28, 2010 by gob smacked

[gob smacked]

IMO this one has already proved beyond any doubt that they have it's customers best interests at heart, I would elsewhere and armed with the information you now have, ask them 'hypothetically' if you had an issue with their products what could you expect from them to rectify the issue.

 

Apparently DFS are another one to avoid.

 

Boo;)

 

Ay...

[Bazooka Boo]

Yes apologies, slight typo there, should read as;

IMO this one has already proved beyond any doubt that they Don't have it's customers best interests at heart, I would go elsewhere

[gob smacked]

You were so right. They returned the damaged chair today and in spite of their assurances that it would be repaired as good as new, it's not a very good job.There's a slight bulge where it should be flat and the switch is in a dip where it should be flush with the flat surface and unlike the main chair it is aligned vertically and not horizontally.

These people are complete a**e h***s, they do not deserve to have any customers. They rang and asked me to pay for

the remaining balance and when I asked for a discount for all the trouble they had caused and the fact the repair to the chair was a poor job, Richard the Sociopathic manager refused point blank and would only offer a refund.

I said I needed time to think it over. I think I will go for the refund.

Can you recommend a good furniture store?

Edited July 1, 2010 by gob smacked

[Bazooka Boo]

Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to recommend a good furniture store, however I wouldn't use cousins...

 

A refund is the ONLY way to go, lodge a complaint with TS via Consumer Direct about the manager and the store, I certainly wouldn't let it lie, you never know your complaint might be the one that gets him the sack or the store investigated.

 

If you can, once you have got your refund get the name and address of his area manager aswell, and lodge a formal complaint to him.